A matter of force
by ContraBardus
Summary: Start with Harry Potter, change something, and Harry learns to rock. Irreverent, chaotic, and the more movies you've seen, the funnier you're likely to find it. Expect many cammeos.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer. I do not own Harry Potter. This is fanfiction. All rights to Harry Potter belong to R.K. Rowling. She owns the copywrite, the trademark, and pretty much anything related to it. I'm playing with her characters and settings without her permission, and I hold absolutely nothing sacred. I'll do my best not to break...welll...I'll try not to.  
Screw it. I'm gonna give her books a right thrashing, mostly because I think it'll be funny and entertain me for a while.

Harry Potter: A matter of force.

Part 1: Things that shouldn't have happened.

Ahem. If you've never read one of my stories before, you might be a bit put off at first. After a couple of reviews, I feel I should point out that this fic is supposed to be a little 'Mary Sue-ish' as it's really a parody of SI fics. I seem to be good at that for some reason. Read the cousins to this story on my page here to get an idea of what you're in for with this. Gaijin, and Insertion would be the best examples. Both are anime fanfics, both are funny, and both are unfinished as of yet.

OoooOOooOO

No one really knows what happens when you die. All we really know is that all bodily functions cease, and you pretty much stop moving forever. Other than that, it's pretty much an open book. Some people believe that you end up in endless torment, or go to a place where you're just happy forever. Others think you're simply recycled as someone else, spit back into the planet in a never ending cycle of rebirth. Some who believe this think your actions determine who you become in your next life, others believe it's simply random, as if your spirit takes residence inside the nearest open womb. However, there's no guarantee of any of that. It's pretty much unknown what any of it means, or even if you appear in the same world the next time around. The universe is infinite, and infinite possibilities exist in either one.

Kyle wasn't exactly sure what had happened to him. All he knew was that he'd been driving along a dark curving road on a cliff side at night. The last thing he remembered was seeing the bright lights of a very large vehicle through his windshield on the wrong side of the road as he curved around a corner. He wasn't even sure what kind of vehicle it was that hit him, but he was pretty sure he'd been hit. There was a bright red light and a flash of brief pain. The loud twisting of metal was all he heard before the his world become nothing but a sensory overload for a few seconds.

He had no idea where he was, if he was still trapped in the crumpled wreckage of his car, or lying on a hospital bed somewhere.

All he knew for sure was that wherever he was was pretty dark. It seemed to be lit by candle light and he could only see the white spackle of a plain looking ceiling above him. He couldn't move very well, and was wrapped in a warm blanket.

He was disoriented, and something was making his ears ring. He couldn't move very well and seemed to have trouble even turning his head as he fumbled about a bit on what he had just realized was a soft mattress. His mouth opened to speak, but he couldn't manage to form words. A few garbled sounds escaped his lips as he struggled for a moment to figure out what was going on. "What the hell?" his mind was numb and still catching up. The odd ringing in his ears hadn't stopped , but he seemed to realize he could still feel all his limbs. As his initial shock began to wear off, he seemed to realize there was the sound of a screaming child next to him, the pungent odor of urine wafted up to his nostrils. It took him a moment to realize the baby was right next to him and bawling as loud as it could into his left ear.

He was having trouble getting a hold of himself as he struggled to find some sort of familiarity to his surroundings. Someone, anyone who could tell him what was going on. The child next to him was wet and irritated and he turned his head to look at it as best he could. He couldn't turn his head all the way to the side for a moment, but it fell over to the side almost as if none of the muscles in his neck were responding at all.

Sure enough, a red faced child was lying next to him with a small trickle of blood oozing down it's forehead from an open wound just below its hairline. It looked like something had hit it on the head, but he couldn't see the offending object anywhere nearby. He didn't feel that great himself, and noticed a new smell mixed in with the child's pungent diaper. It was as if the air had been electrified, the wafting light smell of ozone seemed to be lying just beneath the ammonia. His head was hurting and his eyes were watering, he wasn't sure if it was from the child or his injuries, and he didn't care.

He wanted to reach over and comfort the child, perhaps change it. Not because he particularly cared about the child's well being, but rather to quiet it down a little at least. He couldn't even sit up though and didn't have the reach to touch it. He wanted to speak, tell it to shut the hell up. Gently of course, scaring the child would only make things worse, but he couldn't do that even if he wanted to. All he knew was that he was stuck there until he could regain enough of himself to do something about it, or until someone else came along to take care of the problem. He couldn't move his head back up and simply squeezed his eyes shut.

After about an hour of sitting in immobilized silence, with the unwavering cries of the child next to him, he heard a new sound. The door to the home opened, and he could hear voices. A group of people entered the room, they were wearing cloaks and hoods, but none of them looked upset. They didn't try to speak with him, and he couldn't respond. They all had a somber, but nonthreatening look about them as they seemed to be looking around the home. Two bodies were covered and carried out and a hooded female looked down at him and the baby with a soft looking frown on her face. "Poor dears..." Her eyes drew down to the blood on the baby's forehead and she dabbed at it gently. "Oh. I should be happy. Still, someone needs a changing.

It was at this point that Kyle seemed to realize that something was wrong. She was huge. She reached down and checked his diaper and her hand completely covered his belly. Her arm looked to be about six feet long as she gazed softly into his eyes. "Poor dears." Tears began to well up in her eyes. "You've done a great thing poppets."

Kyle didn't scream, but stared up at her with wide eyes as he realized she was speaking to him as if he was a baby. Her touch seemed to spread a warmth through his body and he found himself able to look around a bit. He was a baby, not a newborn, but no more than a year old. The same age as the child next to him. It had calmed as well as the woman moved over and changed his dirty garments. The baby grunted as it looked up at her as she worked. Kyle watched this in a sort of fascinated wonder as he tried to figure out what was going on. He tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn't work. A few garbled grunts was all that escaped his lips and his mind cursed in frustration. "What's going on? Where am..."

He noticed the home was destroyed as she hefted him onto her shoulder along with the other child. Everything within was shattered or broken, and the walls were covered in fresh cracks and burn marks. The area where he and the other child were resting seemed untouched, but the rest of the home was pretty much ruined. "I suppose I shouldn't say you two are very lucky, but it's true. It's a great day for us, but for you two..." He found himself being handed off at the doorway to the home.

"Hagrid, do be careful."

The man she handed the two children into the gentle arms of a massive hairy man. He was about nine feet tall from the look of him, and wearing a long dark coat that hung off his shoulders. His face was covered in a scruffy black beard. It was difficult to tell where the beard began and his hair started.

"Right. I know what I'm s'posed ta do." The man nodded at her as his eyebrows furrowed as his lips turned down a bit. The other child was starting to cry again. Kyle was afraid, but remained silent as he watched unable to do anything about the situation. He couldn't even ask what was happening to him.

The man walked up to a large mean looking motorcycle with a huge basket tied onto the rear seat. He placed both children inside wrapped in blankets with a gentle softness that seemed out of place in someone his size.

"Shhh. There's a good lad." The other baby's cries softened as it found itself warm in the basket. Kyle was placed in second beside him with just as much gentleness. "There's a good lass. You're a brave one I think."

Kyle's desperate mind latched onto one word. "Lass? Hey. What the hell does..." It took a moment for his hand to reach through the mess of blankets as the man straddled the bike and started driving away from the home down a short dirt road. Kyle didn't notice the bike take to the air at all. He was to busy being horrified. "No!" His balls were gone. "What the? Where am I? What's going on...?" He was looking at the other child beside him, almost hoping for an answer to the question he couldn't voice from it. It was about that point that he realized that the wound on his forehead had a distinctive shape. It looked almost like a small strike of lightening.

"I'm dreaming. I'll wake up in the hospital in a while, they'll tell me I can't walk anymore and..."

OoooOOOooOO

Five years had passed since the first night she could remember. It wasn't a pleasant memory now that she had most of the details down. It wasn't difficult to figure out once she'd arrived at her current location. She was hiding behind an easy chair in number four, Privet Drive. Harry Potter, her twin brother, was opposite her giving her hand signals that told her that the Dursleys were all in the kitchen, and that the coast to the front door was all clear.

She smirked. She was a five year old girl with red hair that was cut down to her shoulders. She was lanky and looked like the tomboy she was. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail that stuck out the back of a Boston Red Sox ball cap. She'd found it outside somewhere and cleaned it up herself. A few of the neighbors had relatives from overseas that visited as little as they could. Privet Drive was nothing but a row of homes with people just like the Dursleys in each one.

The family wouldn't bother with buying her new clothes any more than they would Harry. She was wearing their much larger cousin's old clothes. Dudley was a huge spoiled boy, and would be bully. She motioned her brother towards the door and within a moment they were both in the yard.

Once outside they both relaxed quite a bit more. Any chance to escape the home's residents was relished by both of them. She'd done her best to get out as much as possible and keep Harry active. They spent a lot of time running around outside. To Harry, he was playing with his sister. To her, it was another matter. The games they played all taught Harry a useful skill. He was getting quite good at sneaking around unnoticed by the adults. Fooling the Dursleys wasn't much of a challenge.

"Anna, what are we gonna do now?" Harry had a huge grin on his face as he looked at his sister.

"Come on." The girl pulled a long stick from a hidden place in the garden. Since she and Harry were both treated pretty much like house elves, she found hiding things in any place that required work to keep up was effective. She handed it to her brother and grabbed another like it from the same place. "I'll toss a few rocks your way by the pond. Auntie Petunia will be mad at us if we get dirty." She frowned a little as she thought about it and started walking away. Harry couldn't see her face as he kept up behind her. Why would it matter if she got her clothes dirty? She was the one who had to wash them, she also cooked all the meals, and did most of the house work. Harry was doing things in the yard and making repairs. Any small job that required any effort was their responsibility as soon as their hands were capable enough.

A short time later they were standing in front of a small pond. Anna was tossing rocks at her brother, small ones. He'd swing and knock them out over the water on occasion, but he missed most and ducked a few with relative ease. She'd never hurt him in the game, but it did help his coordination quite a bit.

His stick cracked and a small stone sailed out over the pond and into the middle of the water. It was little more than a retention pond for storm drains in the area. Still, there was no threat of breaking others' property in the area. She tried to avoid the attention of the Dursleys whenever possible. Harry was starting to catch on to that as well, and got in less trouble on his own as of late.

The boy smiled with pride as he peered out over the water. "Wow. That went pretty far!" He seemed pleased with himself.

The girl smiled at him and nodded. "Good one."

"You want to have a go?" He seemed to be having a good time.

"Sorry, we've got to get back. It's almost time for us to go to our room for the night." She looked a little down as she said this.

The boy got a similar look on his face and sighed. "S'not so bad with you there."

She returned a weak smile. Harry wouldn't know what a house elf was, but she did. She and Harry came home with bumps and bruises all the time. They spent a lot of time running around outside. She wanted to do more with him, but they'd already been out earlier. She was teaching him to fight as well. She had started sparring with him a few months ago. It was a light and easy game so far though. For the most part they dodged Dudley and played games with him that left him feeling tired and worn out. If she over did things, it might cause problems with his growth. The Dursleys tended to ignore how tired they were when they wanted something done as well.

OoooOOooOO

Uncle Vernon was livid.

Anna was looking up in frustration, and Harry looked about ready to wet his pants he was so afraid. They were both sitting on the floor, with a few small blocks floating in the air between them when he'd walked into the closet. They were sitting cross legged on the ground facing each other playing yet another of Anna's games.

"I won't have any of this in my home!" Vernon reared his meaty hand back and whacked the boy hard enough to send him into the wall. He turned violently towards Anna ready to do the same as she stood up in alarm.

She could still feel the energy coursing through her. She only wanted to learn a little control before they went to Hogwarts. Enough to keep herself and Harry out of trouble from accidents in the future. She'd only played this with him in the closet, and had warned her brother that he needed to keep it a secret, and confine it only to the room under the stairs. She felt her anger surge up inside her and backed against the bed as Vernon grabbed the front of her shirt.

"I know this was your idea. I won't have any of this in my home!" He was glaring at her in unbridled rage. His hand reared back to smack her with the back of his palm.

Anna didn't know what to do. She wasn't willing to give up, but Vernon knowing about it would make things harder. She reached her hand up and waved it across his line of vision. It wasn't meant to be an attack. "Just forget about it."

She waited for the strike, squeezing her eyes shut and bracing herself as best she could. It never came.

Vernon gave her an odd glazed stare and nodded. His anger faded and he stood upright in an almost mechanical way. "I'd better not hear any noise out of here!" He closed the door and left them alone.

Anna was staring at her hand in confusion. "Wha? It..."

"Are you okay?" Harry was picking himself up. He'd been sitting against the wall waiting for his Uncle to leave the room. "I don't suppose we'll be going out again tomorrow."

Anna looked at the door. It wasn't locked. Vernon always locked it when he was angry. "I don't..." She wasn't expecting that to work at all. In fact, she was berating herself for being so stupid and waiting for an even worse beating. Vernon should have brought her across his knee and laid into her. She was still looking at her hand with a rather blank expression on her face. "I'm fine."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed and he backed away from the grin on her face as she looked at her hand. "Are you sure?" He looked nervous and worried. "We get a good beating whenever you look that way."

"Don't worry about it. Come on, Uncle Vernon won't bother us about this again. Don't let him catch you though. Especially if I'm not around." The glare she gave him was rather serious.

The boy nodded and looked a bit pensive. "Please don't get us in more trouble Anna."

"No worries Harry." She grinned at him and sat back down. "I think we'll be trying a few new things soon." She looked pleased with herself and motioned for him to sit down.

He stood there and looked down at her with an uncertain frown on his face. "Are you..."

"We'll be fine." She narrowed her eyes at him. She could beat his ass and he knew it.

"Fine!" He looked frustrated and annoyed.

She smirked as his eyes closed and the feelings seemed to melt off as he meditated in front of her. She'd been doing this with him for as long as she'd been able to keep him still and interested for long enough. Given the amount of contact the Dursleys gave them, it hadn't taken much. She and Harry were connected somehow, and she was taking full advantage of that. Moving small objects around in the air was just one purpose of the 'game'. She was also prodding at his mind with her own, while defending against his mental attacks a the same time. The boy was doing the same thing, just as they did every night, and sometimes when they were near to each other in the outside world. They didn't even have to be looking at each other to do it, and no one else could see what they were doing. Anna knew that she'd needed both of their mental defense at it's best when they reached Hogwarts. No one was getting inside the two of them with a mental probing of any kind.

Being a baby had not been easy on Anna. She'd gotten very bored with it before she'd grown enough to act like a normal human being. She couldn't move much, couldn't talk to anyone, and wasn't lavished with huge numbers of toys. Well, sort of. The Dursleys had caught onto the fact she picked things up quite a bit faster than either of the other children. The family was her favorite toy, the game of how to avoid and control them started right away with her.

Their guardians didn't care for her anymore than Harry though. It was obvious they were desperate for Dudley, their son, to somehow be superior. He was the perfect child in their eyes, and pushed both of them around. She knew better than to try and defend herself with any real force. She'd seen to it that she and her brother were faster. She and her brother had been the first to walk, despite Mrs. Dursleys ignoring them. Harry had been a handful at first. Their foster parents firm discipline curbed that. She'd been smart enough to know to avoid them. After all, she had read the story before.

That had brought her original problem to bear. She'd figured out she had died in that accident. Somehow she'd been reborn as Harry Potter's twin sister. That in itself was a bit of a quandary to her. It hadn't taken much thought to realize what happened to Harry had somehow woken him up.

As near as she could tell, she was the only one there. It was still hard to think of herself as a girl, and she knew how young she was. The memories were still there, as clear as last summer was to her. It didn't change her position. She was aware that certain things were very real in the world she'd found herself in.

She wanted both of them to be as ready as they could be. What lay ahead was a very nasty road.

Harry knew about their past, as much as she could teach him before Hogwarts came around if she had any choice. She also knew that things might not be quite the same regardless. She'd been born and changed things, regardless of how they went with or without 'him' involved.

Her head cocked a little She could tell small objects were spinning around her head, her brother was doing it. She'd been caught up in the big question so much she'd forgotten what she was supposed to be thinking about. This new development with her Uncle. She'd been into martial arts in his old life, he'd even spent a few years as a soldier. Just how far could she go with this anyway? She'd read the books, but this was more like what his old martial arts instructors talked about as fantasy and myths of the art. She didn't even have a wand, and she had no idea how to make one. Still, it left her to think about what other possibilities there were. It was going to take some serious thinking about ways of testing what 'rules' could be bent.

By Harry Potter magic standards as she knew them, what she had done was impossible. It was just the perfect time to try and be a wise ass to her Uncle, and she didn't even know it. She opened her eyes and found herself eying a nearby flashlight with a peculiar smirk on her face. "Now you're dreaming." Her shoulders slumped a little and she sighed. The two of them would be damn good martial artists. That also meant teaching Harry enough self discipline to keep him away from the Dursleys, Dudley in particular.

She had a lot of work to do, but all the time in the world and nothing but housework to do. She smirked to herself, it still needed a lot of refining, but that would abate somewhat as well. She had to be careful though, it wouldn't do to become reliant on it. She didn't want any one of the other family to catch on. That wouldn't bode well, but it could make her work with Harry much easier. It was almost too perfect, and that's what bothered her. "How the hell did I end up here anyway?"

"Mum and Dad died." Harry's answer didn't sound much like an emotional response. It was just the right answer to him.

"Right, nothing more to it than that right now is there? Probably all there ever will be."

"Anna? What's a Yank?"

"Huh?" that caught her a bit off guard. "An American."

"Uncle Vernon says we sound like 'Bloody Yanks'."

Harry had pretty much learned to speak from her. It left the Dursleys somewhat confused and irritated. The two adults couldn't figure out where they had picked it up. It was a tiny bit of pleasure on Anna's part. Harry had no idea, but it wouldn't be productive to let him in on too much.

"Oh. I suppose we do then." She shrugged and noticed everything was back where it belonged. Harry was rubbing the side of his nose and looking at her rather with the vacant void of bored five year old.

"Let's go to bed." Anna stood up and climbed onto the cot on one side of the room. Harry's was on the other. Harry would have had a bed of his own at least without her, but they managed to survive anyway.

OoooOOooOOO

Harry Potter and his sister were putting out breakfast as the Dursleys came down the stairs. They each took a small plate of food each with them as they left the room That was what the Dursleys liked, none of that foolishness. Both Potter children would make wonderful house servants for someone some day, and make poor but reasonable salaries. Even Dudley was content to leave them be on their own.

It hadn't taken long for the family to reach that mindset, as both children seemed to be doing what was expected of them. Staying out of the way and not making noise. As far as the Dursleys were concerned, all of the things that happened around them were what they should be.

Anna smirked as she looked at the family around the table one last time before disappearing under the stairs with her brother.

"I don't relish eating a meal with them, Dudley's birthday especially." Harry frowned as he looked down at his plate. He was shoveling it into his face a moment later and not looking up at her.

"We have to eat. I don't use it when I don't need to, I told you." She was reclining in the shadows and glaring at him over her fork. There was a piece of fried egg hanging from the prongs that dripped onto her knee. She wiped it off and then rubbed her finger against the edge of her plate in disgust. "Really, Harry. I'm the one in charge of that. I still can't figure out why you're so picky about how we get the things we need. It's not like we can go to the store and buy food. We're still wearing Dudley's old clothes, and I'm not about to go in there and apologies for changing their mind about a few little things. These aren't comfort issues Harry."

Harry was frustrated with her again. He'd fooled all of them the same way at times. "Why are you in charge anyway?"

"Because I'm smarter. I know what I'm doing." She pulled her old ball cap over her skull and pulled her hair through the back. She still kept it in a short ponytail. It was ragged, but still whole. Both of them were still thin and of average height. It was easy to tell they were related, despite Anna's red hair.

"How?"

"I have special mind powers. Okay?" She glared at him and shook her empty fork at him. "I've been teaching you too you know. Don't act like I'm holding out on you or anything."

"How do you know all this?" Harry had caught on to the fact that his sister knew more than she should. She could remember the day their parents died as far as he knew. He could barely remember being five. "I'd like to go to the zoo today too."

"With them? Naw, it'd be better to wait and see for ourselves." She nodded and relaxed back into the cot. She pulled her cap down and settled in to wait for the Dursleys to leave. "Something bad might happen if we went with them."

"Another prediction?" Harry didn't sound any happier.

"Yep." She sighed and feigned ignoring him.

"I suppose we will have the run of things for a little while." The boy sighed and hung his head. "I'd like to try and talk to a snake." She'd always told him he could do it.

"They'd be behind glass anyway." She laid back with her hands behind her head and seemed to brush it off.

She could tell he was peering at her over his arms in anger as he rested his arms on his knees. "Still."

"Look, don't worry so much. I wanna show you something cool after they leave anyway. You're gonna like this. I promise."

OoooOOooOO

Harry looked at the odd flashlight in his hands and frowned. He'd turned it on and found it put out a green light. His little sister had made it, she had a way of disappearing for a while at times. He knew her little mind trick wouldn't work on him very well. It only seemed to work on the dull witted. The Dursleys all qualified. Along with Dudley's large dumb friends.

He was standing in the yard with his sister looking at it. "Great. I like it." He seemed pleased with the gift, just the fact that it was a gift was enough. It looked like she'd made it. It was a slim piece of metal with a crystal inside one end. The other side was a small light bulb powered by a battery that charged when you shook it. "How did you..."

"I got the Dursleys to buy a few cheap parts a little at a time." She shrugged.

"You shouldn't have." Harry frowned at her. "You're the one who's always going on about..."

"I'm not the boy who lived. I like your attitude and I want you to keep it. I'm another matter though, it's my job to keep them distracted and away from us while we do what we need to." She seemed quite sure of herself.

"You can't see the future, Anna. Just let it go." Harry seemed irritated. Everything else his sister had shown him so far had panned out. Her predictions were often questionable.

"Yeah? Well, I've got another cool trick to show you." She pulled out her own flashlight, it was making a blue light as she flicked it on. She held it out in front of herself and closed her eyes for a moment. "Once you figure it out, it's real easy. Just push it through the flashlight and pull the light real close together."

Harry's jaw dropped as a solid beam of light formed on the end of her flashlight. It was about four feet long and made of blue light. She swung it around and sliced though a twig sticking out of a nearby bush.

"That looks dangerous!" He eyed the weapon on the ground and picked it up. He took his time standing back up and looked down at it with a frown on his face. "We could kill someone with this!"

"Only if you use it that way." She turned the switch off and the blade vanished. Harry could still see something without the light. She swung it at him and he felt a tingling sensation. "It only works with the light. If you've got it turned on, you should be using it."

"How..." He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I should have known you had something like this planned. It's not like you to do that just to get out of a trip."

She shrugged. "You'll live. It's not hard. You're not going to hurt anyone with it unless you hurt them really bad anyway. Once you figure it out you'll be able to make it so it won't hurt anyone even with the light. You gotta be careful though, it's got a middle ground and it'll burn someone real bad if you're not careful. Took me maybe ten minutes to figure it out once I got it. I dunno why, but you need the light if you want to hurt something with it."

"How did you get it to hum like that?" Harry was glaring forward and holding it in front of himself. He looked quite serious.

"That's the sound of the air around it frying." She narrowed her eyes at him and turned her nose away. She didn't want to say anything, but it just wouldn't be right without it. She had a feeling she'd had something to do with it, but she wasn't sure of that.

"Are you going to show me how, or just gloat about your new idea some more?" Her brother's patience was wearing thin. It was obvious she could tease him quite a bit more though.

He always took everything so serious, he agreed that the Dursleys should be avoided, but she took things to the edge of extremes every once and a while and it bugged him. She was always going on about the Dark Side, and inner peace to him.

"I already have the temperament to not do something stupid if someone pushes me around a bit."

"I don't?" He was getting irate again.

"No. You've still got a bit of a temper. If I show you too much, you're likely to kill someone if they push you a little too far. You're far too emotional to let you get your hands on that kind of power." She nodded to herself and closed her eyes.

"Yeah. I'm sure you're so mature Anna." He rolled his eyes at this. "What's this then?"

"You're getting better." The girl shrugged and walked over to his side. "Do you want to know or not?"

He hung his head and related. "Yes, please teach me." He didn't look pleased to be saying it and stared at the ground the whole time with the flashlight hanging in his grip at his side.

"See. All of that nonsense for nothing." She put her hands on his shoulders. "You've got to push the Force through it from your hands and out the end. Then you use it to hold the light together. S'not real hard."

"Right."

"I'll go keep an eye out for the Dursleys while you practice. Note the neighbors while you do it. Use the Force."

She laid on her back in the yard and put her hands behind her head as she watched the clouds beside him.

OoooOOooOO

The twins birthday had arrived. Harry wasn't pleased about not having their letters. They'd gotten several in the mail, and it had only irritated and panicked the Dursleys. Anna made a point of forcing him to let it be. She'd had to stop him from using his power to get the letter. Vernon's paranoia had landed them where they were sitting.

The twins were sitting in an old shack in the middle of nowhere. It was cold, wet, and storming outside the two room hut on the shore. The conditions were miserable, and things were going in a rather disturbing way as far as Harry was concerned. One of Anna's predictions had come true. They were siting in the old shack in the room with the Dursleys. The family looked miserable, and Vernon looked angry and nervous. They were all sleeping, moving about in discomfort, and snoring. It was a rather messy looking pile on the other side of the room.

"Waiting will pay off Harry." The girl smirked at him. She wasn't in the best of moods and had to force it. It wasn't a comfortable place to be, still, the time was drawing near.

"Are you sure we'll get that letter tonight?" Harry looked pensive.

"Yes. Hagrid's gonna give it to us." The girl stated this as a fact. "Don't worry. I know you're anxious. We'll be going to Hogwarts soon."

"You made that up!" snapped the boy. He was trying to convince himself more than her. She could see it in the way he was staring at the floor. "I'm not five Anna..."

That was when the knock came.

OoooOOooOO

Vernon was shaking with a rifle in his hands. It was pointed at the floor as he backed away from the door with his family cowering behind him. "Who's there?! I'm armed!"

Anna smirked as she stood up and pulled Harry to his feet. The boy was watching the door in a sort of dubstruck awe. "It...it..."

"Yes. I'm afraid it is." She looked quite pleased with herself as she crossed her arms as the door slammed down.

"You knew about this?!" Vernon was angry and turned to look at her. Then he was distracted by the giant in the doorway.

He looked the same as before. A massive man in a heavy coat. Water was dripping all over the floor as he walked in and dripping wet from his whiskers to his boots. He turned and lifted the door and put it back into the frame with no real effort. His head was only a few inches away from the ceiling as he stood there smiling at them all. "Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could ya?"

He walked over to the sofa where Dudley was seated and looked down at the boy. "Budge up, yeh great lump."

The boy scurried behind his parents with fear clear on his face. He peered from behind his mother's back with wide eyes at the giant. Petunia was still cowering behind the shaking Vernon.

"An 'ere's Harry." He smiled at the boy and waved him closer. "Anna too!" He nodded at her in welcome as well. She walked up behind her brother.

"You're real." Harry was a little more than dumbstruck. Shock was clear on his features as he stared wide eyed at the giant.

"Las' time I saw you two yeh was only babies." The giant slapped his palm on the boy's shoulder and grinned at him.

"I remember. You're the one that brought us to them." The girl smiled at him cheerfully as the boy's head whipped around to stare at her. "Hagrid."

"Er, right. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?" Harry was staring at the floor in stunned silence. "You mean...my sister is..."

"All the crap I showed you and you still didn't believe me? C'mon Harry." She was more annoyed than anything.

"Well, you've got to admit it's..." He trailed off and looked at the giant. "We'll be going to Hogwarts then?"

"Right you are." Hagrid seemed quite pleased. "O'course you would. Yer parents made arrangements. Quite natural I think."

"I've only heard my sister talk about it..." The boy hung his head a little. He was far from unhappy, but somehow felt a little numb.

"Well, they certainly weren't going to tell us." The girl was standing beside her brother, a little further away from Hagrid. She seemed quite pleased with the development.

"Eh? What yeh mean?" Hagrid's head reared back. He had started making tea for himself and was frying sausages in a camping cook wear set he'd pulled from his pockets. He seemed to recall something and pulled out a wrapped package from his pocket covered coat as well. He handed it to Harry because the boy was in front of him. "Make sure yeh share with yer sister now."

Harry unwrapped it on the spot and blinked as he looked down at the large sticky chocolate cake. It had 'Happy Birthday Harry and Anna' written on it in green icing.

"I had to tell Harry about our parents and Hogwarts. They've been trying to hide it from us."

Vernon's face was turning red as he glared daggers at the girl. His jaw was working open and closed. "You...you can't have..."

"I remember being a baby." She shrugged at them. "I remember everything from that night, too." She stared at them. Her eyes weren't angry, but rather vacant. "I won't let you ruin this for us. We're going home, as soon as we're old enough we'll never darken your door again. Be content with that."

Hagrid looked rather uncomfortable with the conversation. He handed both children a sausage and they both ate it as fast as they could. Anna wasn't finished yet though and started talking again. "When they took us in, they swore an oath to stamp our magic out of us. Tried pretty hard to do it too."

"You're darn right! You're not going!" Vernon glared at both of them.

"Ha! I'd like ta see a great Muggle like you stop 'em."

"Biggest muggles you ever laid eyes on," agreed Anna. "Aunt Petunia has jealousy issues. It's rather sad. I'm afraid they don't like us much."

"WHAT?!" Hagrid's eyes went wide. "Now see here young lady, yer..." His eyes moved over to the cowering Dursleys.

"They told us our parents died in a car crash." Anna kept her cool gaze on the cowering Dursleys.

Harry looked over at his sister with wide eyes. After a time, he'd grown to accept that as real truth. His sister could do amazing things, but once he'd gotten a little older he'd stopped believing in her wild tales of magic schools and evil wizards. He was getting worried that her powers had made her a little crazy. Maybe it was her way of dealing with their parent's deaths. He felt his cheeks flood as he realized he'd called her a liar to her face a few times as of late. She just turned her nose up at him for a moment and ignored it when he went off like that.

Hagrid seemed upset as well. "What?! James and Lilly..."

"He had me around to set him straight." The girl grabbed his sleeve and he calmed. "We like them about as much as they like us I'm afraid."

Harry looked like he disliked them quite a bit more now. He was glaring daggers at the family, Anna turned him away with a gentle tug and they both looked up at Hagrid again.

"Right. Yer famous an all. So I suppose..."

"We are?" chimed both children at once. Harry's head snapped around to glare at his sister. It was easy to see she wasn't surprised. Hagrid didn't seem to notice.

"I am not paying for..." Vernon got enough nerve from his anger to speak up. His cheeks flushed and his eyes went bloodshot.

Anna whirled around to face him with a fierceness in her eyes that silenced him. "You don't have to lift a finger, and you can't stop us. Our parents took care of everything already."

"Right yeh are lass. Yer names 'ave been down ever since yeh were born." Hagrid nodded and stood up. He pulled an owl out of his pocket and a pen and parchment as well. He wrote a note that Harry could read upside down: "Dear Professor Dumbledore, Given Harry and Anna their letter. Taking him to buy his things tomorrow. Weather's horrible. Hope you're well. Hagrid."

He walked over to the door and offered the parchment to the owl. It gripped it in its beak and flew off into the storm. The giant turned back to the twins and looked down at them. "Well, it's getting late and we've got lots ta do tomorrow. Off ta bed with yeh." He took of his coat and tossed it into them both. "Yeh c'n kip under that. Don't mind if it wiggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' door mice in one o' the pockets."

Anna shrugged and looked at her brother. "Want me to knock you out now?"

"Toss it Anna." The boy gave her a somewhat tired looking frown. Everything that had happened had left him wanting sleep despite his excitement.

OoooOOooOO

Harry woke up and frowned as his sister dug around in Hagrid's pockets. He sat up and frowned at her before whispering as harsh as he could. "Anna! What are you doing?"

She ignored him and found a handful of coins. The girl poked around in her palm humming to herself and pulled out five knuts before replacing the rest. Her hair whipped around as she walked over to the window. An owl was perched there with it's leg extended with a small pouch hanging from it. She shook the coins and put them into the sack. The bird fluttered away leaving a few feathers in it's wake as it swooped away. "Paying for the paper."

"What?" Harry seemed confused.

"You'd better get used to it. See, I told you I was psychic." She was hugging her knees and grinning at him with a more sunny disposition than she should have.

"Great. You're going to gloat about this for..."

"Until I'm done." She nodded once and turned away. He could see Hagrid lumbering towards the door.

He had a huge grin on his face as he jumped to his feet. Anything would be better than more time with the Dursleys.

"Best be off, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school." Hagrid set the door next to the frame and strolled outside into the sunlight.

"Do you think it'll take all day?" Anna arched her eyebrows a little at the grin her brother had as he walked up to Hagrid as they left.

She seemed to think about it for a moment. "I certainly hope so. This is the part with the goblins in it too."

That gave her brother a bit of pause. "Goblins?"

Hagrid was looking at Anna with an odd looking frown on his face. "Right. Gringotts. Yer a pretty sharp lass."

The girl had a huge sunny smile on her face that didn't look at all sweet. Hagrid wasn't sure just what was wrong, but something was off. "I'm psychic. I can see the past and the future. Tee hee!"

"Wha?" The giants eyes went a bit wide.

"Are you crazy?!" Harry was alarmed and shocked at his sister. "What are you doing? You shouldn't go around..."

She turned her head towards him and her cheery grin faded in an instant. Anna tapped his cheek with her fingers to stop him from talking. "He's not a muggle, don't worry."

Hagrid was somewhat confused. "Well, that's s'posed ter be a rare talent that is. I wouldn't know much 'bout it." He started moving again.

"Yeah." She looked up at him with her false cheerful grin as he moved away.

Harry was confused as well. Anna never acted like this, it was strange. "Are you feeling all right?" He scratched the back of his head and walked up behind her with a somewhat careful manner about him.

She glanced back at him and frowned a little. "I need two faces to do my job."

"What the hell does that mean?" The boy narrowed his eyes at her a little, but relented. She was up to something, and he wasn't being let in on it yet. He seemed to remember something. "Wait. Goblins? Are you sure?"

"We'll be fine, no worries!" She slapped his shoulder and almost marched after their guide.

OOooOOooOO

The boat ride was a nice quiet place for Anna to torment her brother by bringing up things she'd 'seen' in the past. Things he'd been discounting as fiction since he was about nine. He'd even given her a 'real world' speech last year. "This year we'll get to see a troll! We'll get to see all sorts of cool things up close and personal! An army of giant spiders! A dragon, that one takes a bit though. What else? Oh yeah! The giant poison snake next year!" It irked her a bit that Harry didn't take her for her word on that. This was her way of getting back at him for it.

"I ain't sure about all dat now lass. Sounds like a good time to me though!" Hagrid seemed pleased with her enthusiasm.

By the time they reached shore Harry Potter didn't look like he was feeling well.

"Harry, it's still much better than the Dursleys." The look on her face told her brother she hadn't meant to make him quite so nervous.

He flashed an angry glare back at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She seemed to be looking forward to the mess that was coming to them. Harry was pretty sure she was telling the truth now, and it made him even more nervous.

That statement caught him off guard and his anger faded away.

Anna had planted lots of little seeds long ago that would pay off later. She had a bagful for later as well. She'd found it was easier to remember things as the time grew nearer, seeing things happen tended to jog her memory of events in the near future. She hadn't given him any details, but had made mention of several key events in his life later on. It was fun and much easier than going around telling people she had read this book a few times in a past life. In her mind, it amounted to the same thing. She was also going to milk it for as long as she could. Never knew when a reputation like that might come in handy. It wasn't like he couldn't trust her or anything. She was pretty sure things would be the same as before at first at least

The Leaky Cauldron stood before them in all it's glory. It was a greasy dirty looking pub that was ignored by everyone walking by but the three people standing in front of it.

Anna snorted as she stared at the building with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Charming."

Harry was a little confused. "This place is famous?"

Anna got an odd look on her face as she seemed to remember something. "He's here."

"Sure it is," Hagrid seemed a bit put off by the reaction the twins gave the place. He seemed to notice the girl's stance change. He could tell the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up straight. "Somethin wrong?"

She seemed to compose herself in an instant and looked over at him. "I sense something, a presence I've not felt since..."

"Well, this is prolly the first time yeh been around so many other..."

"Voldemort. I can feel him nearby." She looked at the giant with a serious looking frown on her face.

"Gah! Do'n be sayin things like dat!" Hagrid was bolt upright and rushing them into the pub. Inside was a dark and shabby looking establishment.

"What the hell are you doing?" Harry noticed his sister had that cheery grin on her face again. He was starting to get embarrassed already.

The girl shrugged her new grin not wavering in the slightest. "We're closer than you think too."

"Enough o' that! He's gone! Ain't no way..."

"It's not him as you remember, just a part of him. He's hiding inside someone in this room. Hiding and waiting, wants to have a look at us I think. While he's here on other business."

Hagrid was getting uncomfortable with being around the girl. "Ain't sure what yer talkin about. Only good folk in 'ere right now. You shouldn't go round sayin that sort o' thing either. Might cause a panic for no good reason."

"Cut it out. If you've got any more stupid visions just keep em to yourself all right? You're driving me mad!" Harry was getting nervous. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you, all right? Just let it go."

"For now." She nodded and relented with a bit of reluctance.

"Hagrid! The usual?" The bartender noticed the giant and excused himself from his conversation a patron in a large top hat. A group of old women were sitting off in a corner drinking sherry.

"Can't Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business." He clapped his hands on the children's shoulders. Both kids blinked a bit at the sudden impact of the rather large weight.

The bartender's eyes went wide as he looked at the two children. "Good lord! This is...can this be?"

The whole bar went silent around them. Harry and Anna both looked a little uncomfortable with all the scrutiny.

"Bless my soul! The Potter twins! It's an honor to meet you both!"

Anna allowed her hand to be shook by the man, but it was easy to tell he was more interested in Harry. She kept her vapid smile in place through it all. Everyone wanted to shake his hand. She was given polite acknowledgment, but was ignored for the most part. Even though she'd known him since they were both babies, it was a bit odd. They looked like they wanted to ask for his autograph.

A pale young man moved froward, one of his eyes was twitching. He looked very nervous, to the point of being paranoid. Anna's eyes locked on him the moment he came into view, his hair was covered by a turban that kept his scalp from view. "So, this is the face of my enemy is it?" She smirked to herself as she noticed Harry start a conversation with the man. Hagrid had introduced him as Professor Quirrell. The rest of the mob wouldn't let them speak long and Harry was shuffled towards the door with her along side him before long. The adults seemed to have enough sense to make sure they stayed together rather than push her aside from him.

Harry was rather flustered and they both heard Hagrid over the crowd. "Must get on...lots ter buy."

Once outside and into the alley the two children were both rather impressed by what they saw. "Looks rather primitive." Anna blushed as she realized she'd said that out loud. Both Harry and Hagrid were looking back at her with small frowns on their faces. "Sorry, I just meant it looks a lot more like the past than the present. You know, thatched roofs, no cars, hoods and robes. Sort of like a renaissance fair." She was poking her foot at the cobble stones and thinking she was only digging the hole deeper with every word from the looks on her companion's faces.

Harry seemed to reconsider. "I suppose so. Still, primitive?"

"What would you call it then?" snapped the girl in irritation.

"Grand!" the boy had a huge grin on his face as he said it.

"Der ya go Harry!" Hagrid seemed pleased with the boy's reaction.

"I didn't say it wasn't cool." Anna seemed annoyed at the both of them. She was feeling a little annoyed by her brother being such a sap about it. He did deserve it though, so she refrained from making him regret it.

"All right, we'd best be off to Gringotts." Hagrid sighed. Harry was looking around at the nearby shops as they walked. Anna was more interested in the bank ahead.

The giant prodded the children along walking behind them and talking as he moved. "I told ya yer was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin ter meet you. Mind you, he's usually tremblin."

Harry continued to converse with the Giant about the good professor while Anna continued to watch the populous around her. They didn't seem any different, and moved in clicks and groups through the alley. The bank was the easiest thing to pick out in the alley. It was built like a fortress, and was quite a bit larger than the hovels and antique shops around them. It's what they looked like in her mind.

OOooOOooOO

Harry and Hagrid stopped to look at the plaque on the wall outside the bank. Anna was more interested in having a better look at the building itself, though she did give the plaque a look over before her eyes wandered.

Once inside they were surrounded by lots of shiny things, with lots of short nasty looking creatures with elongated fingers and toes. Hagrid had to dig around in his pockets and irritated the goblin helping them by getting lots of odds and ends on his accounting book. He came up with the key and the goblin seemed a bit relieved.

"Ahv also got a letter from Professor Dumbledore. It's about the 'you know what' in vault number seven hun'red and thirteen." The giant seemed to be trying to hide this from both children.

The goblin verified it somehow or another and called a goblin named Griphook over to lead them into the vaults.

Harry started to speak up and ask Hagrid a question. "What's the..."

Anna slapped him on his chest as they followed after Griphook through a large archway. "I'll tell you later."

Harry scratched his head and jogged after her. "Oh, bugger." He slumped his shoulders down and sighed as he found himself being led to a cart of some kind on an underground railway system. Everyone was climbing in to one of the carts.

"I hear you've got a dragon here? Any chance we can swing by and take a peek on the way if possible? I've always wanted to see one." Anna was up at the front of the cart looking forward to a fun ride.

The goblin blinked at her and chuckled. "Sure."

Harry and Hagrid were both looking at each other in mild surprise. "I've always wanted one o' those."

"Really?" The boy seemed confused.

"E'er since I was a lad!" Hagrid seemed quite proud of it.

"I thought you said it would take a while?" Harry narrowed his eyes at his sister and grinned at her.

"I said that about up close and personal." She arched her eyebrow at him as one of her lips curled up a little.

He backed off and swallowed a little at that.

OOooOOooOO

They were rocketing through a twisting and turning maze of railways that passed by far too fast for them to get any bearing on where they were going. The goblin pointed its finger off to the side as they took a hard sharp turn quite suddenly. To the right, through the stalagmites, and across a small pond was a giant reptile with it's maw open spewing flames into the air of it's cave. It was chained to a great door just in front of a huge vault. They only had enough time to take that much in before it was gone again as they shot through the maze of tunnels again.

"Yer sister ain't bad at all. Had me right worried fer a moment." Hagrid seemed to forget about his motion sickness for a brief moment before putting his hand back over his mouth.

The goblin unlocked the doors to the vault a few moments later as the group stood in front of the Potter family vault. Green mist crept out from the vault as it opened. Both kids were a little wide eyed at the volume of gold, silver, and bronze in the room. Hagrid helped them collect a small amount into a bag as he explained the wizarding system of money to them. Within a moment they were back at the cart, moving towards the next vault. It was even deeper underground, and the air grew colder as they sped towards their destination.

OOooOOooOO

Once at the new vault, they had to wait for the goblin to open the door.

The creature stroked his finger across the door to open it. "Anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that and they'd be sucked into the vault and locked inside."

"How often do you check the vaults?" Harry seemed to be trying to scare himself now.

"Once every ten years or so."

The vault was empty, save a small wad of dirty looking paper on the floor. Hagrid snatched it up and turned away. "Come on, back to this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I kept my mouth shut."

OOooOOooOO

Once outside Hagrid seemed a bit more relieved than the children to be back out. The fresh air was helping already to curb his sick feeling. Well, until the girl opened her mouth, just before the goblin who had led them out turned back inside.

"It's called the Philosopher's Stone, and tonight someone is going to try and steal it from Gringotts. It'll be gone though, and no worries."

The goblin was looking at Hagrid with it's jaw gripped tight. "No one would be so foolish as to..."

The girl cut him off. "The man's name is Voldemort, he's trying to use it to bring himself back to life. He has a hand in the land of the living now. Good luck with it, I'd suggest bumping up security in that area. He's quite wily, and doesn't want to stay dead." Harry noted she had that odd grin on her face again.

"I didn't tell yah nuthin? Did I?" Hagrid looked alarmed.

"No. It's like I've read it in a book before, and I remember part of it just before it happens." Her sunny disposition left Hagrid dabbing at his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Well, I ain't so sure of that. Sure are an excitable lass..." muttered the man as he straightened himself up.

"What book would that be?" asked the Goblin from the doorway. He hadn't turned to face them again.

She shrugged. "Just an analogy."

The door closed and the goblin vanished back into the bank again.

Hagrid was more than confused. "You sure about that? Someone robbin...wait, what am I sayin. Ain't no way, he'd, not like he could anyway."

"Sure he can." Anna started walking away towards the shopping area with Harry on her arm. He seemed reluctant to let her drag him through the alley, but relented without resistance in the end.

Hagrid's stomach needed calming more than ever. "If you two don't mind, I'll be off to get me a little pick me up. My stomach can't take much more o' this one." His finger pointed at the red head as he seemed to lean over to catch his breath. "You two go on ahead and git yer uniforms." He indicated the correct shop and they moved off in the right direction.

OOooOOooOO

The children entered and found a cheerful squat witch standing behind the counter. "Hogwarts dears? Got the lot here I'm afraid. Another student in the back right now."

Harry paused. Maybe his sister wasn't so weird after all. She had that vapid smile again as she turned her gaze towards the other student in the back. "Draco Malfoy. Won't care much for him." She nodded her head at the boy. "Catch a look see. Find out what you're in for."

Harry walked up to the boy. He was being pinned up for his uniform by another witch. "Hello. Hogwarts, too?" The other student had blond hair and a sharp nose, his skin was pale and his frame thin. The witch who had led them in put Harry on a stool next to the boy, with Anna sitting on a stool against the wall behind them waiting her turn.

"Yes." The Potter boy looked a bit uncomfortable, having never been fitted for anything before.

"My father is next door buying my books, and mother is down the street looking at wands. He had a bored drawling tone about him. "Then I'm going to drag him off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I'll bully my father into buying me one and smuggle it in somehow."

Harry was hoping Anna would be wrong, she had been before. It seemed to be her day though. "Good luck with that."

"Have you got your own broom?" The boy was looking down his nose at Harry and seemed to notice his clothes.

"No."

"Play quiddich at all?"

"Not really." Harry knew of the game, but had never seen a match.

"I do...Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play in my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"Gryffindor."

Malfoy sneered at that. "Well, no one knows until they get there, do they?" The boy chuckled a bit at that. "I'll be in Slytherin, all my family have been...imagine being in Hufflepuff? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

Anna spoke up from nearby, flipping through a catalog without touching the pages. "You're right about a lot of that Malfoy. I'm sure you'll end up in Slytherin, and play on the Quiddich team."

"What would you know of it? You'll be attending as well?" The boy seemed to just notice her.

She nodded with her sunny grin still greeting any who would gaze upon her. "Call it a gift. You're Slytherin material if I ever saw it. I look forward to the coming semester."

"I certainly hope you're picked for a better house than Gryffindor." The boy seemed satisfied with that answer and looked ahead as the witch continued to work. "Where are your parents?"

"Dead." Harry seemed to be getting irritated.

"Sorry, they were, you know, our kind right?"

"Yes." Anna intervened before her brother could open his mouth.

"Good, I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you?"

"There's more strength in numbers." Anna yawned a bit and stretched her arms. "Keeping it tied to old families and hoarded to ourselves would be counter productive, it increases the chances of new magic being developed out of general knowledge and hidden away. Much easier to keep things contained the way it is. Not to mention a wizard with Muggle parents can be just as dangerous as one born within a wizarding family with proper training. A significant advantage to give up for something as petty as pure blood mentality. Doesn't make much sense at all really."

This caught the boy off guard and he glared at her. "That's foolish."

"Makes sense to me," agreed her brother with a shrug.

"We'll see. I didn't catch your surname?"

"All finished." The witch helping Harry interrupted. Anna walked up and stood on the stool as he moved off to wait for her. Malfoy was finished as well and walked by him.

"I guess I'll be seeing you at Hogwarts then." With that Draco Malfoy was out the door.

Hagrid was trying to get their attention outside the window, holding three ice creams in his hands to show he couldn't come inside.

OOooOOooOO

They moved about the shops getting what they needed for school. Both children were starting to collect quite an armload, which they seemed to be having no trouble with.

Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked the twin's list again. "Just yer wands left. Oh yeah, I haven't got you two yer birthday present."

Anna unhooked her light saber from her belt and turned it on. A short seven inch blade popped out and she pointed it towards the shop. "Will this do? Harry and I both have one."

Hagrid's eyes went wide as he looked at the metal rod in her hand. "I suppose it might. Best let an expert check it out first if yer not sure."

"We'll get yer present first, tell yer what. I'll get yer animals. Not a toad, toads went out er fashion years ago. I don't like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get you both an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carryin yer mail and everything."

OOooOOooOO

Twenty minutes later Harry and Anna came out of the show with large snow owls in cages on top of their stack of things. Anna had a male she had already named Carrot.

Harry hadn't named his owl yet and scowled at his sister's unusual name. Both Children thanked Hagrid quite a bit and he chuckled, pleased with the reaction. "I don't imagine yer had a lot of presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now, only place for wands, Ollivanders, and yer gotta have the best wands."

OOooOOooOO

Inside the shop Hagrid ushered them inside and they moved towards the counters while he sat near the entrance on a stool to wait. The man behind the counter stared with bulging unblinking eyes. He looked both children up and down. "Eh? Behind the strange man were shelves with thousands of small boxes. "Yes, yes. The Potter twins. Thought I'd be seeing you both soon."

Anna stepped forward. "Will these do?" She pulled out her light saber again and pointed the blade at him. It wasn't dangerous to anyone at the moment.

The man simply nodded. "Yes. It should suit your needs quite nicely. A wand you make yourself is always better than you bought from another. Not many possess such a skill though. I'm almost tempted to ask how you did it." He eyed her checking her up and down a few times with his unblinking eyes. "You're a strange one."

"Harry has one too."

The boy nodded and showed him without igniting it.

"I remember every wand I've sold. Both your parents, he who must not be named. I've never seen anyone as young as you with a hand made wand. Try it out first. I'll let you know."

The girl shrugged and gave it a wave. A spell in the room made it shoot a few sparks out of the end as she shook it. "What is it, some kind of ward on the room that does it?"

"Not really, It's a spell we wand makers use. It's me, not the room. Call it a proprietary secret." The unblinking man nodded at her work. "Fine quality. Interesting construction. Never thought of making one out of light before." He nodded and Harry did the same. His wand shot out a few more sparks than his sister's did. He seemed a little surprised at this. "Well suited. Interesting, the first wands I didn't sell I'll remember." He nodded to himself and they paid him a few sickles of silver for the consultation. After that they were bowed out of the shop and looked on as the afternoon sun hung low in the sky over the alley.

The twins sat at a small Hamburger stand in the station waiting on the train to arrive. Hagrid was with them both looking rather cheerful as they both ate.

Harry knew what he was famous for, but he wasn't expecting the reaction he'd gotten. Was not dying really that great? He was chewing on more than just his hamburger as he sat there with his two companions.

"What's on your mind?" Anna leaned into his shoulder a little so he couldn't ignore her. "You're being to quiet."

"Nothing, just not used to all that attention." He was blushing a little.

"Well, I'm not jealous. It'd drive me mad after a while. Best to keep grounded, we've both got a lot to learn." She seemed pleased with the events at least.

He was as well and grinned a bit.

"Not so bad, eh Harry?" Hagrid was enjoying the moment as well. Harry's little sister was a bit strange, but seemed to know what was important anyway. Not a bad girl at all.

"Not bad? It's great! I was really starting to think it might not be real." He seemed almost relieved.

Hagrid seemed surprised. "Really? Don't worry, you'll have a good time at Hogwarts. I did, still do in fact."

The boy nodded and seemed to relax a little more. Things were almost going to well.

Hagrid stood up as they finished and pushed them along. "Best be off, don't want yer ta miss yer train."

OOooOOooOO

He handed Harry an envelope for the two of them after he'd helped them load their things onto the train. "Yer tickets fer Hogwarts. First of September, King's cross. It's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl. She'll know where to find me." With that he left them to their seats.

The train pulled out a moment later. Anna pulled her brother back into his seat. His face was pressed against the window as they pulled away from the station. "That was nice."

"Yeah. I can't wait until September now!" Harry was thrilled so much he was having trouble sitting still.

Anna rolled her eyes and relaxed into her seat. She didn't want to let on how excited she was either. Anything to stop dealing with the Dursleys all year. Who knows, after a long break, she might start looking forward to coming back and manipulating them. That was a ways off though.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

I've been a fanfiction writer for a number of years. My other stuff is all anime related, but I haven't been able to 'jump back on the horse' as of late. A fresh setting and new characters to play with seems to be helping. I've not given up on some of the unfinished work, but I think I need to expand a bit into something new to get myself going at a resonable pace again. So, I've decided to start a HP fic.

If you've ever read one of my stories before, you're in for an interesting ride once I get this going. Anna is less a SI as she is a collection of personality traits from other characters. I don't wan't to spoil it by giving too much away. As this is the first chapter, there's a lot of Anna, as I had to set up her character a bit. Harry's part is much more central than this first chapter lets on, but if you're reading this, you should already know the backstory that gets explained in the first book/movie up to this point.  
Harry isn't a tag along and Anna isn't about to become the 'leader' of the troop he collects at Hogwarts. Nor is she planning on inducting them into any sort of personal army. She likes to be secretive and is to independent to lead a mob. She knows Harry is 'the boy who lived' and doesn't want him to become dependent on her.  
I don't make lemons, especially not involving eleven year old characters. It may get a little dark at times, but at it's heart, this is a comedy. Be prepared.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm planning to combine the first two chapters into ch. 1 tomorrow. The numbering isn't off. My last post was more a chapter 1.5.

A matter of force.

Part 2

Anna vs. Slytherin.

OOoooOOooOO

Anna and Harry stood staring at the divider between platforms nine and ten. Anna had 'convinced' her uncle to drive them. Harry was a bit miffed still, he had wanted to try and talk the dumb oaf into bringing them first.

Her Uncle had a somewhat mad grin on his face as he sped away from them. Harry had told him the platform number, and he seemed to be thinking he had stranded them for a while in the city. Neither child cared and Harry was glaring at his sister. They were just standing on the outside edge of the platform with their baggage. "Now what?"

"It's right through that barrier. We just have to walk through it." Anna nodded her head at the barrier between nine and ten.

"Go ahead then." Harry pointed his arm at the barrier and looked down his nose at her in a defiant posture.

"No. I don't know if it only works on one side or the other. I'm not about to go walking into it to find out. If we wait here, someone will come along and let us in on it. We aren't the only children on this trip for the first time you know. No worries." She patted him on his shoulder.

She was always saying that, but only when she was being annoying. Harry had started dreading the phrase at an early age. He recognized what had happened to her. She always acted off when she was up to something, and this was on an extreme level. He had butterflies poking around inside his stomach. Somehow, he was still having a pretty good time of it. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "All right. You've been pretty spot on so far. We'll see how long it lasts."

Anna was clenching her fists in frustration. "Fine. You'd better get used to taking care of yourself though. I'm not gonna be around forever ya know."

"Maybe I would if you'd let me." He turned his head and frowned at her a little more. The twins were in a full blown staring contest.

It was about that point a large family carrying the same kind of luggage Harry and Anna both had moved towards them down the platform. Both twins eyes locked onto them at the same time.

"There you have it." Anna nodded her head without taking her eyes off the family as they moved closer. The mother had a red haired girl, about a year younger than they were, by the hand. Behind her, two large twins, an older sibling in new robes, and a young boy the same age as they were. All of them had red hair, and their clothes looked well worn and inexpensive. It seemed to be they were having a rather grand day, all but the youngest boy looked like they were going to a theme park. The young boy seemed pensive and nervous.

They reached the wall at the same time as the family did.

The mother sent the oldest boy through and he didn't even notice the pair.

The twin boys looked down on them with rather cheerful looking grins on their faces. "Hello. First years?" The one nearest to them spoke up just before jumping through the wall.

"See you later then." The other quickly followed.

The mother looked at them and a somewhat surprised and worried look crossed her face. "Hello. Your first year at Hogwarts? It's Ron's first year too."

Both twins nodded and looked up at her like sad puppies in her mind. Anna was just playing it up, and Harry was just nervous about the new trick he had to learn.

"Where are your parents dears?" The woman stood up and glanced around.

"Dead." The little girl's reply was somewhat dry. "There's no real trick to it Harry. You just walk through it."

"Now, it's a bit more than that dear." The plump woman waved her finger as she leaned in a light chiding tone. "You have to know you're going to get through, or it's just another wall."

Anna didn't seem phased by the woman one bit and continued smiling in that irritating way. "I see. I suppose Harry was right then."

The woman gasped as her eyes went wide. She reared back up to her full height and stared at the both of them. The two children with her were looking up at their mother in confusion. "Oh my."

"Nice to meet you," replied Anna with a small bow.

"Who are you?" Ron looked at the girl in confusion.

"The Potter twins, I'd wager. Never imagined bumping into you here." The woman blushed a bit and took Harry by the shoulder. She was gentle and non threatening as she moved him between herself and the wall. "Just remember that you have to know you're going to come through the other side." With a gentle shove Harry squeezed his eyes shut as he stumbled forward towards the bricks. He had braced himself for impact, but passed through the other side. Beside him was a long red train. The platform was full of people sending their children off to school. Anna appeared beside him with a smug looking grin on her face.

Harry started walking as she moved into the platform area ahead of him and noticed her grin. "What did you do?"

"Nothing." She was chirping almost.

The boy's face fell. "I'd better not see that boy mad at us later!"

"You won't." She was skipping as she moved towards the train and started looking for an empty compartment in the train.

"What? You don't know where we're sitting?" He was smirking a bit himself, her attitude was infectious. Things were going better than he'd dared hope thus far.

"Here." She pointed to an empty space on the train.

One of the twins walked up beside the pair as they started moving into the door.

"Hi. Want a little help with those?" Anna had let hers go and was standing back a bit from it. He assumed she was going to try and heft it on board.

"No. Thank you, but I'm fine." It rose from the platform and up the stairs before setting itself down at the top of the stairs.

The older boy was a little put off by that and scratched his head. "Nice trunk."

"It's not the trunk." She looked up at him and noticed his brother had been attracted over somehow.

"What's up George?"

"Fred, have a look at this kid. She's something else."

Harry was getting annoyed by his sister's showing off. He lifted both trunks and put them away in the corner of the compartment.

She stuck her lounge out at him and pulled down her eyelid in response. Her new grin returned and the pair noticed the two boys had burst into laughter.

"We like..."

"You two."

"Thanks I guess." Harry wasn't used to other people being so nice to him. Even having people speak to him more than was needed was new to him. Anna was a one way conversation at times.

"What's that?" One of the twins, Harry thought it was Fred, but he wasn't sure.

"Huh?" The boy seemed surprised as the older boy's eyes locked onto his forehead.

"Blimey...are you?" said the other twin.

"He is! Aren't you?" His brother's eyes seemed to light up.

"Yes, he is." His sister was hanging off the railing partway up the stairs looking back at them.

"You must be Anna then." The boy closest to her stuck out his hand and she gripped it in a light and firm grip.

Both males gripped Harry's hand as well as he walked by them towards the door again. Anna grabbed his shirt and pulled him around the corner and into the empty compartment with their things. They both sat down and watched the red haired family outside tease and say goodbye with one another.

"I guess Mr. Weasley is working." Anna noticed Harry's sort of haunted stare as he looked on. She pulled out a long slender piece of wood that was tied onto the lid of her trunk. Harry had seen it before, and she always seemed to play with her fingers against it. He had often seen her do that when she knew they'd be sitting around for a while. It happened quite a bit.

"Maybe you should just get a real guitar? I'm sure we've got enough." The sound of her nails tapping on the wood bugged him at times.

She narrowed her eyes at him a little and seemed to take the hint. "Are you sure? I'll have to take it home over the summer, and we spend a lot of time in the same room you know and I'd have to keep in practice if I wanted to learn." She replaced the stick and sat back down opposite him. "I can afford it now."

Harry went a little pale as he thought about it. "Well, I wouldn't stop you. Mr. Dursley wouldn't put up with it anyway." Neither he nor his sister had ever touched a musical instrument.

She shrugged. "I suppose I'd have to find a quiet way to keep in practice then."

Her brother seemed a bit relieved at that. He had a new respect for the stick now, and decided that the sound of her nails tapping against it wasn't so bad after all.

His head snapped up and he blushed a bit. Anna was looking down at the family in something that looked more like an interested glance.

A moment after the excited family swapped stories about meeting the pair they bid their final goodbye and boarded the train. Almost as soon as they were on, it lurched and started moving. Harry and Anna watched the little girl run beside the train for a bit as the mother faded off waving to her children. Harry seemed interested in following the girl with his eyes as she faded off.

Anna was smirking to herself when he looked up. "What is it? You've been awful all day!"

"Don't worry about it, just a shadow." She gave him a genuine smile and leaned back in her seat. She pulled out her ball cap and pulled it down over her eyes as she relaxed in the seat opposite him.

The door to the compartment opened and Anna didn't react at all. The youngest boy from the family they'd met came in and stood for a moment to work out his nerves before he started to speak.

Anna cut him off though. "We'd like company. Feel free to sit, Ron."

He blushed and nodded. "How did you know my name?"

Harry looked up at him. "Your mother said it."

"She didn't say our surname." Ron shook his head and blushed as he looked over at Harry. "Sorry. You're really him?"

"Yeah." Harry lifted his hair and showed the boy his scar. It seemed to be what people were picking up on.

The boy's eyes went wide as he stared at it. "So, that's where...You-know-who?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I can't remember it though..."

"I do. Voldemort was tall, skinny, with pale skin and dead looking eyes. He had really bad teeth and a rather intimidating black robe. Quite nasty." Anna had yet to sit up or lift her hat. "You can tell your brothers that. Your mother forbid them from asking us. Never mind, they're standing in the doorway."

Both twins looked down at her a little slack jawed. "Well, I've got to admit..."

"She's quite sneaky..."

"...to find all that out."

Harry found their way of talking and passing sentences between each other a little disturbing. He and Anna were never like that. "Right."

"Well, allow us to introduce ourselves. Fred..."

"...and George Weasley. This is our brother Ron. We're going to the middle of the train. Lee Jordan has got a giant Tarantula down there."

"Right." Ron seemed a bit down and didn't seem interested in following.

Harry found Ron as interesting as Ron found him, and the two boys got to talking. Harry was asking a lot of basic questions about the wizarding world. Anna sat with her hat down over her eyes and listened in while she rested. She didn't learn anything of importance, and seemed to settle in a bit more when Harry bought a load off the snack cart.

Harry was quite pleased to have a new friend and it didn't take long before they were both digging in.

Anna's hand shot up to catch the pastry Harry had tossed her. She dropped it on her chest and caught two more before she sat up and smiled at the two boys as she righted her hat again. Her lips had turned up again, and Harry noticed her disturbing grin return again.

Ron was explaining the finer points of Chocolate Frog card collecting to Harry.

The Potter boy's eyes were on the picture of Dumbledore on the front of his card. "So this is Dumbledore?" He read a few facts off the back of the card that meant little to him. They did sound rather impressive at least.

Anna sighed as she ignored the every flavor beans and ate a few pastries. They were both great of course. She found herself a little surprised at how good it was. Harry had noticed that Dumbledore wasn't in his picture anymore, and was explaining to Ron that muggle photos stayed put.

Nevil came by looking for his toad as the boys both braved through a bag of every flavor beans despite Ron's warnings. Anna was ignoring the candy and was relaxing against her seat ignoring both boys.

Harry seemed to notice this and spoke up. "What's with you? You're never this quiet." He stood up and gave her a clap on the shoulder.

Ron blinked as if he'd just remembered she was there. "Not shy are you?"

"Anything but." Harry glanced over his shoulder as he sat back down with a cheerful grin on his face.

The girl shrugged. "Not much to say now. You two are having a good time, and I'll have my chance soon enough."

"What's wrong with now?" Harry snorted in amusement.

"I feel like brooding a bit. I'm a girl, just let it go and have fun with your new friend. You'll have a smashing time." She didn't seem upset with him or Ron.

"And you won't?" Her brother looked confused.

"I'll be fine. I'm tired." She stretched her arms a bit. "We've both got a long day ahead and I've got plenty to keep myself busy for now." She tapped at her forehead and winked at him. "Don't worry." She turned her head to look out the window.

Harry shrugged and Ron started talking about his rat, and how he wanted to turn it yellow.

He was about to make his attempt when the door opened. A first year girl with frazzled brown hair stood in the doorway with a bold air about her. "Has anyone seen a Toad? Neville has lost one."

"We've already told him we haven't seen it." Ron was looking up at her with a small frown on his face. He noticed her gaze was on his wand. "Oh, you're doing magic then? Let's see then!" She looked quite interested.

Ron was on the spot and looked nervous as he swallowed. "A-all right." He cleared his throat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." He waved his wand and nothing happened. The old dirty looking rat stayed sleeping.

The girl looked down at Ron's rat and seemed to forget about Anna. "Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is I've heard. I've learned all our course books by heart of course, I just hope it will be enough. I'm Hermione Granger by the way. Who are you?" She said all of this very fast.

"Ron Weasley." The red haired boy muttered.

"Harry Potter."

"Are you really?" The girl's interest was piqued again and she focused her attention on the uncomfortable boy with the lightning shaped scar. "I know all about you, of course. I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in 'Modern Magical History' and 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts' and 'Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"Am I?" Harry was feeling rather flustered and dazed.

"Goodness! You didn't know? I'd be finding out all I could if it was me. Do either of you know what house you'll be in?" The girl was going to keep speaking but the redheaded girl interrupted.

"They'll both be in Gryffindor with you." Anna was still watching the brush pass by.

"How would you know? I've heard you don't find out until you arrive." She narrowed her eyes at her.

"The sorting ceremony is just a talking hat they put on your head. It says where you go and there's nothing more to it. You don't have to do anything but sit there really."

Ron seemed a bit annoyed by the girl thus far. "How would you know? No one else does. My brothers both say it hurts a bit."

"Then they are screwing with you. It's a singing talking hat." Anna leveled her eyes on the boy and he went silent.

"I don't see how you would know. No one else I've asked can tell me. Not even the second or third years." Hermione seemed unimpressed by the girl's story. "A talking hat? That's silly! What kind of wizarding test is that?"

"I believe her." Harry shrugged his shoulders. He was kind of glad she said something, or he'd have been worrying about it later, and he knew it.

"I'm going to look for Nevil's toad. You'd better get changed, we'll be there soon." The bossy girl turned away from the door and went on her way. Much to Ron and Harry's relief.

OOooOOooOO

Ron related a bit of information about what Wizards did with themselves once they graduated. He talked about his brothers. Charlie in Romania studying Dragons, and Bill, who was working with the bank, Gringotts. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that wit the Muggles. Someone tried to rob a high security vault."

Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle as he looked at the red haired boy. He noticed Anna's sly looking grin out of the corner of his eye. She was still looking out the window, watching the world go by. "What happened?"

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens, in case You-know-who's behind it."

"Yeah." Harry didn't bother looking up at his sister.

"Voldemort was behind it." Anna was resting her chin on her forearms and peering out the glass at the countryside and woods they passed through.

"Little strange isn't she?" Ron leaned in a bit and glanced over his shoulder at the girl as he turned away from her a bit.

"You've got no idea." Harry looked a little weary of dealing with it and Ron seemed to catch on.

"What Quidditch team are you for?"

"Never seen a match." Harry was prepared for the shocked look on the boy's face.

Anna listened in as Ron detailed the rules, famous plays, and teams within the world of professional Quiddiitch. Part way through a speech about what Ron called 'finer points' the door opened again.

This time a familiar face strolled through with two troll like boys beside and behind him. Draco Malfoy looked down at the Potter boy while ignoring everyone else in the room. "It's true then? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter is in this compartment. So, it's you is it?"

Harry was eying the two larger boys behind him with more interest as he answered. He didn't move from his seat and seemed quite relaxed despite their presence. "Yeah. It's me."

"Oh, this is Crabbe, and this is Goyle." Draco had noticed what Harry was looking at. No one else noticed the red haired girl's eyes lock onto the blond boy as soon as he entered. "My name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave what sounded like a cough meant to hide a small laugh.

"You think my name is funny do you? No need to ask about who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." The unpleasant boy didn't seem to notice the other boy's gaze harden a little at that. The blond turned back towards him again. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He held out his hand to him.

Harry ignored it. "I can find my own way thanks."

Draco didn't go red, but did turn a little pink. "I'd be careful if I were you , Potter. Unless you're a bit politer, you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys, and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

Harry pulled Ron back down to his seat as he jumped up to challenge the boy. "Say that again!" His eyes flashed on Harry for a moment. He seemed surprised at how calm he looked.

"Oh, you're going to fight us now are you?" Malfoy seemed rather pleased with the way things were going. He couldn't see Harry's face, and assumed he was seething.

"You've worn out your welcome Malfoy. It's best to just leave." Anna spoke up from her corner by the window. She was sitting as calm as Harry watching the scene with what appeared to be mild interest.

Malfoy's malevolent smirk turned towards the girl, his two beefy cohorts seemed amused. "But we don't feel like leaving do we boys? We've eaten all our food, and you still seem to have some."

Goyle started to reach for the sweets, but all three of the intruders were knocked off their feet and sent into the wall outside the compartment. The impact had hurt, but all of them kept their feet. They glared up to see the redhead staring at the with a cold and dangerous smile on her face. "Don't screw with me or my brother. It's more than you can chew. Isn't it nice to know you had your chance earlier and blew it?" The door closed itself in their face on it's own. Anna was sitting and watching the boy the whole time with a calm and even gaze.

A moment after a bit of stunned silence by Ron the door opened again by itself. Harry looked at his sister with a sour frown on his face as he noticed Ron jump a little bit as it did. "What's with you?"

"They're gone aren't they? I didn't hurt them."

Hermione was standing in the door looking at them all. "What's going on? What happened? Why was that boy running down the hallway away from here. He looked scared out of his wits."

"How did you do that?" Ron's jaw was hanging as he stared at the girl.

Harry looked surprised. "What? You can't?"

"No. I don't think what we've done so far is really magic at all. It's something else entirely." She was grinning at him with her new expression. It was giving him the creeps.

Harry shook his head in an attempt to clear away his confusion. "Huh?"

"I've memorized all the books we've got for the year. What happened? Maybe I know the answer already." Granger seemed quite proud of herself.

Ron was looking at the floor. "Um..." He wasn't so sure he should say anything. Neither one of the twins had given him any indication of what to say either way. He didn't want to get on their bad side. The girl more so than her brother. He was starting to like Harry.

"Anna's just weird." Harry shook his head and sighed. "Look, don't worry about it all right. I'm sure we'll find out something later. We've got a whole year of school."

"I told you I've read everything." Hermione's curiosity made her pushier.

Anna was making a mental note of that as she sat there and let the scene play out, more for her own amusement than anything. She wouldn't be able to tease him this way as much in the near future and she knew it. He was going to be very busy after a while.

Harry glanced over at Anna. "Haven't got anything to say?"

"Yes. Please do." Hermione poked her nose in again. The pair ignored her.

"You'll all be good friends by the time the year is out." She pulled the brim of her cap down over her eyes and relaxed.

"What a difficult girl!" exclaimed Hermione.

"She's always like that." Harry sighed and looked at the girl for a moment. "Granger huh? Have a seat if you'd like. Sounds like we'll be seeing a lot of each other what with us being in the same house and all. We'll probably end up hanging out I guess."

"What?" The girl looked confused by the offer.

"With her? Are you mad?" Ron looked a bit shocked. He seemed to realize what he had said. "Um, no offense, err. I mean..."

"Just because your sister said..."

"She hasn't been wrong yet." He sat backed down and looked at the pair standing on either side of him. He could see his sister smirking as she watched them from behind from under her cap.

"What?" Hermione sat down as soon as the words left his mouth.

"She's been telling me all about what's going to happen next just before it does for the last few hours. It's getting really irritating, and she knows it. I'm kind of cross with her." He was glaring daggers at her, but she'd stopped watching them and seemed to be sleeping.

"Your sister can see the future?" Ron's eyes were as wide as saucers as he gripped Harry by his forearm.

Harry looked over at him. "Huh?"

"Harry, that's a rare gift!" Hermione seemed even more excited about the next clue. She was pretty sure that foreseeing a few things wouldn't send Malfoy and his cronies hauling away like they did at first. They'd tried to play it off by slowing to a walk, but they were rushing past her as fast as they could when she'd seen them in the hall for a moment from her own compartment.

"Malfoy will always be trouble. Don't trust him, and don't turn your back on him.. We're about to arrive by the way." Anna sat up and pulled her uniform robe on. She tucked the ball cap away in her rear pants pocket. The two boys started doing the same as Hermione rushed away.

OOooOOooOO

Hedwig and Carrot were in their cages in the shadows of the corner of the cart furthest from the children. The were tucked behind a bench right beside one another behind the luggage.

Harry's owl seemed uninterested in the children below and preened herself.

"Blasted rail cars." Carrot's eyes narrowed as he peered down at the paper in his cage. "Hedwig. Pay attention now. We'll be in the owlery soon. Now that we're free of that infernal store, we can finally initiate my plans to conquer the world! I have the details of tonight's plan written down, though we may have to postpone until tomorrow. Moving can be a bit of a hassle." The bird had a small ink bottle that he was dipping his right middle claw into to use like a pen. "Soon, we will end our lives of servitude, delivering love letters, and thoughtless drivel from these children. Yes. Soon, we will rule the world!"

Harry's owl was being very quiet as he spoke to the other owl. Hedwig gave him her attention and gave a soft nasal hoot in reply. "Naaarrfff."

Both owls went rigid and appeared to be just waking up as the children went over to check on them before turning away.

OOooOOooOO

As they were walking out the door Anna forced Ron to stop long enough to rub his robe against the edge of his nose. "Dirt."

He blinked and blushed a bit at the handling he'd gotten and just nodded.

"Don't worry so much. You'll be fine. Well, this year anyway." The redhead turned and followed her brother off the train with her weird smile. It was like she was almost cheerful, all the time. Something seemed a bit off about it.

Then his brain clicked onto something. "Wait? What do you mean 'this year'?" His eyes went wide and he followed after her in a bit of a rush. Once off the train he was forced into silence as faculty began to take over the crowds of students gathered at the station.

Harry was the first off and soon found Ron and his sister stumbling onto his back. Even Anna looked a little disoriented as she looked around. "Now what?"

Anna glared up at him. "I think you two can figure this one out on your own."

Hagrid's voice over the crowd cut the conversation short. Harry's head turned towards the sound and found the giant with no trouble. He was waving his arm and calling the first year students over. "Firs years! Firs years! O'er here! All right there Harry? Anna?"

His grin faded a bit as he mentioned her. If the girl wasn't sure, he looked terrified of her. She nodded in greeting and continued to smile at him like everyone else she'd met thus far who wasn't a muggle. Hagrid looked a little pale, and his forehead was sweating a bit. "Well, any more firs years? Follow me, C'mon then."

They walked down a dark and narrow path. No one could really see what they were walking past as they moved through the narrow decent. The boy who kept losing his toad sniffed a bit, but everyone else was silent.

"Ahh!" Hagrid's alarmed start caused a few squeaks in the line behind him as Anna moved up to his side from what seemed to him like out of nowhere. Harry and the others were a good bit behind them.

The redhead grinned up at him and wiped her finger across the bottom of her nose as if to rub on a small itch. "Hagrid, do me a favor. Make sure Harry is called before me in the sorting ceremony? I'm not sure who I'd ask. I'd rather he didn't find out either, well, not till after."

Hagrid seemed a bit relieved. "All right. I c'n do that fer ya. Jus got to give word to Professor McGonagall."

"Thanks." She moved back towards Harry and Ron a little ways into the crowd.

"What was that about?" Harry seemed a little irate with her.

"Yeh'll get her firs sight o' Hogwarts in a sec. Jus round this bend here." Hagrid paused long enough to look over his shoulder and call back to the children before moving on around the corner.

The path took them to the beach of a great black lake that reflected the stars on it like glass. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, was a large castle with many towers and turrets. Anna was standing a little slack jawed at the sight of it along with everyone else. She was also glad for the distraction, Harry had forgotten about his question as soon as the words came out of Hagrid's mouth.

"Impressive." She commented as she and the others noticed the boats waiting on shore.

"No more 'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called out over the still somewhat dazed crowd.

Nevill wasn't present in the boat for the ride to the castle. Anna sat with her brother, Ron, and Hermione.

The boats were self propelled and glided their way across the lake towards the castle. Everyone was silent and staring up at the great castle as it loomed over them. It grew more impressive and grand, and in some ways frightening as they drew nearer.

Finally, they reached the cliff on which it stood. On Hagrid's orders, they all bent down to clear a small gap that led to a long tunnel that carried them right up under the castle. They reached a sort of indoor harbor and most of them scrambled to shore.

Harry's sour mood had faded during the trip. "I'm looking forward to this."

"So am I." Even Anna's new grin didn't crack his attitude as he followed after Hagrid. Hermione and Ron looked at each other and shrugged.

"I wish I was looking forward to it that much." Ron hung his head a little and lagged behind the girl as she moved away without another word.

"Honestly. I don't see myself being very good friends with...that boy." Her eyebrows furrowed a bit as she thought about it.

OOooOOooOO

""Everyone here? You still got yer toad?" Hagrid was standing in front of a large set of oak doors. They were at the top of a stairwell that lead from the docks. He raised his hand and knocked three times.

The door swung open right away and a tall black haired witch in emerald green robes stood and looked past the giant with a rather stern look on her face.

"Don't cross this one." Thought Harry to himself.

"The firs years, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid seemed quite relieved to be seeing her for some reason. The woman took notice. "Difficult bunch this year Hagrid."

"Not really." He didn't look like he was lying, but he didn't look like he was telling her everything either. "I've got a request from one of the students as well." She was surprised to note he was trying to be a bit quiet about it.

She narrowed her eyes at him and stepped inside. "Inside." She didn't have time to grill him, but she did want to take him aside for a moment at least. "Wait here quietly. This will only take a moment."

OoooOOooOO

The door remained closed for about a minute and a half before it opened again. The students were all standing around and noticed Hagrid was gone. "Very well. I shall be taking over now. I apologize for the wait." She led them through a great torch lit hall, and up a set of marble stairs that took them to the upper levels. At the end of the stairs, they found themselves in a flagged stone hallway. Hundreds of voices could be heard through a doorway on their right. She walked by it ignoring the students' gazes as they peered at the door as they went by. Instead, they found themselves in a small empty chamber of the hall.

The woman stopped in front of the doors and looked down at them all. "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. Sorting is a very important ceremony because while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room"

She paused for a moment while the children took that in before starting again. "The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours"

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." She watched them for a moment as the children tried to groom themselves a little. There were a few small successes, but little difference otherwise. "I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." She turned and entered the doors and left them in the small room.

"I heard it hurts a bit." Ron was looking a bit pale.

"No. It's just a hat that sings and tells you where to go. No big deal." Anna patted his shoulder. "I already told you. Don't worry so much."

Harry had pretty much given up on Anna being wrong today. He shrugged. '''I believe her."

Hermione was muttering to herself about all the spells she'd learned and was wondering what sort of test it would be. After all, a talking hat was just silly.

"The ghost should be here by now." Anna was tapping her finger against her neck and looking at the ceiling.

"Did you say..." sputtered Ron.

Harry looked a little surprised as well.

A large group of specters were following the spirit of a Monk. They were all arguing about something called 'Peeves'. A few children screamed, the whole crowd gasped.

Anna looked at Hermione and narrowed her eyes at the girl. "A talking, singing, hat." She put her arm across her shoulder and shook her a bit before looking up at the door.

"I say. What are you all doing here?" asked one of the spirits as he noticed the children. He was wearing a ruff and tights.

"Waiting on the Professor." Anna was the only student who bothered speaking up at all.

"First years!" The fat friar seemed pleased. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house you know!"

"Move along now! The Sorting Ceremony is about to start." McGonagall had returned and the student body seemed to snap around almost in unison. The ghost floated away through the opposite wall.

The woman led them into the Great Hall. The other students sat around at long tables that took up most of the hall. There were four tables all together, each with it's own house seated around it. Elaborate dining ware was arranged for the students. Anna noticed the first years were to sit at the rear of the hall. The end of the dining hall's tables were unoccupied.

McGonagall pulled out a small stool, and then placed an old dirty looking hat on the seat.

OOooOOooOO

Hermione was simply staring at the back of the redhead's skull. "Lived with Muggles her whole life..." She remembered reading that about the both of them. Who could have told her? They had no surviving relatives besides their Muggle guardians. "Maybe they just know someone..." She was trying to work it out in her head and ignoring the hat everyone was staring at.

A few eyes were giving the redhead girl a second glance on occasion as well. A few other students were close enough to hear her prediction about the sorting method. Keeping it a secret was a tradition that dated back centuries. The lengths to which Hogwarts would go to keep it was almost legendary, but never spoken of much. From what Hermione had read in 'A History of Hogwarts' there was no way the girl could have known. It was said that revealing the secret after going through it unleashed a small but irritating curse that lasted for decades. That was unconfirmed of course.

OOooOOooOO

Anna seemed to realize that most of the staff was looking at her and talking amongst themselves. Harry was standing beside her and she was the center of attention as far as the table of teachers at the front of the hall was concerned. She was sure they were looking at her because she met their eyes a few times, some looked away, others looked thoughtful. She wasn't sure what to make of that situation. "Perhaps I got a bit carried away?" she muttered to herself as she lowered her eyes.

She was shaken out of her thoughts as the hat started singing. "Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, but don't judge on what you see, I'll eat myself if you can find a smarter hat than me!"

Anna made a mental note of that boast. In about ten years she was going to come back with the latest in muggle computers built into a hat.

"You can keep your bowlers black, your top hats sleek and tall."

"Damn thing can't carry a tune well." Most of the students around the redhead were still feeling wondrous about everything. She was very impressed. More than she'd thought she'd be. Still, giving the thing a decent voice couldn't have been that much harder. It was somewhat like watching someone in a Santa Clause outfit singing very bad Christmas songs.

"For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat, and I can cap em all! There's nothing hidden in your head, the Sorting Hat can't see, So try me on and I will tell you where you ought to be."

"And that's where the song should end, but..." Anna hated ceremonies. They seemed rather pointless. Perhaps it was just the sitting still and silent part that bothered her so much. Thinking about that didn't help though.

"You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart. Their daring, nerve and chivalry, set Gryffindors apart. You might belong in Hufflepuff are true and unafraid of toil. Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw if you've a ready mind. Where those of wit and learning, will always find their kind. Or perhaps in Slytherin you'll make you real friends."

Anna snorted at that. That earned her a couple of glares from nearby hopefuls of the house.

Malfoy was near the front of the pack, but gave her a dark and angry looking frown as he glanced back over his shoulder for a moment.

"Those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends. So put me on! Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap! You're in safe hands though I have none, for I'm a thinking cap."

The whole hall burst into applause. Anna clapped to at least appear polite. At any rate, she kept her grin in place through it all and felt rather proud of herself for that.

Ron leaned in a bit towards Harry. "Good call. Fred said we had to wrestle a troll. I'm glad your sister said something."

"I know, but it's still annoying." Harry glanced over his shoulder as he said it. She was ignoring them in favor of the sortings ahead of them.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hanna!"

The children looked on as the hat paired their number down one at a time. Malfoy gave her a dark smile as he walked by looking rather smug with himself. She was uninterested and had noticed noticed Hermione had positioned herself at the table so that there were free seats around her and smiled a bit.

Finally, Harry and Anna found themselves next as the last student in front of them went off to be sorted.

"See you in a bit then." Harry smiled at his sister. It had become obvious they were using alphabetical order and she should have been up first.

"Take care of yourself Harry." She smiled at him just as he realized she hadn't been the one called. She nodded at him and pushed his shoulder to get him moving. The hall was alive with whispers as people thus far unaware of his presence became aware. He pushed the noise away and concentrated on the task at hand.

He was a bit confused as he put the hat on his head. As soon as his seat hit the stool he heard the hat muttering to itself. "Oh, gifted sister eh? Already know where you're going do you? Hmmm, you'd do well in Slytherin. .You've got something to prove I think. Very disciplined mind, took a bit more to get through. Hmmm. You could become great in Slytherin. Brave, focused. A few interesting talents. Hmmm. No?" Harry was putting out a mental vibe almost daring the hat to put him in Slytherin. "Well, if you're sure, better be... Gryffindor!" Harry removed the hat and walked over to the table. Relief washing away any of his previous thoughts. He was a bit annoyed at the hat pulling his chain that way. He'd gotten enough of that from his sister. He noticed the cheer he'd gotten was a bit louder than the other students. The Weasley twins were dancing around singing a cheer. He plopped himself down next to Hermione after getting his hand shaken almost all the way there. He seemed a bit dazed as he sat down and turned to see his sister's sorting.

OOooOOooOO

Anna's name was called after her brother had reached his seat. McGonagall decided it was best to let things calm before she continued. She walked up to the hat, put it between her fingers and lifted it up over her head. It hadn't even ruffled her hair when it burst out, "SLYTHERIN!"

Harry's jaw about hit the table top. "What?"

Anna still had that peculiar grin on her face as she walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down right across from Draco Malfoy.

Harry went numb for a short time. He hadn't been expecting this, and he had a feeling she knew it was going to happen. She hadn't told him either. "I'll bet this is why she's been acting so weird." Harry had been so deep in thought he'd not noticed Ron sit down next to him.

"He's been like this ever since his sister got sorted." Hermione leaned in towards the boy as he plopped himself down in the seat his brother had saved him with Harry.

Ron didn't look that surprised. "I almost had her figured for Ravenclaw. Then, I could say the same about her." He nodded towards Hermione.

"Thank you, I guess." The girl wasn't sure how to take that. She gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"Those people, they look like..." Harry frowned. Anna wasn't like them. How did she end up over there. Slytherin sounded more like the house for future convicts of the wizarding world. "Ravenclaw maybe, but..."

"It's not that bad Harry. 'A History of Hogwarts' says that a lot of great wizards came out of Slytherin. Not all of them were bad, just...most of them."

"It's not that, not really. She didn't tell me. I think she knew." He sighed and hung his head. His problem was pushed away as Dumbledore stood up at the center of the table at the head of the hall.

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet I would like to say a few words, and here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweek! Thank you!" He sat back down and everyone clapped and cheered.

Harry turned his head towards the table. He'd felt something, and was about to ask Ron if he'd thought Dumbledore was mad. The words never left his mouth as he noticed all the food on the table. "Oh. I see now."

"See what?" asked Ron as he piled food onto his plate. Just about anything the students might want to eat was within easy reach.

The Dursleys couldn't starve them if they wanted to. They still weren't allowed to eat when they wanted, or as much as they'd like at times. Harry was loading his plate up as well. "Nothing. I haven't had a decent meal for a few days now."

The girl glanced up at him. "After all that you bought on the train?"

"Pastries and chocolate aren't a meal." He cut a piece off his steak and ate it. "Awesome."

Hermione nodded and did much the same thing. She had to admit, she hadn't known them long, but they were growing on her anyway already. She felt a little miffed that the girl had been right. She'd been perfectly awful on the train. She glanced over to the Slytherin table where Malfoy and Anna were both sitting with the Bloody Barron while they ate. Malfoy was far from pleased. He was also right next to the ghost.

OoooOOooOO

"Delays, delays." Carrot was hanging in the owlery, looking up at the night sky in irritation. "Blast. We don't have enough time to implement my plan for global domination. We must wait until tomorrow night." The redhead's owl was in a large cage with her brother's owl, Hedwig. Their traveling cages were hung on racks just outside the larger cages. "Curses, if only those house elves had not been so slow in getting us here. You'd think that living creatures would be more important than simple attire and personal belongings."

Hedwig's head turned all the way around to look at the other owl. "Why Carrot? What are we going to do tomorrow night?"

"The same thing we do every night, Hedwig. Try to take over the world!"

The other snow owl seemed to think about it for a moment. "What about tonight?"

"Oh. I don't know. Pick out curtains maybe? Come, let us not waste much time, we should not stay up to late. I want to be well rested when I begin to make plans for tomorrow night."

OoooOOooOO

Anna was ignoring the rest of the sortings as she sat down and grinned at Malfoy. He had a bit more clearance around him because the Bloody Barron was sitting next to him. He was already in a foul mood because of that. He looked more than a little surprised, and it hadn't worn off yet.

"I told you you'd be seeing more of me in the coming year didn't I?" She didn't seem unhappy to be sitting with him either. In fact, he was pretty sure she was enjoying it.

"What are you smirking at? You don't belong here, we'll deal with..." He stopped talking as he felt something pushing against his crotch. He looked down and saw a fork levitating over his most private area, pushing at his robes with a little pressure. He tried to snatch it out of the air, but was unable to pull it away.

"I'd be careful what I said if I was you. You might have to sit down, like I do, when you pee for a while if you don't." Her false looking smile never cracked as she leaned in and seemed to be having a pleasant conversation with him.

The Barron was glaring at her and had yet to speak to either of them.

Malfoy growled under his breath. "You'll learn soon enough."

"I already know. Your father's old boss will return. My brother will beat his ass, and you and your family won't be able to buy your way out of this one."

"You'll end up like your parents." Malfoy was feeling a bit braver as his fork had returned to it's place on the table.

"Exactly when did Slytherin house become a breeding ground for servants, dogs, and leeches? I intend to follow no one, and I'll help my brother finish that bastard off. Even though I know he doesn't really need the help."

The Barron gave her a grin and nodded once. "Best keep an eye on this one boy." He stood and left them as the food appeared on the table after Dumbledore's speech ended.

Anna dug in with everyone else. She could already see a few students eying her at the table. Some with more anger than others. It had passed down the table and she noticed more and more heads either glaring at her, or sizing her up some way or another. Her eyes turned up towards the faculty table and she noticed Severus Snape, the Potions teacher and head of her house, was staring at her with an intent but unreadable gaze. The was a tall thin man with long dark hair and a crooked nose. She wasn't quite sure how she was going to deal with him just yet. She was pretty sure it would be unpleasant. It was impossible to tell from the look he was giving her. She returned his gaze for a moment and he looked away, focusing on her brother instead for a time. It was easy to tell who he disliked more between them. Harry won out with no problem. His eyes narrowed and his lips turned into a light sneer. "Have to be careful dealing with him," she thought to herself as she turned to her food.

OoooOOooOO

Harry had pulled Anna off away from both tables near a corner of the room. Once the meal was almost finished, a few brothers and sisters went over to greet first years who'd landed in other houses. It didn't seem that unusual, but Harry had noticed he was the only one who had come over to the Slytherin table. It wasn't a good sign in his mind. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you can't follow me anymore Harry." She was facing away from the table and was speaking in her normal manner. Her new 'mask' had vanished the moment they had a bit of privacy. "I'm where I belong, and so are you."

"Part of some plan? Another vision?" He didn't seem pleased with her but kept his voice down. He had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot as he avoided looking at her.

"No. You have no idea how hard training you has been for me." She turned her eyes away from his face a bit. "I'm far from finished. It'll be nice to have a break from being your mother for a while."

Harry's face fell a bit. She was the closest thing he had, and the only person he was close with at all. Everything he knew he learned from her as far as he could remember. The Dursleys ignored them both for the most part.

"That didn't sound the way I wanted it too." She frowned and seemed to think about it for a moment. "Look, I've had to curb myself quite a bit because of you. Unfulfilled urges so to speak, things I couldn't do, because I knew you couldn't pick up my impulsive behavior patterns."

He blinked and looked at her. "What?" It was obvious he was very confused.

"You have to be a really nice guy. It's hard to explain, but you need to be a really good person. Brave, loyal, just, you know..." she put her hands behind her back and looked away with a rather shifty eyed expression.

Her brother was obviously annoyed. "What? You're not? You're always going on about the Dark Side! Inner peace, the Jedi way, whatever a Jedi is."

"You are, well, not yet. You will be." She seemed to perk up a bit. "I'm pretty sure you're gonna want to be an Auror. So it just fits perfectly!"

"Right." The boy looked a bit taken back by that. "What are you saying?"

"Harry, I'm a Sith. I only went along with training you the way I did because of this whole prophecy mess. One of my kind just wouldn't work out. You'd end up joining him, killing him, and taking over for him. I'm not keen on the prospect of having to serve a dark lord. I'm sure we'll get along fine. I'm not aiming to be a criminal mind you. It's just, well...I'm sure I belong here. I'm going to give them a right nasty time. Not just for you either, but it will help keep them off your back if there's inner turmoil. It'll work for you, don't worry. Slytherin might come out better for it in the end. I'm going to war in house with this 'Mudblood' crap. Heh. Should be fun."

Harry's jaw was more than a little slack. She'd trained him in what she called 'The Jedi Arts' since he could remember. She'd never let him do anything that broke the code she'd instilled in his training. She also brought it up a lot during the martial arts training she'd started putting them through when he was very young. They would wake up hours before the Dursleys and when the family had woken up, they would assume the pair went to school. She'd even fuss at him if he tried to change the Dursleys mind about something. "But...what are you on about?" The explanation didn't make sense to him and it was obvious. "Sith? You're a Sith? An evil Sith Lord?" He seemed to have decided she was joking and it was clear that he didn't find it very amusing.

"Dark, not evil. No way I'm calling myself a 'Lord' either, honestly." She narrowed her eyes at him and seemed almost playful. "I just have a different way of getting things done. You, are direct, forward, and honest. I'm manipulative, destructive, and subversive. Our goals amount to the same thing, and I've got no desire to ever start a cult or conquer the world. I don't like other people enough to deal with it. In the end, it's not about what kind of power you're using, but rather how you use it. Trust me Harry, after training you, this is a breath of fresh air. I'll see you in the morning. I'll be there to get you at the usual time. You're not getting out of training just because we're here. I'll be talking to Snape, and maybe Dumbledore later on to make sure it happens."

Harry was working his jaw and unable to speak as she slapped his shoulder.

Anna's new smile returned as she turned away towards her house table again. "Snape doesn't like us. He can read your mind if you let him, and you shouldn't bother with him. This year. Though it may look otherwise. It's a family thing that goes back a bit between us and him. He knew mom and dad, though I wouldn't recommend asking him about them."

OOooOOooOO

Harry hung his head and clenched his fist in frustration. He stood there staring at his feet moving across the tiles. After he made it back to his seat, he sat down again with Ron and Hermione. "I don't believe it. She did know." He didn't look up the whole trip and was now staring at the empty table beneath his head.

"She can see the future right?" Ron seemed surprised and a little worried.

"Yeah. She didn't tell me though. It's not like her to hold something like..." Harry's voice trailed off. She was like a mother to him, the only family he had. How well did he know her? "There's no way it's true. She's got to be up to something, but she doesn't want to tell me."

Hermione shrugged. "Girls are like that sometimes."

Both boys looked up at her for a moment.

"Do either of you know what a Sith is?" Harry leveled his gaze on them and he looked quite serious.

"Some kind of scar?" guessed Ron.

"Is it an animal?" Hermione seemed to be thinking very hard and wasn't coming up with anything.

"What is it?" asked Ron as he leaned in towards Harry. Hermione was right next to him, they were almost fighting for space, but not quite.

"A long story, and we won't be sitting here long enough for me to tell it I don't think." He glanced up and noticed his sister had moved up beside Snape. He and the other house heads had come down to get a look at their new students. The man had a tight frown on his face as he looked down at her.

OoooOOooOO

"Yes. Miss Potter? I've heard about you." Severus Snape was looking down at the little red headed girl standing in front of him. She'd called for his attention and moved in front of him so he couldn't ignore her.

"Yes. I know." She was smiling up at him in a most irritating way.

"Don't be thinking you'll be getting any special treatment." He tried to walk away, but she kept talking and brought something up he was forced to respond too.

"Don't worry. I know you don't like us because of bad blood with our father years ago. I was just wondering when the best time to speak with you about a family mandate Harry and I need to follow."

His eye was twitching as he glared down at her irritated he had to bother. "Now is fine."

"We need the use of an open space suitable for personal training in the early morning before classes." It was obvious Snape was expecting, or hoping for, something he could say no to.

"For what?" He hissed down at her as his eyes went bloodshot.

"Family style of martial arts training, there's also a bit of meditation involved. It's complicated, but we're required." She looked vapid and almost like she was unaware that she was being so irritating.

"I'm afraid we don't..."

"I looked it up. You're required to concede, there's a bi law in the school rules that forces you to agree. I'd rather not bother Professor Dumbledore with the matter if I can help it. I don't think he'll care much for me if he gets to know me to well." She still looked very sunny and seemed to be on the edge of enjoying the conversation. There was something off about her cheer though. It seemed, manufactured but not in a way that was easy to pinpoint why it seemed fake.

Something changed in the tall dark haired man's eyes for a moment. The tiniest bet of curiosity could be made out for a brief moment. "Why is that?"

"Because I belong here. How much you liked my father is of no concern to me, and I doubt you hate me enough to dock many house points from your own house unless you can dock Gryffindor as much if not more. I do expect you'll do anything you can to make life as miserable as possible for me and my brother. Does it really still bother you so much, after all this time? Really Professor." She smirked as she noticed him trying to pry into her mind. "If you have a question, Professor, feel free to ask."

His eyes widened as he glared at her down his hooked nose. "We'll see. I'll arrange your request. The Great Hall is yours for one hour, an hour and a half before breakfast. No sooner, no later. If what I've heard about you is true, then you should know well that I'm only giving you that much, because it is the minimum the school allows. Don't cross me again, Potter, I don't like granting requests. You can expect to make payment for this display at a later date." He made his disdain for her family name quite clear as he said it.

"Of course." She turned away as cheerful as before. Not once had he seen that grin crack, it was almost maddening.

She noticed Harry rubbing his forehead as she walked back to her place. She'd had to walk with Snape a little ways towards the faculty table to converse with him at all. He tried walking away a few times and she had to be a bit pushy and persistent to get what she needed done. Her eyes darted up at the faculty table and she frowned as she noticed Quirrel pulling his eyes away from the boy and move them towards her.

His eye twitched as their eyes met and he noticed her smile. He shifted his eyes away again and seemed to space out after that. Anna ignored him and sat back down across from Draco. The boy looked annoyed Snape hadn't blasted her. He paused as he caught a glimpse of a much more sinister grin for the briefest of moments on her face as she sat down. "What's she up to?" He muttered under his breath as his brow furrowed.

OoooOOooOO

The desserts disappeared and the hall fell silent as Dumbledore stood up to address the students. All eyes moved up to him as he cleared his throat. "Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start of term notices to give you" He was standing at a podium and was looking down at a page he'd unfolded for a moment before speaking again. "First Years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils, and a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." The Weasley twins came under his gaze as he said that. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry's eyes bulged out a bit as he seemed to remember something. "Cerberus. Third floor corridor on the right hand side. Anna told me about that."

"Cerberus?" Ron's eyes went wide. He didn't think he liked the sound of the word, but had no idea what it was.

Hermione seemed confused for a moment and looked thoughtful. "Isn't that the three headed dog from...?"

Harry was already nodding. "You don't want to meet him. I've got a feeling I'll have to sooner or later. Bugger that."

The girl blinked. He didn't look happy about it, but he wasn't petrified with fear either. Ron was doing that for him.

"Don't say things like that!" The redhead looked worried to even think about it.

The Potter boy shook his new friend's shoulder and leaned in towards him. "Don't ever talk to my sister Ron. It's probably better if you just don't know."

Hermione was nodding in agreement. Harry's sister was someone to keep an eye on. She was becoming a huge pile of mysteries, and she was starting to worry a bit about what she might find out.

OoooOOooOO

Anna got another odd look from Malfoy across the table. "What did you say?" His eye was twitching.

"Cerberus, a giant three headed dog. That's what's in the corridor." She was leaning with her palm against her temple and grinning like an idiot at him.

He could tell she was screwing with him. "How would you know?"

She ignored him as Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick and a long golden ribbon flew out of it. It rose high above tables and twisted itself into the words. "Everyone pick your favorite tune, and off we go!"

Malfoy's smirk widened a bit as he noticed the girl's horrified shock as she realized she had to go through another horrible song.

The whole school bellowed out the song off key and out of tempo. To Anna, it was pure musical hell. "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts. Teach us something please!" Malfoy was trying his best to be as loud and rude as he could, but she couldn't really hear him over the mess of off tune voices.

The girl clutched her head and gritted her teeth as the song went on. "Who the hell wrote this crap?"

"Whether be old and bald, or young with scabby knees. Our heads could do with filling, with some interesting stuff!"

"We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control." Anna tried to stave it off by singing a few bars to herself, but it wasn't enough. She started grinding her teeth in frustration.

"For now they're bare and full of air, dead flies and bits of fluff."

Anna felt a bit insulted at that part.

"So teach us things worth knowing, bring back what we've forgot. Just do your best, we'll do the rest, and learn until our brains all rot!"

The song petered off leaving the redhead cringing as the last few died off. "By Crom, that sucked."

OoooOOooOO

Ron's brother Percy led them to the first year dorm rooms and Harry, along with the rest of Gryffindor's first years were falling out like lights as soon as they'd changed into pajamas and hit the mattresses. All of them, Harry included, stayed asleep all night. Once or twice in the night, he rubbed his scar as it seemed to irritate him in his sleep, but he did not wake and never noticed.

OoooOOooOO

Anna was sitting in the Slytherin dorm room on her mattress under the sheets. She'd made a rather large show of tucking herself under them. There was only one single mattress available, and they had just let her have it. She watched the others all get into their beds, a few of them giving her annoyed glares as they settled in to sleep. This group of selfish princess would have been squabbling over it if she hadn't been there and she knew it. It wasn't just to get her away from them, they'd just bunk her with the lowest ranking member of their little group if that had been the case.

"God. They must think I'm retarded or something." She settled back into the sheets as one or two candles and an open window lit the room. After a moment the candles went out, and the moonlight was all that was left. They couldn't see her at all as her bed was furthest from the window and in the darkest part of the room, she was now lying on top of the sheets, watching the ceiling for almost twenty minutes in silence.

What was going to happen was pretty obvious. A few of the older girls in the room had been whispering amongst themselves during the meal. Her name wasn't well liked, and there were numerous plots to drive her out of the school, or at least Slytherin going about. Many were fans of the man who had killed her parents, and despite Harry taking the credit for ending his reign, the fact that she was his sister didn't sit well with a lot of the students in her house.

The first year students were still harmless, but the second and third year girls had a couple of years of schooling and nasty dispositions. They wanted to make sure she 'knew her place' and that she wasn't welcome. She could feel several of the older girls gathering in the opposite corner of the room and she seemed to be oblivious to their rather obvious plot. They were giving her glances and whispering amongst themselves before most of the room settled into their beds, and about eight or nine girls were giving her glares as they climbed under their sheets with their wands poorly hidden in their palms.

She had slowed her breathing a little at a time up until the point she felt something pull at her sheets on both sides of the bed. They'd used some sort of charm to do it, because she heard and saw all the other girls rise out of their beds and start walking towards her. A few larger shadows joined them from the stairs to the other dorms. No one tall enough to be more than a third year from the look of them.

After they were all standing around the bed, they all pointed their wands at the mattress as she slipped out of the way and behind them. It was hard to keep from laughing to herself as one of them brought up a lantern as the others pointed their wands at the empty mattress. They had just enough time to see she wasn't there when Anna put out the lantern, and closed the window's curtains at the same time. A few small curses fired at the mattress as a few had trouble catching up and were halfway through spells before the light came on.

A collected scream echoed through the chamber as they were all suddenly in the dark. A few of the older students raised their wands over their heads, and created light spells only to have an unseen yank them from their grasp. "Calm down! We'll get her, just like I told you! Idiots, there's only one of her, and there are..."

"What's the matter? Can't count that high?" Anna's wand came on and extended to the full blade length. The beam was red now, and gave her silhouette a dangerous look.

The girl simply raised her wand at the redhead with a twisted and insulted anger on her face.

Anna's blade was tingling against the soft flesh of her neck before a sound could escape her lips and she stepped to the side to put the girl she was threatening with her light saber between her and the rest of the group. The rather nervous girl dropped her wand, she could feel energy and heat from the weapon that was pointed at her. Enough to suspect it was dangerous. The older girl was hit by curses from behind her. The others had tried to strike Anna while she was detracted. The leader was shaking on the ground and unable to move. It appeared they couldn't do better than an immobilization spell at the moment. Either that or they weren't willing to go any further beyond the rules than that at the moment.

The girl's light saber made her impossible not to track and vanished again as she ducked into the shadows. She could still feel them in the room, and there was enough of a build up that she could tell they were going to try and barrage her. About six still had wands and none of them were bothering with a light spell anymore. They intended to bombard where she'd vanished with stunning spells until they hit her.

Anna was quite safe behind a dresser and her lip curled up as she jumped out of cover to the right of them. She got their attention and the group looked over still aiming ahead of them only to see her pointing her hands towards the lot of them without her fingers spread wide and pointed at them. "Fools." Tendrils of electric energy shot from her fingertips knocking the students on their backs. They were standing so close together she really only had to hit one to get the rest of them involved in the twitching mess the mob had become. She walked up to the rather pathetic pile they had become sending a few more small bursts into the dog pile of girls. "See that you remember that I know what you're going to do before you do. Strange that someone would fight so hard, just for the 'privilege' to become a slave."

She went back to bed and drifted off to sleep a short time later and wasn't bothered again that night.

OoooOOooOO

TBC...

Next time: The morning routine.


	3. Chapter 3

A matter of force.

Part 3

The first day.

OOoooOOooOO

Anna Potter woke up and looked around the room. All the other girls were still sleeping, three of them were still on the floor. Most of the rest had managed to crawl into their beds sometime during the night. She hopped out of bed and opened the dresser with her clothes in it. After she'd changed into an old black pair of Dudley's old sweat clothes she turned and stepped over the girls in her path without looking down at them as she headed towards the common room. She was kind of glad Aunt Petunia made her do the laundry. She got the fat pig's clothes to look like he didn't wear them long before they got them.

OOooOOooOO

Harry Potter sputtered and coughed as he woke up and sat upright. He was a little dazed as he realized his face was wet. He fumbled for a moment before finding his glasses and focusing in on the object in front of his face.

There was a pitcher of water floating over his sheets. It was still dark out and everyone else was sleeping. He groaned as it floated a bit further away and motioned him towards the door to the stairs to the common room. "Anna." She knew damn well she didn't need to do that to wake him up. He could almost hear her chuckle in his mind.

Harry changed as his sister had. His sweat clothes were gray. He remembered that they were more a rusty yellow orange when he'd gotten them. With a heavy sigh he sat down long enough to put his sneakers on before strolling towards the door. Almost as an afterthought, he turned his head and looked at the wand that was resting on top of the dresser. It flew to his side and he hooked it on a small string loop in the side of the sweatpants.

OOoooOOooOOO

Anna was leaning against the wall with a cheerful grin on her face as he emerged from the Gryffindor common room. He was glaring at her, half asleep, and wet.

"Good morning!"

"Where are we going?" Harry snorted at her grin and scratched his head as he resigned himself to his fate. He knew he'd feel better once they got started.

"We get the Great Hall until a half hour before breakfast. That's a little over an hour from now. It's more room than we've ever had before!" Anna was beaming and much more cheerful than he'd ever seen her so early.

Harry was grumbling to himself and almost staggering after her. "What's with you? You're in too good a mood."

"Aw, is ooh tiwed?" They had reached the doors and Anna was looking at a small cheap digital watch. The Dursleys had only gotten them for them so they'd know what time it was, and what chores should be done when. "Three, two, one." The doors opened as she strolled in.

Professor McGonagall was sitting at the faculty table with a cup of morning tea on the table in front of her. She arched her eyebrows a bit at the two student's entry to the hall. She looked at the boy and noticed his rather disheveled state. "I trust Mr. Potter will be able to keep himself together for class after this regimen?"

Anna and the boy had both paused when they noticed her. The girl's cheerful grin vanished for a moment in mild surprise before it returned. She curled one of her arms up and grinned at her as she pointed her thumb at herself. "Don't worry. I'm gonna wake him up."

The woman gave a small formal chuckle at that. "Oh. I certainly hope so. You two have a lot on your plate today."

The pair was already stretching and warming up. The woman's eyebrow arched again, they were both quite limber. Dumbledore walked into the room and paused for a moment as the pair started to warm up. Harry was distracted for a moment by his presence, but a quick soft slap by his sister on his arm put a stop to it.

The gesture got another surprised grunt from McGonagall as she noticed it. "Good morning Professor." The man sat down as Harry and Anna started doing a few laps around the hall. It didn't take them long and four laps was enough to satisfy Harry's sister that they were warmed up enough.

"I wasn't aware that the Potters had a family style." The old man seemed quite pleased with watching the pair work.

"Neither was I to be honest." The woman was watching and sipping tea as the children started sparring and threw a few lazy punches and kicks around each other.

"Interesting. Minerva, have you noticed something different about them? I do believe there's a great deal of mental work being done here as well."

The woman looked over at him with a small frown forming on her face. "I think the girl is going to be trouble. Harry seems to have a good deal of self discipline. I can see where he gets it now."

"Not of a bad sort I don't think. They'll both be interesting students. Especially if rumor proves true."

"Hagrid seems sure. I'm not so certain. There's something about her I don't trust. I just can't put my finger on what it is." McGonagall sipped her tea again and turned her head back to the children. "I do feel something strange..." The pair were wailing on each other in the middle of the room. She'd never seen such young children move so fast before. Neither one was taking any hits, they were dodging and blocking everything they threw at each other. The girl was doing a lot more dodging than blocking, while Harry moved around a lot less.

The girl performed an acrobatic flying hook kick that impacted on her younger brother's arm and pushed off it. He staggered back as she twisted the other way in the air and sent her leg out to brush his cheek. His fist had stopped when it was just touching her nose at the same instant. Somehow, the girl had managed to land on her feet and hopped back with a smirk on her face.

McGonagall almost stood up to put a stop to the fight. She was becoming a bit nervous and one of them could get hurt. There was something in the way they were looking at each other that stopped her. They were both focused on a level she'd never seen in such young children. Dumbledore put his arm on her wrist and she settled back into her seat. It seemed they were taking a break for a moment. Both children were panting and staring at each other with a rather glazed look in their eyes.

"Let it be Minerva. I think we should let them. It is a family mandate after all. We cannot interfere with it."

"Albus, They could get hurt. This is dangerous, and they don't have any family left who would..."

Anna's face turned into a full blown grin. Harry had developed a similar grin. Neither one had moved yet.

The old man sighed and shook his head. "She does have the right to invoke a mandate. From the look of things they've been doing this for some time. A bit of the mystery of these two seems to have been revealed. I doubt more than a demonstration would be needed to prove that. It's all she needs to force it I'm afraid."

Even Dumbledore's eyebrow arched as the pair opened their palms and grabbed their wands as they unhooked from their clothes by themselves and floated into their waiting hands. Both of the faculty were about to protest when they realized the pair was holding their wands in a rather distinctive and odd manner.

Two blades of light sprouted from their wands, one red, the other green.

"Red now?" The boy noticed his sister's blade was different.

Anna held her arm forward and passed her weapon through it. She seemed to have noticed the two faculty getting a bit alarmed at the display. It calmed them both down quite a bit and they sat back down with a renewed interest.

Without another word the girl shot forward like a bullet. Harry's blade locked with hers as he stood firm and blocked the slash she gave him with almost no effort. The blades were giving off a distinctive humming as they sliced through the air as well as hissing and popping as they made contact, but one did not pass through the other.

Harry wasn't having much trouble keeping up at this point. He could tell she hadn't gotten started yet as he waved his light saber around in defense of several super fast shots. His mind was focused on the battle and everything around them seemed slower somehow. Anna had called it 'bullet time'. He had no idea why, it had nothing to do with guns as far as he could recall. He went on the offensive and rushed at her. Slashing a few times and forcing her back, she'd be faster and more acrobatic soon, and that was when things got interesting.

Dumbledore was watching the match and stroking his beard. McGonagall was more than a little stunned at the display she was getting. The pair was bouncing around the room like a cage full of Doxies. They were moving about the room, rolling and balancing across and over the long empty tables as they battled. They stayed right on each other the whole time and even cleared across the empty tables and benches a few times as they jumped and rolled around each other. The hall was filled with the humming and crackling as the blades made contact countless times as the children battled.

The pair jumped onto one of the benches of the Hufflepuff table and exchanged blows a few times. Harry blocked a strike in front of him and then lifted the blade over his head to protect his back as his sister twisted around to strike there. She ducked under the counter strike and thrust her leg out in a sweep. He hopped over it and stabbed down through the bench as she pulled back and swept her blade up at an angle, missing his skull by no more than an inch.

The lightsabers passed through the tables and benches a few times during the fight, and the wood unharmed by the beams of light. Harry was trying to chop his sister in half from the look of him. The girl brought her leg up and pushed herself into a back flip off his belly and sending him stumbling back onto the ground She threw her blade at him like a dart, but he knocked it aside with his own from his back on the ground before jumping back up to his feet.

Anna had her sword in her hand again before he righted himself. She snatched it out of the air as the boy batted it away from across the room just by keeping her eyes on it as it flew back into her waiting palm and readied herself again.

Harry was doing much the same thing. Both of them were covered in sweat and panting for breath.

Harry grunted and charged forward first. He slashed downward at her.

The girl's smile returned as she tapped his blade back up with a flick of her wrist and the very tip of her sword. With another quick flick her blade had passed through his belly. "You got impatient."

He sighed and hung his head. "I know. We just got here, I'm a bit..."

"I know, and your enemies might remember that about you. You should be careful." The girl did look pleased with him though. They were both gasping for breath and hooked their wands back onto their belts.

"Another match?" The boy looked to be in a good mood again.

"No time. We'll cool down and head back. We've got breakfast and class in a little bit."

He nodded and popped his shoulder as he rotated it a bit. They started stretching together again.

The two adults decided to drink tea together in silence as the pair finished up and left to prepare for the day of school. They had time to return and change for the day ahead yet, but only just enough.

"I'm going to have a little sit down with each of the Potter twins soon. They are new to the wizarding world, and the fame is a bit of a start for both of them I imagine." The old man finished his tea and stood up to return to his office.

McGonagall remained in silent thought and only gave a short slow nod in response.

OOoooOOooOO

The Slytherin first year girls all woke up to a strange and unfamiliar sound. Anna Potter was singing. The most grating thing to them was that she wasn't bad. They didn't know the tune, and no one was about to ask her to stop after the night before. They got up and dressed in silence, giving the girl dirty glares and frowns. A few of them had flushed faces, but no one was speaking to Anna, and she had a good deal of clearance around her bed.

"Yeah, yeah. Time don't wait for no-one So my heart and my time I refuse to waste You thought you knew the score but There's just so much more when you're caught in the race What is love Without a flame What's a rose Without a name What is passion without pain It ain't nothing more than an empty space Give me Everything or Nothing, Give me Everything or Nothing at all, Everything or Nothing, Give me Everything or Nothing at all. He thought he knew who love was 'till he fell in the arms of another extreme But who's to say things can't be changed It's your world and tomorrow's not guaranteed Can't drive a car without the keys Give me the bowl cause a bite's just the tease What good's the bottom without the top And until I get it all, no, I'm not gonna stop, so Give me Everything or Nothing. Give me Everything or Nothing at all. Everything or Nothing, Give me Everything or Nothing at all..."

She finished her song as she strolled down the stairs in her uniform. Her hair was still a bit damp from her shower and she was fully dressed and ready for the day ahead. Most of the students had never seen anything but her vapid smile, and that wasn't changing that day. A few of the older students hanging around in the common room before they left were giving her odd stares. The first year girls all rushed out of the room with their heads down as soon as they had come down.

A tall slender blond girl who looked to be a sixth year glanced down at the cheerful girl from her perch on the back of the couch. She was sitting and filing her fingernails. "Sleep well did we?"

"Like a rock." The girl was almost beaming, it was disgusting. As far as the blond was concerned, she looked like she belonged in Hufflepuff. She turned her nose up as the girl walked out of the common room and into the hall. She'd been pleased to discover that music and films from her old life didn't exist here. There were comparable things of course, but a bit different than before. Anything she could remember, music, stories, whatever was pretty much hers to do what she pleased with. Still, doing it made her feel like she'd just burned five hundred illegal CDs. She was quite pleased.

Malfoy watched the exchange in the corner with his two guards standing over him. He was seated in an armchair with Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. "That girl, she's making a laughing stock of our house. Something needs to be done about her."

The older students around him seemed to take note of his words, but ignored him otherwise. "It won't take long. We'll have the others helping us get rid of her soon. Come on." He stood up and his bodyguards followed after him. He was still angry over what had happened at the dinner the night before, and it wasn't going to fade away anytime soon.

As he was moving through the crowd he heard a few other students talking with each other.

"I kind of liked the song." One of the fifth year girls on her way out shrugged and glanced around at a few other girls of varying age who seemed to agree.

"Potter, interesting girl isn't she?" One of the males was watching the door as it closed after her. He was also older than Malfoy, and talking to another boy of the same age. "I think she might come around to our way of thinking. She seems smart enough."

"Wonder what she did to those girls, to get them all rushing away like that? Have to keep an eye on her."

"Voice isn't too bad either."

The veins on the sides of the blond boy's head were pulsing as he left the common room with a glare that was a little more than irate. "I hate her already."

"What should we do?" Crabbe seemed cheerful and smacked his fist into his palm.

"We'll show her she doesn't belong here." Goyle seemed to agree.

Malfoy's memory wasn't much better. "We'll see, I'll think of something."

He never noticed Anna slip out of the shadows behind him and follow just behind him and his cohorts.

OOoooOOooOO

She hung back a bit and let him enter the hall first as they came to the door. Malfoy was trying to make his magic sound powerful and suggested quite a few nasty things he couldn't accomplish if he'd wanted. This had not gone unnoticed by the other students around him as they watched him talk about maiming the girl who was walking just behind him and listening in with a rather sunny expression. They were giving him and his cohorts odd looks as they passed, but no one bothered to inform him. He walked into the great hall and she gave him a minute by standing and watching the crowd go by. She knew Harry was already inside with his friends, the large group around the Gryffindor table made that obvious even if her senses didn't tell her.

She noticed Malfoy was sitting near the end of the table on the inside lane. He noticed her coming and straddled the bench like a horse, keeping an eye on her out of the corner of his eye. His plan was obvious. She acted like she didn't notice and moved within the perfect range of his extended leg.

As soon as he stuck it out, she planted her foot on his ankle and felt a satisfying snap. Most of the table was watching this as she broke the boy's foot and continued for a moment before seeming to realize what she'd done. "Oh. You shouldn't stick your leg out that way. Look what's happened now. Clumsy fool!"

Malfoy was yelling in agony as he gripped just above the break and shook back and fourth on his rear. He'd gone to the floor the moment the bone snapped.

"Stupid girl! It's broken! You did it on purpose!" His eyes were wild and angry as spit flew from his mouth as he fought as hard as he could to hold back his tears. A few still fell down his cheeks as he pushed himself back onto the bench as the faculty rushed up behind them.

"What happened here?" Snape glared at the scene and locked his eyes on Anna. She didn't look worried, or nervous.

"She broke my foot!" Malfoy was in obvious pain.

"He stuck it under my foot." She looked a bit cheerful for someone who had just broken someone else's foot.

"She did it on purpose!" Draco was livid and jabbed his finger at her.

"He's either very clumsy, or he was trying to trip me. Either way it wasn't my fault." She noted that all the other students nearby were studying their plates.

"She..."

"Miss Potter." Snape's quiet voice silenced the boy's protest.

The girl was expecting to be punished regardless, it was well worth it in her mind. "Yes?"

"As much as I'd like to have you spend your free time cleaning out last year's cauldrons in my lab this evening for this, you are to report to Professor Dumbledore's office after classes have ended. We'll deal with this at a later date." He glanced over at Crabbe and Goyle. They were both rather dumbstruck and had yet to move. "You two take him to Madam Pomfrey's. He looked at a nearby third year. "Make sure they know the way. I've a feeling they'll be needing to know how to find it."

The girl shrugged and went over to sit next to the girls in her dorm room. They ignored her presence and seemed a little uncomfortable with her being there. None of them protested, or dared try and get rid of her. There wasn't a one amongst them that thought Malfoy's 'accident' was accidental. The reaction of the younger girls to her presence did not go unnoticed by a few of the older students. There were a few eyes glancing her way in the area where most of the fourth and fifth year student's sat. Some of the older students had begun to suspect why she'd ended up in Slytherin. She was showing herself to be quite ruthless and more than willing to use fear and terrorize others to get her way.

Anna was busy with thoughts of her own. She wondered what the man wanted to speak with her about, and realized Harry would be getting a similar talk in all likelihood. Fortunately, it was something she had planned and she had an agenda already. "Well, sooner than I'd thought. I was hoping to find some time to speak with him alone soon."

McGonagall was speaking with Snape in regards to the incident and gave him a small nod before glancing over at her for a moment. The incident seemed forgotten and the pair moved back towards the faculty table.

One of the older girls a few seats down the table and snorted. "Mudblood lover."

Anna started putting food on her plate as soon as it appeared. She'd worked up an appetite. "That word is just an excuse to validate rude behavior. A pathetic comfort for a future slave."

"What would you know of that?" Hissed the girl across from her. She was a fifth year girl who was sitting near a relative and not normally there and she looked angry. She hadn't heard much about the girl yet. Harry would have been a different story. She did notice her Dorm mates give each other worried glances. They were giving the older girl small frustrated glances hoping she'd keep her mouth shut and not upset the little monster.

The little red haired girl turned to look at her, her cheerful demeanor had not wavered once. She wasn't afraid of anyone at the table, and she wasn't afraid of Snape either. It was hard to miss for anyone at the table the night before. "There is only one Lord Voldemort, and he does not share power." She spoke as if the girl had asked how her first day was going. "Slytherin house is not a recruitment grounds for the army of darkness, it's where you learn to make your own. I intend to see that he suffers for trying to turn it into little more than a breeding ground for dogs and worms. We should be better than that." She turned away from the girl and went back to her meal.

There were quite a few hushed whispers going up and down the Slytherin tables. Most of it was rather unpleasant.

Her head was looking down at her plate as a horrible grin formed on her face. She poked at her food with her fork as she felt the first glimmer. She could feel that some of the interest in her was becoming less hostile. There were a few students who had begun to wonder about the girl sitting near the end of the table. Most of them were further down the table. The information train had started, and she could feel discord spreading through the ranks of the Slytherin. Most of them were at least a little offended, but some of them were watching with what seemed like indifference. In reality, they were curious, and interested.

She knew to expect trouble from the older students as well soon. In her mind, the harder she hit back, the better. She was digging herself in for a long and difficult battle. Not everyone in Slytherin was a pure blood wizard, a few had muggle parents, and others had a muggle grandparent or two. It lowered their status within the group, and was a sensitive spot for all of them. She could feel something start to stir deep within a few hearts, frustration, irritation, depression. Legimency was a useful tool at times. Life was hard for a Mudblood in Slytherin house, they were at the bottom of the food chain.

As long as she stood strong on her own, she'd have support. The problem was standing up long enough to get it. It was the only way to earn real respect in the house. She would have to crush her enemies, see them driven before her, and listen to the lamentations of the first years. By Crom, it would be fun. She couldn't hurt them to much though, unless it was obvious she was defending her life and limb. Getting herself expelled would make training Harry difficult. The first year girls would be well under her control soon, they were all terrified of her already. She wasn't interested in minions, but a movement big enough to start an internal war in Slytherin needed more than just her.

Everything was going well in her mind. She had no idea what to expect from them either. The first year would be the hardest. It would be easier to sway the younger students as she grew older. Telling Harry what to do and when would have gotten old anyway, this was much more interesting. She'd get her licks in of course, but Harry could be left alone for the most part, with just a bit of prodding from time to time to keep things going the right way. Keeping Malfoy and the rest of the future Death Eaters busy was just the icing on top of an already fun cake.

OOooOOooOO

Harry Potter was having a bit of trouble getting around his new found fame. People would pass by him more than once in the hall, and whisper to others where and who he was.

It is most fortunate that he had little to do besides get himself and his two friends to class. He had let Ron lead at first. The boy led them right to the door that led to 'a rather painful death'. Hermione stopped him before he tried to open it and he'd turned almost as red as his hair because of it. Harry was about to stop him when she'd pretty much yelled at the boy at the top of her lungs, causing everyone in the hall to turn and look at the trio. The stares didn't abate as they realized who else was in the group.

The boy who lived just sighed. "Come on." He could almost hear his sister telling him to 'let the force guide you'." It was kind of irritating, he hadn't seen her since breakfast and it was like she was still there.

"Where are you going?" Hermione seemed to be thinking they were both lost. "Are you sure? I've noticed things don't sit still long around here." The girl looked a little nervous as she gripped her books a little tighter.

Harry just nodded. "History of Magic is first right?"

"Yes. You don't know where we're going either do you?" She frowned at him and narrowed her eyes at him.

"And you do?" Ron returned her frown. "You're as lost as we are!"

"Relax, my sister isn't the only one who can do cool things with their mind you know." Harry didn't seem concerned with anyone who overheard him, but he wasn't broadcasting it either. "It's this way."

Ron was at his side a bit before Hermione. "You can see the future?"

"No, that's her thing." He was being very casual and relaxed as he moved through the gawking crowd.

"What sort of things can you do then?" Hermione chimed in from his other side.

"I can find my way to class without getting lost." He hopped over a missing stair and caught his friends as they stumbled forward after missing the gap. "Watch your step." He turned and started walking again.

They looked at each other and blushed before catching up again. Hermione furrowed her brow a bit. "You should have said something sooner."

Harry was looking around as he walked, he could see the doors of the class ahead and his friends had grown quiet. He was starting to get back to normal again. His sister had been acting weird for weeks, plus the shock of Hogwarts, and the fact Anna had been trying extra hard to annoy him before they separated. She'd gotten worse over the past few months. He had a feeling she'd be doing it to him all summer to make up for lost time next year as well. "I'm gonna have to do something about that." He had all year to think about it.

"What?" asked Ron.

"Nothing. Just thinking out loud." He shrugged. It was obvious he was enjoying their company as he kept his tone light and warm. He had a sort of half cocked grin on his face.

Hermione found herself watching him and thinking to herself as they walked up to the door. "He's so calm. I've never met another boy his age that's this relaxed all the time. It seems the only thing that gets him going like that so far is his sister."

As the group walked up to the door he glanced down at her before he opened the door. "Don't look at me directly when you're thinking about me when we're this close. I can hear it."

The girl's eyes went wide as her cheeks flushed.

"Must be useful." Ron thought that was about the coolest thing he'd ever heard.

"You have no idea." Harry nodded as they walked into the class.

OOooOOooOO

Harry was glad his sister had set up the morning work out. He would have passed out in the class if she hadn't. Hermione and Ron were yawning and stretching as they walked out of class together.

"I was hoping a class taught by a ghost would be cooler." Ron scratched his cheek as he peered into the hall in a drowsy haze.

"Was a bit dry wasn't it?" The girl was rubbing on her neck. She was much more alert than the red haired boy.

OOooOOooOO

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher was a tiny man. He was standing on a pile of books behind his desk so he could see his students over it. Harry gave him a small push to keep him upright after he reached his name on the roll call. The small wizard didn't seem to notice that he hadn't done it on his own and gave a small nervous laugh before clearing his throat and continuing.

After that the class was all given a feather and the Teacher moved over to another pile of books in front of a chalk board.

Flitwick explained that they would be using their wands to make the feathers float in the air. He asked them to pull out their wands.

Harry was holding his out with everyone else. Then he realized everyone was looking at him.

"Harry, he said take out your wand." Ron looked a bit embarrassed.

"Young man, I asked that you ready your wand." The teacher seemed flustered and bemused.

"Oh, sorry." Harry turned on his wand and a short seven inch beam of light emerged from the metal handle in his grip.

There was a dead silence for a long moment.

"Whoa." Ron's eyes went wide as he stared at the wand.

Flitwick almost fell over yet again, but managed to catch himself on the board.

"Where did you get that wand?" Hermione was impressed.

In fact, all of the first year Griffindors in the room seemed to be very interested in that answer. A myriad of voices made that apparent. The Teacher called out and quieted them with a bit of effort.

He hopped down and walked over to the boy, who seemed a bit uncomfortable with all the attention. "A most unique wand. Might I ask where you acquired it? Doesn't look like Olivander's work to me."

"My sister made it for me. She's got one too."

"Might I?" The small teacher raised his wand up to the beam of light.

Harry nodded and held it forward a little more. The small teacher tapped his own wand against the side of the light. He was quite surprised to find it felt a little solid. "I'm pleasantly surprised you had the sense to have an expert approve the wand. We've had a few home made wands brought in by students before, it was often disastrous." He rolled his eyes and skittered over to the stack of books again.

OOooOOooOO

Flitwick had almost fallen off his books more than six times over the course of the class. He'd done it again when Harry had floated his feather around the room like a paper glider without using his wand. Before the end of class he'd caught on to the fact that Harry was keeping him upright. He found himself to be the uncomfortable center of attention yet again when he'd been awarded two house points for his efforts.

OOooOOooOO

Hermione was getting the feeling Harry wasn't used to being the center of attention. Not much of a surprise considering his muggle upbringing. She'd only discovered his fame a few months before. What was surprising, was that he didn't seem to like it much. He ignored it when he could, and looked uncomfortable with it when it was to big to ignore. "You don't like being famous?"

"I might not mind so much if I was rich too." He thought about it for a minute. "Oh yeah." He stood there with his shoulders hanging. "I dunno. Anna and I kind of like to not be seen. We've lived that way since I can remember. It's better when the people we live with don't really notice we're there."

"Well, that stuff you can do is, amazing! I wish I could get a wand like that." Ron looked at his own wand with a small frown on his face.

"I don't know if you could use one." He handed it over to Ron. "Here. Try it. My sister says they won't work for anyone but us." He seemed interested to find out himself.

Ron flipped the switch and cringed. It made a misshapen green spot of light on the floor. "What happened?"

"It's an electric torch?" Hermione seemed a little confused.

"To anyone but me and Anna as far as I know." The boy shrugged. "Huh. Guess she was right. No surprise there." He seemed a little annoyed as he said the last part, but it was gone just as fast as it appeared.

"Lunch at last!" Ron's face flooded with relief as he realized they were halfway done for the day.

OOooOOooOO

Hostile intent was easy for Harry to pick up on. He'd felt a lot of it from the Slytherin students. It was kind of hard to miss the glares he was getting. He and his friends passed by more of them on the way to Transfiguration. It was the last class of the day for them and also the longest. Classes at Hogwarts varied in length depending on the subject, and the next day they would be seeing a different group of teachers.

McGonagall gave them a firm talking to right away. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time.

McGonagall loved notes. She filled the chalkboard more than once with lots of complicated formulas and notes. She pursed her lips as she noticed Harry Potter was looking at his book while his pen floated in the air over his parchment. "Mr. Potter. I do not allow self writing pens in my classroom. Put it away and use your standard quill please."

"This is my standard quill." He plucked it out of the air and looked up at her.

She walked up to his desk at a brisk pace and looked down at his notes and plucked his pen from his grip.

He was sinking into his seat with a frown on his face as he realized everyone was looking at him again.

"I suppose I should have known better." The woman sighed. "Very well Mr. Potter." She placed it back into the ink well. She walked back up to the chalkboard and turned to face the class. "Mr. Potter must still pay attention to take notes, self writing pens do not require that. I'll not allow them in my class room. The rest of you should remember that." She turned and faced the board again.

Harry's pen brushed some of the ink off on the rim of the well and went back to work as she did so.

OOooOOooOO

Harry frowned as he glanced over at the Slytherin table. Anna wasn't there. She'd missed dinner and he was getting nervous.

"Still hasn't shown up? Are you sure she's not sitting somewhere over there?" Hermione looked concerned. Harry didn't look more than a little agitated at his sister's absence.

"I'd know if she was in the room. She's not here. I wonder where she is?" The boy reached down to poke at the remains of his dessert. Snape and McGonagall walked out one of the doors near the end of the hall together. Dumbledore was absent as well.

"Do you think she's in trouble?" Ron looked nervous. Harry was starting to think he enjoyed scaring himself a little.

"No. I'd know that too." He glanced over at the table again. He noticed some of them were glaring at him, but ignored it. Most of them didn't notice or care where he was looking. "I'm more worried about what she might be up to."

Hermione seemed to relax a little. "Well, if you're sure."

"Yeah..." He was about to continue when he realized all of Gryffindor was getting up and heading for the hall. Percy walked by and stopped just behind Harry. "Everyone. We're to head back to the common area and into the dorm rooms."

"Bit early for bed isn't it?" Ron looked a bit surprised.

"It's not even really dark out." Hermione seemed annoyed. "What about free time?"

Percy looked at her and shrugged. "Sorry. It's not usually like this. Don't worry."

"What's going on then?" Ron walked up to his brother with Harry and the girl trailing just behind him.

"I don't know. They just told us to return to the common area and put everyone in the dorms. I don't think you have to go to sleep or anything. Professor McGonagall didn't say."

OOooOOooOO

"I'll bet it's something Anna did." Harry was frowning as he sat on the edge of his bunk with Ron.

"Snape did leave with McGonagall." Ron seemed to be agreeing with him.

"I hope she's not in too much trouble." He rubbed at his nose under his glasses.

"I thought you said you'd know?" Ron didn't sound alarmed anymore.

"It's not going to tell me she's in detention. I can tell she's not happy though. If she was hurt or in danger I'd know." He glanced over and noticed Ron nodding.

"That's pretty cool. I think Fred and George are kind of like that. Whenever one of them are in trouble, the other is around."

"I think that's more because they're causing trouble together." Harry smirked as he fell back onto the mattress.

"True." Ron nodded as he did the same.

"Ron, Harry."

Both boys sat up and noticed Percy poking his head through the door. The other first years were doing much the same, but most relaxed when their names weren't called.

"Come down to the common room. Ron..."

"Me too?" The boy looked confused.

Harry was silent and seemed to be looking past Percy as he walked towards the door.

"Ron, bring Scabbers with you." The older boy ducked outside the door and stood waiting on the pair.

"Scabbers? What do I need him for?" He had the rat in his hands as he followed after Harry. "Why do I have to go anyway? She's not my sister."

Percy frowned a little but didn't seem upset. "I don't know, just come on. There's a couple of Aurors down stairs who want to talk to you two."

"What has Anna done?" Harry was almost growling. "I know she's down there."

"I'm not sure, but she's got Dumbledore and McGonagall down there with her too. We need to go down and talk to them."

"What about the twins?" Ron was working himself up into a bag of nerves. "I didn't see anything honest! I haven't talked to her since the sorting!" Scabbers was in his arms and seemed even more sluggish than normal as he'd just been woken up by the boy picking him up.

Harry glanced over his shoulder at them halfway down. "Come on, we should just get it over with."

Percy slapped his brother on the shoulder. "He's right, come on."

OOooOOooOO

Anna stood in front of the door to Dumbledore's office. The stone guardian had been open waiting for her appointment as she walked up the stairs to her appointment. The door opened just before she reached it and she found the Headmaster sitting behind his desk with a cheerful grin on his face. His eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement as she returned her grin with her usual smile.

"Good evening." She gave a small polite bow as the old man stood to his feet to greet him.

"Yes, have a seat dear." He motioned to the seat in front of his desk. Her eyes didn't search around his office as she sat down. She kept her gaze on him rather than the odd trinkets that filled the room and dusty looking old bird in the corner. "I must say, you've caused quite a stir on your first day here at Hogwarts."

"It will only get worse." She seemed quite pleased to be sitting with him.

"Lemon drop?" He opened a small jar on his desktop and held it out to her.

She took a piece of the candy and popped it into her mouth. The food at Hogwarts was exceptional, and the candy was no different. It had just the right amount of sweet and tart to it. "Thank you."

"I imagine you and your brother will have to adjust a bit to your new fame. I don't often speak to students in this manner without reason. It seemed prudent considering the situation." He remained on his feet and looked up at a few of the portraits that hung from his walls. All the spirits were absent, and they were all empty.

Anna nodded. "This is because of the rumors?"

"Well, not exactly. I am curious to hear your thoughts on the matter." He was facing away from her still and he seemed to be enjoying the conversation.

The girl seemed to think for a moment. "Fudge is going to stab you in the back someday."

This caught the old man a bit off guard and he turned to look at her. He seemed more amused than anything. "Is he now? I doubt that, he's a fine..."

"I've never seen him or heard of him. I don't know who he is or what he does exactly. All I've got on the matter now is a name and the fact he's going to betray you. C'n be a bit vague at times. I'm sure of it though." She seemed quite pleased with herself. "Watch your back when dealing with him."

Once again the old man found himself in a quandary. "What makes you so sure?"

"I've been meaning to talk with you actually. It's rather important. Where is Sirius Black?" She changed the subject and ignored his question. A topic he'd have trouble avoiding and she had enough that she could push the issue if she needed.

She saw the color drain from his cheeks and he made a point to be facing away from her. He was very glad he'd chosen to stand when speaking to her at that point. "Sirius Black?"

"I've been having nightmares about him for years now. He's alone, in a dark and horrible place." She felt something tighten in her chest. She wasn't expecting it at all, and a horrible feeling welled up inside her. She couldn't hide the sudden surge of emotion on her face. It was more than a little shocking.

Dumbledore noticed it as well as he sat down across from her and reached his hand out to take her hand. He gave her a gentle squeeze. "My dear. Perhaps it is best if we..."

She cut him off again, distress clear in her voice. She didn't have to fake it, and found that more than a little disturbing. "Where is my Godfather?" She looked up at her and he noticed something beyond sadness in her eyes. It was a cold and dark anger hidden behind her sorrow. "I'm tired of dreaming about him. He needs help, and I've never been able to contact anyone who could..."

Dumbledore gave a great sigh. He was getting incite on the girl now and it was a little disturbing. "I see. Sirius Black is where he belongs."

"No." She almost growled at him as she said it. "He isn't."

The old man shook his head. "I'm not certain I should explain more."

The girl shrunk back. "You're not getting out of this so easy." She thought to herself. Staying with the Dursleys only made things difficult. "He's the only family I've got left. Don't even think about bringing up those Muggles either. They're horrible people and Harry is the only reason they still live. They're neglectful, weak minded, and abusive. We live in a closet under the stairs. They'd just as soon be rid of us, and they make it clear whenever they can. The only reason they put up with us, is because they're afraid of you."

"You've developed quite a temper. Much like your mother, I've seen that face before." Dumbledore's smile returned, though not as large as before. His eyes were twinkling and it was easy to see he was being honest with her. "I believe a young James Potter was involved."

Once again, Anna got an emotional response she wasn't expecting. She felt her cheeks flush. "I already know. I need to hear it from someone else. Jumping at shadows in something like this could be dangerous. One way or another, I will find a way to act."

"Sirius Black..." He gave a small sigh as he sat a little further back in his chair. "He's in Azkaban, a wizard prison."

"For what?" she seemed quite insistent. Her eyes told him something was amiss, it looked like she was expecting the answer to be what she'd decided already.

"Perh..."

"You think he betrayed my parents then? Gave us up to Voldemort, and murdered a group of Muggles trying to escape the Aurors?" she cut him off quickly as her patience wore thin. Her emotions were surging more than she had expected and she didn't want to drag things out.

This gave the old man a bit of pause, his supposition had been correct. It was also obvious she wasn't going to let him change the subject. "Legimency can be more dangerous than you realize my dear." He frowned at her a little and furrowed his brow as his mind closed up. "I can see that I'll need to be careful."

The girl growled and clutched at the arms of her seat. "I remember that day. Sirius Black is innocent. The keeper of the secret was Peter Pettigrew. Sirius was framed."

Dumbledore leaned forward a bit and leveled his still twinkling eyes down at her. "I'm afraid Pettigrew has been missing for some years. He is believed to have been killed by your uncle. I'm afraid that without..."

"How soon can Sirius be freed if I give you Pettigrew?" She got a dark looking grin on her face as she said it. She looked angry, but not at him.

Once again the old man was surprised and sat upright. "I don't see how you'll manage that dear. I suppose it would be a matter of confirming your story with the Ministry. If what you say is true, and Pettigrew is taken into custody, it shouldn't take long, once his mind is available to confirm..."

"Call the Aurors then. You'll have him before the sun sets." She looked quite serious as she cut him off again.

Dumbledore seemed a bit pensive at her mode of speech, but given the subject he was reluctant to chide her. His tone had remained gentle, but he was now very serious indeed."I feel I should warn you, this is not a matter to be taken lightly. The Aurors will not be pleased if..."

The girl's smile was gone and she looked quite serious and rather upset. She was holding back tears with a surprising will. She now had an iron grip on the arms of her seat as she hung her head and almost growled as she spoke. It wasn't directed at him though, but it gave him another bit of pause. "The only reason he isn't already dead, is because I need him to clear my Godfather's name. I'll rip the memories out of his head myself if I have to. Call the Aurors, I'm tired of suffering with my dreams. When the Aurors arrive, I'll take you to him. He's here in Hogwarts right now."

Dumbledore's eyes leveled on the girl and he remained silent. He seemed to be considering what he should do. The meeting was far different than what he'd expected. No student had ever thrown him off this much in any meeting. She looked confused, almost overwhelmed with emotion. She was shaking and gripping the edge of his desk with both hands in a firm grip to stabilize herself. "Damn. Why am I so upset? I planned this. I knew about it." Her mind was becoming a swirl of pain and sadness. The emotions welling up was something she hadn't planed on.

Dumbledore took note of her distressed state and nodded. "You are certain of this child? The charges against Sirius Black are very serious."

"I know, odd that he was never tried for them. If it's as simple as you say, in a few hours time, he'll be cleared. I used to wonder what happened to him, then the dreams started." She hung her head and seemed to calm a bit more.

The old wizard seemed very cautious as he asked the next question. "How much about this does Harry know?"

"I wouldn't burden him with it. He couldn't do anything, it would only lead to him suffering with me." Making it up as she went was difficult. A lot of what she was saying was only part true. She was having trouble thinking clear and decided being quiet was the best course of action. She sat with her head hanging and let the tears fall down her cheeks. She wasn't sobbing, and grew tired of trying to force her eyes dry.

She knew what it was, raising Harry on her own, with resistance from the Durleys hadn't been easy. Given they were about the same size, and age, hadn't made it any easier. The training was a way to keep both their minds off of it, and a way to keep a better grip on Harry's behavior. She didn't want to be a mother, and she missed hers as much as Harry did.

Dumbledore had already moved over to the fireplace with a bag of flue powder in his hand. "Are you certain of this? Perhaps it would be best to wait for the weekend. It is your first day of school after all."

She'd always thought of herself as more detached from the situation. As if it had been someone else's parents who had died that day. She missed having them around, but she'd never thought of it as the same as what her brother might feel. It was a hard blow to her pride to discover otherwise, and a most inconvenient place to find out. A flash of anger rose inside her and she pushed it back down. She'd been so sure she knew herself better than that. The redhead had been having dreams like she'd described, but never thought of them as nightmares before. She'd always told herself that it was Harry's family, and that she'd never belonged there in the first place. To her, it was just her subconscious reminding her of what she needed to know in the future, just like the dreams about the snake, the spiders, the werewolf, and the myriad of other things her brother would have to kick the ass of someday.

It was there, sitting in Dumbledore's office that she realized it just wasn't true. She'd been blinded by her own pride, and she wanted justice for her family. They were real people with a connection to her, not just characters in a book. "I've been patient enough. I want to see my Godfather, and Harry..." Her voice seemed to fade out a bit more as her eyes became lost for a moment. She felt ashamed to even think about her brother. "I'm not on the outside looking in, no matter what I seem to think myself sometimes."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed a bit as he nodded. The girl was strong, and proud. It seemed she had forced herself to mature at an early age. It seemed it was taking it's toll on her.

Her features formed into a rather tight frown. Her eyes stopped leaking down her cheeks and she sniffed. "I can't spend another night of peace, knowing that man is free, while the only family Harry and I have left rots in darkness and solitude. I fear what I might do if I'm forced to push it aside and wait. Wouldn't do to get expelled from Hogwarts on my first night here. Mom and Dad wouldn't like that."

The old man nodded with a grave look on his face. There was something off about the girl, but he didn't believe for a moment she was being dishonest. She had been disarming and already had an agenda when she'd entered his office. "Hagrid spoke to me of your prediction in front of Gringotts. You believe that..."

The girl got a rather disturbing smile on her face as he spoke. "He'll be trouble for a long time to come. You can expect more trouble from him, a great deal more. Voldemort is far from finished with Harry Potter. Old, Tom, he'll be around again before long."

Dumbledore had yet to use the flue powder and was eying the girl through his spectacles with another confused and bewildered looking nod. "Tom?"

"One cannot live, while the other survives." She looked at him again, this time her face was devoid of emotion. She seemed to have gotten herself under control once again. "Voldemort knows that as well as Harry and I do."

"You know of the Prophecy then?" His surprise was gone by this point. The girl was gifted, in such a way that wizarding kind hadn't seen in centuries from the look of things. He'd be very surprised if she couldn't produce Pettigrew.

"Yes." she growled in response. There wasn't much heat in it, but it was clear it was a subject she found unpleasant.

OOoooOOooOO

"Open, by order of the Ministry of Magic." The two Aurors sent to the scene were wearing white robes with red trim. They were both men in their late twenties and looked down at the redhead standing beside them. The door to the Gryffindor common room opened and the ghost of the woman in the portrait over the door looked rather alarmed as she allowed them through without question.

Anna looked up at the Aurors as they strolled into the room in a rather intimidating march. Dumbledore was standing behind them watching the scene with McGonagall at his side.

"What's this about?" She looked worried. "Why have my students been called back to their dorm?"

"Don't worry. None of your students are in any trouble. Something has been brought to my attention that must be dealt with swiftly. It poses no danger to the students or staff though." Dumbledore put his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture and she seemed to relax.

Snape strolled up behind the other faculty as Anna spoke to the Aurors. "Ron Weasley has an old rat named Scabbers. Pettigrew is an unregistered Animangus. The Weasley boy doesn't know."

The tall thin Potions teacher's eyes went wide as his lips tightened, he remained silent and waited at the back of the group.

Percy was in the common room as the girl walked in with the Auror's standing behind her. He looked very worried at the sight of the Aurors. All of Gryffindor's students were in their dorm rooms. It had been ordered about twenty minutes before. "What's going on?"

Anna spoke up first. "We need to see Ron and Harry. Have your brother bring Scabbers with him. You might want to stay as well, as it regards your family. Don't say anything about the Aurors, Percy."

"Scabbers?" He looked confused, but glanced at the Aurors and nodded with a bit of reluctance. "This had better be good." The boy was muttering to himself as he moved up the stairs.

The Auror's seemed annoyed at the girl. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape were all standing behind them in the common room.

OOooOOooOO

Ron and Harry both looked a bit worried as they came down the stairs. Ron had Scabbers in his arms and was petrified with fear. Percy was leaning against a couch against the wall watching with interest.

"What have you done?" Harry looked annoyed at his sister, but his eyes were on the two men, he'd never seen an Auror before.

"Hey!" Ron cried out in alarm as Scabbers was lifted out of his grip and floated in the air in front of Anna.

"Thought you'd gotten away with it, eh, Peter?" The rat was squealing in what seemed like agony as it floated in front of her.

"No! What are you doing to Scabbers!?" It was easy to see Ron wanted to rush forward and grab the animal. The Aurors and Harry's hand on his shoulder put a stop to his forward motion. He started to cry.

"What's the meaning of this?" Percy was on his feet and looking on in alarm as he grabbed both younger boys by the shoulders to make sure they stayed back.

Anna ignored their protests. "Harry. The man who murdered our parents?"

That got her twin's attention. He stood looking at the rat and his sister's rather sinister expression. It was the most she'd emoted since she'd been there. It looked like she had been crying earlier as well. He simply remained still with his jaw hanging open a little. He wasn't sure what to do.

"This is the one who opened the door for him." The rat was still struggling to move in the air in front of the girl. The Auror's were watching with rather dumbstruck looks on their faces.

"All right girl, that's enough. Hand him over so we can check him out." One of the men had decided he'd seen enough. Dumbledore's presence was the only reason they had put up with it as long as they had. The other Auror looked to be in agreement, but had yet to speak. He was feeling certain they'd be returning empty handed at that point.

Scabbers was growing desperate and clawed and nipped at the air. Anna noticed Ron's panic and spoke to him as she stepped around the rodent and looked up at the Aurors. "I won't hurt him. I need him intact after all. Stop struggling, you've been caught rat."

"That's impossible! Scabbers has been in our family for years!" Percy was angry at her.

"He's right Scabbers..." Ron's hoarse voice cracked through his tears as he spoke.

Anna smirked as the rat stopped struggling and glared at her with it's fangs bared as it managed to spin around in the air as one of the men reached for him. Both the magical policemen jumped back a bit in mild surprise. In an instant he grew into a small fat old man with ratlike buck teeth and a matted down comb over. The girl just smirked. "Don't go thinking it's any harder to hold you just because you're bigger." He remained in the air and grunted as he flailed his arms and legs about.

The Auror's had yet to draw their wands. "Merlin..." she heard one of them mutter under his breath. They both moved up and took the small man by the arms.

Anna dropped him and he shifted his weight from side to side, tearing his arms free of the two mages. He drew his wand and started to point it at them as he moved towards the window. He didn't get more than half a step away.

The fat man's hand went up to his throat as the girl's stare intensified. He dropped his wand as he clawed and tried to pull nothing away from his throat as he gasped and choked. "What's the matter? Can't cast a spell if you can't speak?" The girl's head cocked a little to the side as he fell to his knees struggling for breath under her intense gaze. Spit was hanging from his lips as his face went red.

Both Aurors looked at one another and back at the girl. They had already recovered and drawn their wands as they moved up to grab the man again. She noticed the men were watching her more than Pettigrew. She released him as they moved up to grab him and they relaxed a bit more. Both had taken note of the strange and dangerous girl in front of them though and eyed her with a bit more caution than before.

"Anna! Dear! You've grown!" The rat man was sputtering and rattled. It was obvious he was terrified as he hung in the Aurors' firm grip. Both men paused as she walked up to the fat man without fear and scowled at him as he hung from their arms. "You don't remember me do you? It's your old Uncle Petey! You wouldn't let them take away your old Uncle would you?"

"I remember everything." The girl slapped him across his face and snarled at him. His head turned hard and his cheek began to swell from the force of the blow. "I heard your name as my parents died. That horrible moment when they realized you'd betrayed them. I remember the pain in their voices. It hurt them more than he did. The only reason you still live, is the fact I need you alive to serve your term instead of Sirius."

The Auror's started to drag him away when she touched one of them on the sleeve. The men paused and Peter turned his head to look at her, both his eyes wide with terror. "If you escape, I will hunt you down. You can't hide from me. I can see where you're going before you arrive. Once my real family is cleared, there's no reason to let you live. Remember that." The two silent Aurors glanced down at her in surprise for a moment before dragging him across the carpet towards the doorway. He was fighting as best he could, but both men now had a firm hold that he wasn't breaking again.

Harry gasped as his head turned to look at her. "Sirius?"

Dumbledore and the other teachers had moved over to where he and Ron were standing in order to stay out of the way as the two Aurors dragged the pathetic sputtering man out the door. The old man put his hand on the boy's shoulder and looked down at him. "You know that name?"

He looked up at the man. "I've heard Anna say it in her sleep before. She'd never tell me what it meant when I asked."

The girl walked over to her brother and grabbed him in a rough hug. "We'd like to be there to meet him when he gets out if possible. Harry doesn't remember him."

Snape and McGonagall were both looking rather shocked at the scene. Snape's eyes were wide and angry as he looked between the twins and the door Peter Pettigrew had been carried through.

Ron and his brother were watching the scene in a sort of horrified shock. Neither one was speaking, and Ron was sniffling a bit. He wasn't crying anymore and had gone pale. Percy was in much the same state.

Harry glanced over at them and tried to open his mouth to speak. He had no idea what to say. He muttered out a quiet apology. "Sorry Ron."

It was obvious the pair was both shocked and horrified at what had just happened in front of them. The youngest of them nodded with a dazed appearance about him. "Scabbers?"

"Pardon me, Professor, but what just happened here?" Snape was looking at Dumbledore with McGonagall at his side. They were both waiting for an explanation with quite a bit of interest.

The old man shrugged. "From the look of things, justice." He sighed. "I'll speak with you both about the matter in a short time. I've offered to help the Aurors uncover the truth from Pettigrew before they leave the grounds. Let the children be for a while, it's a family matter and I think they both deserve a bit of time to themselves."

He was walking out with the two frustrated teachers behind him. "I must say I didn't approve of such rough handling. However, such loyalty should be rewarded. Ten points will be awarded to Slytherin."

Snape turned his head back to look at the twins. They were standing next to each other in the corner of the room. "You are expected to return to your common room before curfew Miss Potter." His stare was cold and unmoved.

"What's his problem?" Ron seemed irritated at the callous tone the man had used as he left them. Anything was better to think about than what had just happened.

"Family history. Nothing to be done about it." The girl looked almost cheerful as she said it. Her face fell a little more as she noticed the two other redheads were both giving her odd stares. "I suppose I should explain a bit." She was very relieved Dumbledore was handling the matter with the staff, but that didn't make things any easier for her then either.

She looked at the trio in a rather sheepish manor. Harry looked a bit uncomfortable as her eyes settled on him. She seemed to realize she had an odd look on her face. Her thoughts weren't making things any easier."The man I was is dead. I'm an eleven year old girl. Hard to get my head around that."

Harry was blushing and growing a little impatient. "Well?"

Even though it was more than half over, she knew it was going to be a long day. "I'm finally gonna answer what you've been asking me for more than four years Harry."

OOoooOOooOO

TBC...

Divergence number one. Heh. Things will only get weirder from here. Anna's roll will still be a big part of the story, but Harry will become more central as interesting things start happening to him.

Oh, and the song 'Everything or Nothing' is by Mya.


	4. Chapter 4

A matter of force.

Part 4

The first big wrinkle.

OoooOOooOOO

Hedwig fluttered around, hopping inside the cage behind Carrot's back. "What kind of academy is this anyway? There's a distinct lack of proper scientific equipment. We'll have to order the parts for our lab using our mail connections. It will be some time before our jobs at the Daily Prophet delivery section will garner enough for decent equipment. It could take months of work. Insufferable, delays, delays." He was using his claw as a pen as he filled out order forms from a stack of catalogs spread out before him.

"Where are we going to put all that stuff Carrot?" Hedwig looked quite excited. "Oh, I wish I could fill out forms."

The smaller owl seemed to shudder for a moment. "That would be remarkably helpful, but I fear attempting to allow you to fill out a form that must contain pertinent information has proved disastrous before."

"Really? That sounds like it might be fun! Narf!"

"Last time I let you do it, you sent our supply of explosives to the testing division of a lighter manufacturing plant. I'll take care of it myself, thank you." The smaller owl turned his head around to give Hedwig an unpleasant glare.

"Oh, right. Forgot about that. Narf! Boom! Poit."

"Yes, Hedwig, boom. Now pay attention." Carrot gripped her beak with one of her claws and pulled her eyes level with his. He seemed satisfied she was paying attention and released her as he returned to the business at hand. "I've obtained a map of the castle from the library." Carrot walked over to one corner of the cage and used his beak to pick up a small folded brochure from the corner. He placed it under his wing and moved over to Hedwig and dropped it between them. He used his beak to unfold in a rather casual manner. "It's part of the student orientation package. All students were issued them, but like the foolish sheep they are, most were discarded at the earliest convenience."

The taller owl nodded. "I love trash too! I had no idea you had a passion for..."

The smaller male gave her a quick head butt. "Not now Hedwig. The owlery is here." He pointed to the castle map and the larger owl leaned in to peer at it.

"Poit. I think I can see us!"

The other owl looked annoyed, but refrained from acting on the matter.

They were the only two owls in their cage, there were dozens of large cages around them built into the wall. The other owls wouldn't have much to do with them and hooted around them at each other. Each cage had a door, and the owls could come and go as they pleased.

Carrot glanced around and spoke in a more hushed tone. "The tower at the end of the hall is abandoned. We'll need to have the equipment shipped there. Once that happens, we'll be able to set up our base of operations. Our first step in conquering the world!"

"But Carrot. It says here b-e-w-a-r-e o-f gnumes?"

The small bird seemed surprised and peered at the map. "Don't be silly Hedwig. There's no such thing as gnomes." He glanced up at her and narrowed his eyes.

"That's what you said about Santa Claus." The larger owl seemed to be trying to think. "He seemed quite nice, brought us home after you got trampled by the Reindeer."

"In mid air no less," Carrot muttered under his breath. The smaller owl was scowling a little more. "Yes, well..."

"Bigfoot too, he turned out to be real din' he?" Hedwig seemed to be recalling fond memories of good times. "Then there's that episode in Ireland. Now that was squishy!"

All Carrot could remember was pain. "Hedwig. This is a bit different. There's no such thing as gnomes. Come on, we need to inspect our workspace." Both birds hopped out onto the ground outside the cages and waddled across the walkway towards the staircase and door that would lead them to the unused storage area.

OOooOOooOO

"Gee Carrot, sure looks like you were wrong on that one. Poit." Hedwig looked cheerful and a bit relieved as she glanced back at the door they had just rushed out of and closed behind them as hard as they could. They were both covered in dust, and their feathers were ruffled.

Carrot was on his back on the stones just outside the door. His eyes were wide as he stared at the wood and gasped for breath. He calmed in an instant and frowned. "It seems we must first secure our work area. Come Hedwig, back to the catalogs. We should be able to begin our assault on the tower tomorrow night. The equipment needed will be easy to express ship."

There were tiny creatures in the windows of the tower. They were leering and taunting, a few were mooning them and slapping their rears.

"Disgusting creatures." Carrot wasn't pleased.

Hedwig was making faces back at them and seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Come on Hedwig. We have to plan for tomorrow night."

"So we can take over the world?" The bird seemed to forget about the rude impish creatures and followed after her friend.

"No, tomorrow night, we're going to take over the storage room!" Carrot seemed firm in his conviction as he hopped back into his cage and shut the gate. "Then the world."

OOooOOooOO

In the early morning fog, two children stepped off a small boat and onto an old gray dock. Harry and Anna stood looking up at the gloomy castle and fortress. "Best wait here. It's no place for children." Hagrid hopped out of the boat and grabbed their shoulders to hold them back as they both stood on the rickety, waterlogged, wood that made the flimsy looking port. It was the only way on or off the island from the look of it. The whole place gave off a very uninviting vibe that made it easy for Hagrid to keep them back with only a few words.

"Charming building." Anna was looking up at the dark structure. It was dull gray, and looked cold and hard, very uninviting. She shivered and felt very cold. There was a chill in the air, but she felt like she'd just walked out into a blizzard in the nude.

"Inside is worse." Hagrid shuddered at the thought. "No place fer the likes of you two. A bad idea, bringin yer both here."

Harry didn't like the look of the place one bit. "This is where they've been keeping him?"

The girl spoke up in a rather calm manner before Hagrid could respond. "Yes. He's here." She staggered with a bit of drama causing Hagrid and Harry to rush up to her side. "It wasn't a bad idea coming at all."

She steadied and looked as calm as ever before they reached her. She was looking down the docks.

Harry was leaning a bit to get a better look at her face from beside Hagrid and she ignored him. She was smiling, but her eyes were very angry. The giant noticed both children's eyes dart up towards the other end of the docks and the end of the tiny pathway that led to the prison.

A man in wizard robes was walking a man down the docks. The prisoner's chains rattled as he walked towards them in heavy looking shackles that bound his hands and feet. He was covered in a heavy looking black cloak, worn and torn by what seemed like years of use. The man in chains had a stark white face and a haunted look in his eyes as he strolled forward staring out at the ocean beyond. His head was covered by the cloak, his eyes were up and alert, but very distracted. It was obvious he had not seen the water in years. He heard the word 'bastard' and nodded, the voice seemed very young. The smell outside was very different, he could feel a light spray from the waves as they smashed against the rocky coast.

It took him a moment to realize he was looking at two children on the docks. "Hagrid?" He recognized the Giant and turned to notice a red haired girl cursing up a storm just in front of the guard. She was giving him angry looking glances.

The boy looked quiet and reserved as he hung back near Hagrid. His eyes were flashing between him and the girl.

"Am I about to die?" he asked. The Potter children were standing in front of him. "A little young to witness an execution." His voice was raspy and dry, but alert.

"What are you staring at you asshole!" It was then that the man in the hood notice her kicking the guard in the shin. "Get him out of those god damn chains right now!" The man in the black robes seemed to realize she wasn't cursing at him, but rather the guard standing next to him. In a rather colorful manner for her age.

Hagrid and the boy were both looking a bit flushed at her language and were focused on her with a bit of surprise on their faces.

"What's going on?" He looked at the children confusion clear on his face.

"They didn't tell you?" Harry looked surprised. "You are Sirius Black, right?" It was hard to tell what he was feeling. He seemed rather calm, but there was something in his eyes the man couldn't place. It was obvious the boy was uncomfortable, but the same could be said of almost anyone.

"Yes." He felt something constricting around his waist and glanced down to see the redhead had latched onto him in a rather excited hug.

"Uncle Sirius! I brought you a present!" She was beaming with cheer as she looked up at him.

"What?" The guard taking his shackles off was giving the girl irritated and angry glares. He looked like he wanted to pull her out of the way, but the look she gave him as he started to undo the chains stopped him. She wasn't in the way and he worked around her."Hagrid, what's going on here? Why...why did you bring them?"

The giant looked down at the girl who still had her arms wrapped around the former prisoner's waist. He seemed to be rather pleased and surprised at her reaction. "She insisted. Said she wanted to make sure you didn't kill him when yer saw 'em."

Another boat had pulled up along side the dock behind the one the children had rode to reach the island. Both were only a bit larger than the ones they used to get to Hogwarts.

The man's eyes went hard as he watched the passengers of the new boat disembark. His muscles went tense and a wild and angry glare was settled on the group moving towards him. Harry uncrossed his arms as he looked on with a worried frown on his face for a moment. He glanced back over his shoulder and found himself glaring along with the man, but with nowhere near the intensity.

Sirius couldn't move, the girl had her arms around him, and he seemed paralyzed in place as she hugged him. "Sorry I couldn't wrap him. They wouldn't let me put a bow on him." Her words almost made him tear his angry glare away to look down at her, but he just couldn't take his eyes away from the small round man.

In the hands of two Aurors, Peter Pettigrew screamed and kicked in terror as he was ushered by the group. The Aurors and the guard who had brought Sirius to them were locking the same chains onto Pettigrew's arms and legs while the Aurors held him down. Once he was in the enchanted chains, he had no choice but to follow the man, screaming and crying as he walked behind the wizard guard as he walked away muttering to himself. They moved off the dock and out of site heading onto the rocky path that led to the prison and out of sight of the group. His cries took a short while to die down, and Sirius relaxed in the girl's hold.

The man fell to his knees on the rickety old wood and it creaked under the force of his landing. He was sobbing and leaning over the girl who had shifted to hold him in a warm and comforting way with her arm across his shoulders. "Not again. Not this dream again."

Harry staggered a half step forward as he realized what the man had said.

Anna was glaring at him over the man's shoulder and waving at him to come over. He moved up slow and careful and she grabbed his wrist to pull him over. "I could have used your help holding him you jerk. He almost got away." She was chiding herself in silence about not thinking to mention something about it to him.

He blinked and stared at her. His face flushed a bit "What?"

Sirius blinked and looked up from his sobs at the children. This part of the dream was new. The faintest wisps of hope began to stir inside him. He knew the dream would end soon, just before it became pleasant.

"I was thinking it would take a few days at least. I suppose since there was no trial and all..." She looked upset when she said the last part. "Well, I know you're not okay, but it only gets better from here!" The girl was grinning at him as she looked at his face with a curious and interested gaze.

"My god." She looked just like her mother. A little too much, she was wearing a Hogwarts uniform. "Slytherin?" He noticed the girl's house patch and looked over at the boy. It was different, belonging to Gryffindor.

Hagrid walked over to his side and slapped his meaty palm on his shoulder. "C'mon. We shouldn't linger 'ere." He had a wide grin on his face as he helped the man to his feet again.

Harry wasn't sure what to do. His cheeks were flushed as he held the man's hand to help him keep his feet. Dumbledore had spoken grave warnings about what kind of place they would be visiting. Standing there and looking at it hadn't helped that feeling. His sister was being a bit too familiar with the newcomer who had emerged from the dark place in front of him.

"I should wake up soon. Lilly Potter, in Slytherin? How odd." The man was almost grinning in a rather haunted way. This was the best part of the dream, just before it ended.

He looked down at his hand to the item that was resting in his palm. It was a port key, if he wasn't mistaken, it was one of Dumbledore's.

"We had to take the boat to get here. Hagrid can't use magic, and we're first years." The girl was hanging off his arm like she'd known him her whole life. "Professor Dumbledore says he wants to talk with us for a bit. If you think you can of course."

OoooOOooOO

Dumbledore smiled as Sirius Black appeared before him. Hagrid and the children were with him in his office. "I..." He seemed more than a little surprised to be standing there as he looked at the key in his grip in confusion.

"Well, 'ere they are Professor, all safe and sound." Hagrid looked like he thought he did a good job.

"Thank you, Hagrid." The man seemed grateful and nodded his head in a slight bow. "If you'll excuse us for a bit, I do believe we have some explanations in order."

The half giant left the room as cheerful as he entered. He seemed glad to be of help, and also a little relieved to get away from the redhead. Not quite as much as before, but Anna could tell it was still there. Harry noticed she didn't seem to worried about Hagrid's feelings on the matter. He'd noticed it as well, but didn't think much of it.

The old man extended his hand to the pale ex-prisoner. "It is good to see you again, Sirius."

"What's going on? Why hasn't my dream ended?" He was looking around in a sort of dazed alarm.

"You're not dreaming." The redhead was at his side again. The boy was standing on his other side, just looking up at him with wide eyes. He glanced down at both of them and looked up at Dumbledore.

"You have your niece to thank for your freedom. She led us directly to Pettigrew on her first day here. Quite a girl."

"H-How?" the man was stammering and wide eyed. The tiniest bit of color had returned to his face. Harry and Anna were both looking up at him as he talked to the old wizard. He looked a lot more alive away from the prison's environment, but still very pale.

"It seems your young niece has a gift, a gift rare in even the most powerful of wizards. A dangerous gift, that cannot be left in the care of Muggles." He sighed and sat back down. "I admit, I did everything I could to speed your release. Justice aside, this needs to be dealt with, it will take a while for the paperwork to be completed, and we have a few signings to deal with. The Dursleys can't handle her anymore. I don't think it would be wise to send her back next year, and I was planning on seeing to it they remained at Hogwarts for the holidays. I know it's a bit to drop on your head right away, and I'll be speaking with you on the matter at length once you've collected yourself. I can be of help in getting you in touch with everyone you should speak with. I'm afraid she's left me with little choice, and there's no one else suited to the task. I was in a bit of quandary until she came up with a solution for me." He looked pleased with that fact and gave her a good natured wink.

Anna looked up at him with a bit of surprise on her face. His tone made it clear he was talking about more than just her 'sight'. She was still smiling though, and couldn't wipe it off her face if she wanted to. "We weren't planning on leaving. You wouldn't have had any trouble."

It was easy to see her brother agreed, despite his silence and the distraction of meeting his Godfather, and the prison. The boy hadn't spoken, he was looking up at Sirius in a sort of embarrassed wonder. He seemed afraid of screwing up if he said anything. Anna was trying to prod him a bit, but it just made things a bit harder for him somehow.

Sirius looked a bit surprised to hear that. He was still waiting to wake up and find himself staring into one of the dementor's eyes as the dream faded away.

Sirius glanced down at the girl with the first hints of a smile on his face."Bit of trouble then is she?"

"She can see the past, and the future, with a surprising clarity. The kind of clarity we have not seen in an age or more. She has quite a bag of tricks up her sleeve from what I've seen. She needs an experienced wizard as a guardian." Dumbledore's well natured smile did falter for the briefest of moments.

"Yeah." It seemed like nothing was going to kill her mood. She was getting annoyed at Dumbledore, but decided showing it was not the best of ideas.

Harry was starting to notice his name was being left out. He looked a bit alarmed at the thought of living with the Dursleys alone.

Dumbledore seemed to notice it and spoke up again. "Harry, will need to go with her, as he has displayed similar tendencies. He'll be a bit easier to deal with though. He has displayed remarkable discipline and restraint. I'm not certain, but I do believe she's trying to conquer Slytherin house. I've heard a few interesting rumors involving her. Unusual for a student who has only been attending Hogwarts for two days. Still, her heart does seem to be in the right place. She might find a bit of help in the most unexpected of places."

"Unexpected? That doesn't happen often, but it's usually welcome." She grinned back at the old man. This was going better than she'd hoped, she was thinking she'd have to butter Sirius up the next time she saw him, and tell a few horror stories about the Dursleys. Dumbledore was making her plans unnecessary.

Sirius was looking a little slack jawed at the old man as he slumped down into the seat. "What?"

"I am sorry to bring this up so suddenly. I do realize you've not even been home yet, and you've got a lot to take in. Still, I feel very strongly that your niece needs..." He sighed and shook his head as he gave a small chuckle before continuing, "...proper and capable supervision. The both of them are unusual students, and an interesting challenge for the faculty."

Harry was a little dumbstruck at that. "Challenge?"

"Don't worry Harry. Getting around it will be interesting and fun!" The girl slapped her brother on the back with a grin that was only useful for sibling annoyance.

The boy flinched a bit from the strike and sighed as he gave her a halfhearted glare. "Whatever Anna."

Sirius Black burst into laughter, he was howling in his seat with tears streaming down his face after a few moments. It was so bad he was having trouble breathing.

Both children were staring at him, Harry was starting to look worried, but Anna smacked him in the chest and shook her head. He blushed a bit and stood in silence as the man calmed down.

He was still chuckling to himself with his eyes smiling as he looked at them. "Merlin, it's like they switched brains."

"Ah, noticed that as well did you?" Dumbledore's amusement was obvious, but the children were both focused on their Uncle.

Anna's eyes fell into a half lidded irate glare as she looked back and forth between the two adults.

"You look just like your parents you know." He ruffled their hair as he leaned forward to get a better look at them. His eyes lingered on Harry as he straightened up again.

Harry was red, he'd enjoyed it, and that seemed to bother him on some level.

Anna's face was more thoughtful. "Really? Hey, she was kind of hot..." She had her head down so no one noticed the quick flash of worry that crossed her face.

"What?" Harry was having a bit more trouble and looked rather shocked at the proclamation. "R-really? That's...good I guess." He didn't want to think on it too hard. He'd always been a little envious of Anna. She knew what their parents looked like and she could remember their voices. He'd managed to keep it from growing, as she also remembered their death.

Sirius was a bit bemused at the sight of them arguing. It was kind of eerie. "It's so strange, like your parents switched bodies. I've seen it before. Have they been to potions yet?"

This caught both children by surprise.

"Ah, the infamous 'potion incident'. No, I'm afraid they arrived that way. I believe they'll be attending Potions together at the end of the week, if I remember the scheduling correctly." Dumbledore and Sirius seemed quite pleased with their reminiscing.

The girl and boy sat on stools behind them they'd been ignoring and watched the grownups with interest.

"Haven't seen that one." Anna looked over at Harry's questioning glance and shrugged.

He nodded and looked back up at the adults.

Dumbledore seemed pleased with the way things were going. "As I said, I shall help with the arrangements. I trust they will be spending the holidays with you at least? I am hopeful everything will be finished by then."

Sirius seemed to remember what was going on. A smile was starting to form on his lips as he looked down at the two children, though they weren't the largest reason for it. He was starting to realize he wasn't dreaming. "I suppose I have a great deal to think about then, don't I? Something to look forward to as well." His face became serious and firm as he said it. He stood up from his seat and took Dumbledore's extended hand. He gave Anna a sidelong glance and looked down at her twin for a moment. He didn't speak and turned his eyes towards the girl again.

Dumbledore seemed to notice the uncomfortable silence in the room. "Well, as much as I hate to cut this short, the children have classes to attend, and I imagine you'll want to spend a bit of time getting acclimated. Both children have owls, so I expect you'll be getting a flood of mail from them."

Harry blurted out with wide eyes of hopeful joy. "You mean, we don't ever have to go back to the Dursleys? Ever?"

Dumbledore and Sirius both looked at him at the same time. They both looked a bit surprised at his reaction.

"What do you mean?" Sirius's eyebrows furrowed a bit as he gave the older wizard a quick glance.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "No. I suppose not Harry."

The boy sort of went away for a moment. It was obvious it wasn't an unhappy place though.

"I'm so pleased!" The girl had her hands clasped together and looked to be just as happy.

Sirius looked a bit put off. "What kind of people did you put them with?" He was glaring at the old man a little.

"They only family they had left I'm afraid. We didn't have much choice, the laws are clear on the subject." He sighed and sat down. "It allowed for powerful enchantments to keep their enemies from finding, or harming them. I'm rather relieved. Arrangements would have been much more difficult to make had this not occurred. I admit, I was becoming rather perplexed." Dumbledore noted that Harry and Anna didn't seem concerned with what he'd just told said. Anna was one to keep an eye on, a gift like hers could be very dangerous in the wrong hands.

"Horrible Muggles, they didn't like us. Treated us like house elves they did. Kept trying to 'discipline' our magic out of us. Useless disgusting toads. We're still wearing their son's old clothes. The fat bully." Anna snagged the chance to play things up as much as she could.

Harry didn't look like he disagreed. "It's not because they're Muggles, Anna. It's just the Dursleys."

"I know, and it's not 'just the Dursleys'. My house table is full of people just as bad." She frowned at him and stuck her tongue out. "I hate racist. You know that."

The boy sighed and rolled his eyes. "I dunno, you did end up in Slytherin. I wonder if you'd have done this if we weren't staying with the Dursleys."

Anna had her fists balled up and glared at him. It was obvious she wanted to say something, but thought better of it as she seemed to recall they were being supervised. She seemed to calm a bit and settled on giving her brother and evil stare. "I wanted Justice for my family. Getting rid of the Dursleys was just a side benefit. I'd have done it, even if he couldn't take us."

The boy already looked like he realized he shouldn't have said that, the reaction he'd gotten from her made him shrink back a bit more. "Sorry."

She twisted his ear with a quick jerk and let go. "Think before you speak jerk. Don't confuse me with that weakling Malfoy."

"Ow! Sorry! Cut it out!" He was irate and embarrassed.

Neither one of the adults said anything as the matter seemed to resolve itself between them. Their Godfather was still looking a bit dazed, but seemed to have his head about him at least.

Sirius seemed to realize something as he looked down at the pair again as he stood in front of the door. He was about to open it for them so they could return to class and paused as he looked down at the redhead's uniform. The children were arguing and seemed to forget about the adults in the room for a moment. The man seemed a bit surprised it hadn't sunk in sooner. "Wait, you're in Slytherin?"

"Yeah." She grinned up at him with an unusual and subdued grin. It seemed to be the default setting for her face.

"I see what you mean, Professor." He crossed his arms and looked down at her. "You think she's trying to take over?"

"It is, so to say, abundantly obvious. The first years are already terrified of her. Though I've been unable to discover why." Dumbledore didn't look upset, and even looked a little proud of it. "She'll do well there I think."

Anna was still in 'fighting with brother mode' and started talking again as she glared at them both. "So what? I'm gonna crush those, thoughtless, racist, boot licking, worms, err, within school rules of course..." She trailed off and tried to look innocent as she realized what she'd started to say.

Sirius knelt down between the twins and grabbed them both in a rough hug. Neither one fought, and both looked a little uncomfortable for a moment before he let them go. He spoke up, with his voice wavering a bit as he tried to control his emotions. "Lilly must be pitching a fit." He glanced over at Harry and snorted. "James is beaming though. I suppose I'll see you for Christmas then." He looked over at Anna and narrowed his eyes. "I'll be keeping an eye on you though."

She blushed and nodded. His look was as much a warning as it was a tease. "Should be fun!" She was looking forward to it, and seemed to think about it for a moment. Her eyebrows rose as she nodded to her self a little. It was an honest thing for her to say.

"It's almost time for classes to change, you've missed your first Defense against Dark Arts class. Tomorrow you must be up at midnight, for Astronomy. I expect you two to do your best, and get as much rest as you can this evening. You still have a full day ahead of you tomorrow."

The twins both nodded and walked out of the office with huge grins on their faces. Anna's grew a tad bit more sinister as Harry moved a little ahead of her and out into the hallway. It was obvious things had gone better than she'd hoped.

Her brother sighed and relaxed his shoulders a bit more. "Wish you'd quit surprising me like this."

"I'm gonna have to be more careful with Dumbledore. Wiley old coot. Heh." She was busy with her own thoughts and glancing over her shoulder at the office door at the top of the stairs as they made their way past the stone gargoyle and into the hall.

"Later Anna. Try to stay out of trouble." He turned and looked down the hall towards his next class and sighed as he stood there for a moment.

"Yeah, well, I'd say the same to you, but I know better." She grinned at him and slapped his shoulder. "Honestly, you call this trouble? We aren't being punished, and I actually earned a few house points from the mess."

Harry had a huge grin on his face and was in as good a mood as she was about it. "We get to spend Christmas with someone who isn't the Dursleys!"

Anna nodded. "I personally don't care if he treats us like military recruits, though I doubt he will. At least we'll be able to train without worrying about getting caught. He was one of our father's best friends. Mom and Dad always called him 'Uncle Sirius' when they were talking to us about him."

The boy's grin wavered a little as he seemed to think about it. "Thanks, that helps a bit I think."

They both exclaimed "Excellent!" and played air guitar for a moment before walking away from each other towards class.

OOoooOOooOO

Harry Potter was on cloud nine. It was hard to believe the emotions he had been feeling before then. Anna had told him the story of Peter Pettigrew with the Weasley twins the night before. He had been entrusted with the secret to defeating the enchantments that had protected their home. He betrayed them, and was hunted down by Sirius Black, but managed to frame him for an explosion that killed a few people and faked his own death at the same time. Since then, he had been hiding as one of the Weasley family's familiar animals.

Hagrid had come to fetch them in the early morning hours so they could meet Black when he was released. Anna had spoken to Dumbledore briefly before going to bed the night before about something. He only knew because Hagrid had asked Harry to accompany her for some reason. Dumbledore wanted to speak with them both when they returned from meeting Black. He'd been expecting to make the trip with her and seemed a bit surprised they'd even bothered to ask him.

The boy had gone pretty numb at that point. Family, not the Dursleys. An actual Wizard relative. He was their Godfather, he didn't know if they had blood relations, but any hope was a good one. He had suspicions that staying with them to much longer would not be good for his sister, or the Dursleys. He didn't like them, but didn't wish them to die horrible torturous deaths after being tossed into a dark pit of insanity either. His sister wanted to make them suffer.

The trip to the prison was a silent affair for all of them. The grin on the redhead's face as she looked out at the fog towards the boat following them kept Hagrid and her brother quiet. They couldn't even see the other boat, but her eyes were locked onto it's position at all times.

Once they reached the place and stood on the docks his heart was pounding. To him, it looked like the lair of an evil count, or a dark wizard. It was wrapped in gray clouds and seemed to float on the inside of a great cloud because of the fog that floated around it. Harry had a feeling there was no such thing as a clear day there. There were no sunrises or sunsets. Just gray and black, the color on their uniforms and his sister's hair seemed dulled as their surroundings sucked the brightness out of them. It was unsettling, and he was hoping they could conclude their business where they stood.

That had proved to be the case as Black was brought out to meet them. For a moment, Harry thought they were bringing a ghost out to meet them. The man was pale, and his face was haggard and covered in a rough but thin beard. He was staring out at the water in a daze as if he'd never seen it before.

His hope of being free of the Dursleys almost vanished into nothing at that point. Anna didn't have that problem and latched onto his waist as he looked down at her in confusion.

The boy almost forgot about the prison looming over them as he got a bit nervous. The man didn't look like he was all there anymore. He also looked somewhat alert, and confused. He noticed something behind him as his sister continued to hold the confused ex prisoner.

Pettigrew was dragged by them screaming and crying in terror. He didn't feel sorry for him, he'd sent his Godfather into this place. He might not have landed at the Dursleys at all if not for him. He didn't know much about it, Anna hadn't spoken of him before. He'd heard her mutter his name in her sleep before, but she would never explain. He was beginning to understand why, he'd thought it was a bad thing from the way she said it. He didn't even know it was someone's name until what had happened in the tower the night before.

There were other odd words and names she mentioned from time to time in her sleep. "I'll have to ask around about Cedric Diggory." He'd heard that one a lot as well. After the way she'd avoided explaining Sirius, he'd not bothered with asking about any other names he'd heard her drop in her sleep. He was still a little uncertain all of them were names. Sirius stood out, because she sounded sad, and fearful when she'd said it. She tended to speak only one or two words when she did talk in her sleep, but no more than that. Cedric was interesting though. That one didn't sound like someone she disliked, one of the few. "Margaret and Panzy. They might be here too." She'd dropped those names in recent times as well and didn't seem to dislike them.

As he stepped into McGonagall's class he shook himself out of his stupor as he sat down.

"Harry! What's going on? Harry? Drat, what's wrong with him?" Hermione's hand was waving in front of his face as she peered at him.

"Huh?" The boy noticed that his friends were with him for the first time that day. "Oh. Hi." He started setting his things on the desk

"Cedric Diggory is in Ravenclaw I think. I've heard about him." Ron was looking a bit confused. "Margaret? It's pretty common."

"I think there's a Panzy Parkinson in Slytherin." A nearby student piped in while he was digging through his bag for his quill. He found it and set about arranging his things on his desk. "My sister hates her already, she's a prefect in Hufflepuff. Cedric is a Puff too." He seemed to lose interest in the conversation after that and focused preparing for the class ahead.

"Oh. Yeah." Ron seemed to remember it as well and nodded his thanks to the boy.

Harry was surprised by the sudden burst of information. He wasn't expecting to find answers so fast. "Thanks. Sorry, I kinda went off for a bit." He scratched the back of his head and looked a little embarrassed

"A bit? We walked with you half the way here! It was like you were in some kind of trance. He won't tell me anything!" Hermione was already cross with the somewhat somber Ron.

Harry glanced over at Ron, who wasn't looking very pleased. "Did they lock up Scabbers?"

The boy nodded and his grin faded a bit. "Sorry Ron."

"Don't be. Mum came down with dad today before classes started. I've never seen her so angry. He's lucky Dumbledore had sent him to prison before she got there. Did you meet your Uncle?"

Harry nodded and his grin returned. "Yeah. We're supposed to be going to see him over Christmas."

Ron gave him a half hearted grin. "That's good."

"What happened?!" Hermione was getting irate. "Harry has another Uncle? I thought..."

"Anna cleared our Godfather of a crime he was framed for a long time ago." Harry and everyone else had to become quiet as McGonagall strolled into the room and moved to the board in a very business like manner.

"What's that got to do with Scabbers?" Hermione grumbled as she sat back and folded her arms in frustrated confusion. She too settled in for the class in the end.

OoooOOooOO

Carrot was irate. It was evening again at Hogwarts, and he was tangled in a net with Hedwig on the ground outside the storeroom. Hedwig had dragged him out behind her in a rather painful trip, she'd made it to the bottom of the stairs before becoming to tangled in the net to keep moving. He was already sawing at his binds with one of his talons and nipping at the rope with his beak to cut through.

"Narf. That was fun! I'm dizzy!" Hedwig was dazed and having a good time.

Carrot's stomach was a little rattled. The gnomes had managed to grab the net and spun and tossed the both of them around the room a bit before they managed to escape. "It seems the direct approach is insufficient. We'll have to be more subversive. Come Hedwig."

"Nyaaa! Nyaaa!" The imps had opened the window a bit and were mocking them again.

"Where are we going?" The other owl was still tied to Carrot by the tangle of the net, but it was hanging from them by a few remaining uncut lines.

"We have to prepare for tomorrow night!" the smaller owl looked a bit more annoyed.

"Why? What are we going to do tomorrow night?"

"The same thing we did tonight. Try to take over the store room!"

OooOOooOO

Harry smiled at Hedwig as she dropped a note on his plate at breakfast. It was his first piece of mail at school. Hedwig would often drop by to see him before class at breakfast. Other students' owls could be seen at breakfast all the time, sometimes without mail just to visit their owners. They would return to the owlery to sleep with the other owls.

Carrot was sitting on Anna's shoulder. His head was turned around and he seemed to be glaring at Hedwig. Her owl always looked to be in a foul mood. He figured it was just it's markings, and wondered if that was why she'd chosen that particular owl. She was a bit odd that way sometimes. Both fluttered off at the same time and he found himself looking at the note on his plate.

He picked it up and got a surprised looking smirk on his lips. He'd noticed Anna hadn't been brought an invitation. He opened it, and flipped it over without bothering to look at what was written on it and scrawled a quick note on the back. "Yes, Please. Three o'clock on Friday will be fine." He put it back on the bird's leg and sent her off.

She didn't seem to notice or care. He hadn't seen much of her in his school routine. Not a single class with her house as of yet. They remained in their respective common rooms as well.

"What? You've gotten a letter, and you're not even going to read it?" Ron looked confused at his reaction.

"Really Harry. You should read a letter as soon as you get it. It could be important." Hermione seemed a little put off by it as well.

"Huh? It's just a letter from Hagrid. He wants me to stop by and have tea with him on Friday. I'm looking forward to it." The boy seemed quite pleased.

"Is there anything she doesn't tell you?" Hermione got a bit annoyed as she glanced over her shoulder at the back of the redhead's uniform.

"She reads you your mail before you get it?" Ron looked confused as he tried to piece together what the pair was on about.

Harry pushed his glasses up his nose and shrugged. "Double Potions with the Slytherins today."

"Yeah. Snape's head of Slytherin house. They say he always favors them." Ron didn't look that worried for once, but it was also obvious he wasn't looking forward to it.

"Well, I already know he hates my guts. He didn't get along with my father from what I've heard." Harry sighed and hung his head. "Shouldn't be too bad. Anna will be there. Though, I've seen about as much as I can take of her since we came to Hogwarts."

"Is she always that much trouble when she's around?" Ron rested his head in his palms and ignored his porridge for a moment. "Must have been tough living with her all the time."

"Nowhere near as bad as she's been since the whole Hogwarts ordeal started." Harry shoveled a spoonful into his mouth and swallowed.

Hermione seemed annoyed. "What's that got to do with you though? I mean, if it's your father..."

"Snape is one of those kind of people I guess." The boy pushed his glasses up his nose again as he gave the staff table a quick glance.

"Sound's wonderful." Ron looked to be worrying himself into a mess again.

"Cheer up Ron. He's not allowed to damage us permanently." Harry gave him a grin and reached across the table to pat his shoulder before plopping himself back down and continuing to eat.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys are impossible."

"No, Harry is. I'm the one that's nervous and he knows Snape hates him!" Ron was looking at Harry in a sort of wonder. "I can't believe you're not worried at all!"

"What good would it do me?" He glanced up at him and grinned before going back to his bowl.

"He has a point." Hermione was a bit pensive as well, but she wouldn't go as far as to say she was nervous either. Ron was a virtual bag full of nerves. She found herself glaring at him a little. "I hope that passes once he settles in a bit." She thought to herself. "He's going to drive me mad otherwise. Honestly, all that worrying!"

OOooOOooOO

Potions class was as unpleasant as expected for Harry Potter. Snape stopped on his name at role call and looked up from his list. "Ah, Mr. Potter...our new celebrity."

He glanced over at his sister, her name had been before his and the man had said nothing. He could tell she was surprised by that, but as usual, it was gone as soon as it appeared.

Snape went on with class. The room was silent and no one dared speak as he gave what Harry guessed was an introduction to potions. His sister was about three desks over sitting with a hard faced Slytherin girl who seemed to be ignoring her presence. Anna seemed to be of a similar mindset and had a rather glazed look about her eyes as she watched the teacher drone on. Something having to do with potions being beautiful and wondrous. It ended, and the class went silent.

Hermione looked rather excited. Ron and Harry both looked at each other. Harry gave a small shrug as he leaned over his desk in a rather relaxed way. He didn't seem worried about the teacher.

Snape walked through the isles a bit and paused near where Harry and Ron were seated. He snapped at the boy without yelling and Ron gave a small start. "Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry Potter found himself shaken out of his daze as Snape asked him a question. He put his arm across his book and seemed to work his mouth for a moment. He hadn't even heard the question.

Anna spoke up as she looked down at the introduction page of her book and seemed unaware of her surroundings for the most part. "It creates a sleeping potion. The Draught of Living Death."

Pansy, the girl next to her, stopped smirking and turned her head a little. Snape was intimidating, and she was hoping to avoid his attention if she could. Next to the redhead was the only seat left when she'd arrived. It had become something of a game of musical chairs with the first year girls in Slytherin, and she'd been left standing when the music had stopped.

Snape turned his head to snap at the girl. She wasn't even looking at him and peered down at the first page of her book seeming to be unaware that he was speaking to her brother a short distance away. "Yes. Very good Miss Potter." He curled his lip in frustration as he gave her a dark glare for a moment before he whipped his head around at the boy again.

"Mr. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" He put emphasis on 'mr.' just to make sure the girl couldn't cover for him again.

"In a goat's stomach." replied the boy without missing a beat.

"Correct." Snape's disappointment was obvious. "What's the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"

Harry paused for a moment and seemed to think about it as he leaned against his desk with his arm draped across his book. "It's the same plant."

It went on for a few minutes. Harry got every question right, and Snape went back to his desk looking frustrated and surprised. "Very good Mr. Potter. It seems one can learn to remember what he reads. Can you make use of it?"

Anna Potter was looking at her brother with her jaw hanging a little. Pansy noticed that the girl seemed to have frozen with her weird smile hanging a bit and poked at her arm with a rather disgusted look about her. Anna didn't move for a moment and when she did she ducked her head down and glared at the first page of her book. "How? No way he pulled it from that jerks brain. He's to well guarded. Something is up." She glared at him for a moment before Snape's assignment forced her to stop.

The class started mixing a simple potion to cure boils. Snape swept up and down the isles as they weighed out ingredients and prepared them for use. He criticized everyone, except Anna and Draco. He praised Malfoy for his work on cooking slugs. Anna was given a silent glance before he moved on to the next student.

Harry could tell this was throwing the girl off. Somehow, Snape hated him more than his sister. It was obvious she was trying to figure it out for herself. She was looking over at him with a somewhat dark and irate expression every once and a while as well. He'd gotten the worst of Snape so far. The boy was feeling quite pleased with himself for staving it off as he worked with Ron. Hermione was paired up with another female Gryffindor student right next to them. That was when he felt his sister do something with the Force. When he turned she was looking at Nevill Longbottom with a small scowl on her face. He noticed that the boy's porcupine quills were floating over his cauldron. The fumbling boy had just tried to add them to his potion and his sister had prevented it for some reason. He frowned a bit at her, but was more curious than irate as it didn't seem like her to tease someone that way.

The pudgy clumsy student glanced over at Harry with a nervous and frightened expression.

"Nevill. Read the directions more carefully." Longbottom's head whipped around as he seemed to realize Harry wasn't the source of his troubles. "As much fun as it might be to watch, I'd rather not have to worry about avoiding your potion after it melts your cauldron and starts burning through whatever it touches." Anna was frowning at him as she held her hand out and called the quills into her hand. They laid themselves out across her palm in a neat fashion and she put them on the corner of her desk. "Don't put them in until you take the cauldron off the fire."

Snape was in the middle of telling everyone how well Malfoy was doing and glared at the scene. His angry eyes fell on Anna. He was also regarding her with a bit of surprise. "Thank you, Miss Potter." He almost hissed the words before straightening himself up and swallowing. Pansy was blushing and looking away as he walked over and peered into their cauldron. Anna had been put in charge of kitchen duties as soon as she'd been old enough to reach the counter on a stool. She could cook anything she had a recipe and ingredients for. Her potion looked acceptable at the very least. "It will work. Your slugs weren't roasted enough. That will add a half hour to recovery time." He turned away and shuddered as he paused without looking back. "A point shall be awarded to Slytherin for averting disaster. Your... assessment... of the situation was correct." She'd never brewed a potion in her life and he knew it. He walked back towards his desk as he started looking at the finished product of the students near the front of the room.

The redhead nodded her head and avoided eye contact. She could feel him glaring at her, but he hadn't tried to get inside her head since their first meeting either. Something was up with him. She didn't know what it was either.

OoooOOooOOO

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

A matter of force.

Part 5

Impatience.

OOooOOooOO

Harry was walking with Ron and Hermione. The pair was arguing about something Ron had said after leaving Snape's classroom. She'd taken offense of his harsh description of the Potion's master, because he was faculty and deserved more respect. In her way of thinking anyway.

He was out of the discussion, and uninterested in it's outcome. There had been several similar altercations since he'd known the pair. It was becoming a daily occurrence. He had time to think to himself as he moved in front of them towards Hagrid's cabin from the door to the dungeon Potions was taught in. Anna walked off behind him, he could feel her eyes on him as she moved away without a word.

It left him thinking about her. She'd started acting strange just before the whole Hogwarts incident had started. He was a bit put off by her leaving him on his own since he'd arrived though. Anna was the closest thing he had to a mother. He'd never admit that to her, but it was true. It was easy to tell she knew it as much as he did. She'd taught him everything he knew. She scolded him, made him get up when he was supposed to, chided him when he'd done something wrong, fixed his collar when it was askew, wiped smudges off his face, stopped his cries when he'd skinned his knee, or gotten a cut. She'd been the one to bandage it as well.

There was something about that, and it was starting to bother him. He loved her and she cared about him, there was no question about it. However, he was just becoming old enough to start putting together she knew far more about life than she should. She knew things a girl her age wouldn't know a thing about, in details far too complex for her to blame visions and dreams for it. Their training was one such issue. She was vague about some things, and spot on about others. Hogwarts had gotten him thinking about her more than usual. "Probably because she's not around." His friends were glaring at each other and folding their arms over their chest behind him.

"What was that?" Hermione seemed glad for a distraction from turning her nose up at the rude Weasley boy.

"Nothing, just thinking about my sister. I've never been apart from her this much." He put his hands behind his head and watched the sky overhead. They were out of the Hogwarts castle at that point, and moving down a small dirt trail. It didn't sound like he thought it was a bad thing.

"Apart?" Ron seemed confused. "She's here too."

"He's right Harry. I wouldn't say you're apart, just because she's in another house."

"I know. That's not what I mean. We've slept in the same room our whole life. She's always around, and I mean always." His brow furrowed a bit as he stopped walking. "I don't think going to a different house was the only secret she's keeping either."

"Well, she is a girl." Hermione seemed a little pensive as she said it. "That's pretty normal. I'm sure there's things you don't tell girls."

"You've got that right!" Ron nodded his head with a fierce agreement. He looked to Harry for support.

He gave a half hearted nod that pleased his friend. "Yeah. I know what you mean. This is a bit different. She's my sister and all, but I'm wondering how well I really know her. There's a lot of things I can't explain about my sister. I'm not talking about just her powers either. She's been acting off since we got here. It's like she's up to something, but all the time." Harry let his shoulders slump down a bit as he scratched the back of his neck in a rather lazy manner.

"Like what?" Ron and Hermione glared at each other for a moment as they realized they'd asked the question together. They turned back towards Harry and found him flinching back a little.

"I don't really know how to explain it. Sorry." He moved ahead a bit and the two other children seemed to get that he wasn't speaking on it any further. "I think she's mad at me too. She was giving me the eye when we left Snape's class."

"About what? I think it went pretty well considering. I still can't get over the look on Snape's face when you got all those questions right!" Ron beamed as he shook Harry's shoulder.

"I'm surprised. I didn't think you were studying much. I've only seen you with your books in class." Hermione seemed pleased with him as well. "Memorized the whole thing did you? I do that for all my courses."

Harry pushed his glasses up his nose and shrugged as he looked up at the cottage they were now standing in front of. "This is the place." There was a large dog barking inside the small cabin. The sound gave Ron and Hermione a bit of pause. He glanced back at them both and grinned. "Don't worry. He's glad to see us."

"I'm not worried about Hagrid. That dog sounds mean!" cried Ron as his eyes went wide.

Harry knocked and glanced back at him again. "I was talking about the dog."

"Back! Fang! Back!" cried Hagrid's voice from inside the cabin.

Hermione looking at Harry with an odd frown. "You speak dog?"

"No. I'm empathic." He was grinning up at Hagrid as the man opened the door. He was holding back a large dog with one hand as the children entered.

Hermione walked right up to fang and started scratching his ears. She was bowled over by a large wet tongue and about three hundred pounds of dog. She was giggling as she pushed him back as best she could.

Hagrid seemed pleased with this and a bit surprised. "Eh? A dog person? Always welcome!" He glanced over at Harry. "So, How've you been Harry? Make yourselves at home!"

Ron was giving Hermione and the dog an amazed stare. They had moved up next to him with the girl's arm resting across the large animal's neck. Harry was on a stool a bit closer to Hagrid. His head was ducked a little and he shifted his seat to avoid the hams and pheasants that hung from the rafters of the small one room cabin.

"This is Ron, and Hermione. They're in Gryffindor with me."

The children were watching Hagrid put a kettle on the fire. The giant turned around and grinned at them. "Another Weasley huh? I spent half me life chasing your brothers out o' the forest." He gave a good natured chuckle.

Ron looked over at Harry with a confused frown. "Hey. What's 'empatric' anyway?" He didn't look too certain about the word either.

Hermione looked over at him and grinned. "I read about that. It's when someone can tell how you're feeling, just by being near you." She was scratching the dogs ears as she said it. The animal was enjoying it quite a bit. He'd calmed, and was panting as he sat between them. "It's pretty rare, not as rare as seeing through time or anything, but it must be nice."

"Oh." The boy seemed a bit confused by it and shrugged. "That's kind of neat."

Harry gave a small shrug in reply and looked up to see Hagrid setting up a worn looking tea set. None of the pieces matched, but it more than served it's purpose. He'd heard the word 'rare' an awful lot about himself and his sister as of late. It was comforting to know that there was some precedent to it though.

The children pretended to enjoy the rock cakes as they drank their tea. Harry had managed to bite a piece off, and found that sucking on it wasn't too bad. Hermione and Ron gave up trying to break a chunk off and focused on their drinks. The children were pleased to hear the Giant's thoughts on Filtch as well. "That old git." He went on, talking about Mrs. Norris, Filtch's cat. She followed him around the grounds whenever he had business there.

"The cat follows you around?" Ron looked perplexed. "I've heard things about Filtch. We haven't run into him yet though. I get the feeling we don't want to."

Harry snorted, and said nothing, Anna had warned him about Filtch and his animal familiar years ago. He'd thought it was just a story, and it was more than a little weird seeing them in real life now. Then again, he could say the same for Hagrid. Keeping the cat away from him was simple enough. Giving her a small suggestion to be elsewhere when she neared took care of it. He doubted Anna was having much trouble with it either. He was wondering how she was dealing with it. The animal had come rushing around a corner as if it's tail was on fire on three separate occasions as they traveled to and from classes. He'd spotted his sister in the area the cat had rushed from each time.

"Rubbish! Why would he?" Hagrid slapped Harry on the shoulder and the boy seemed to realize he'd zoned out for a moment.

"Really! He hates him! You should have seen his face in Potions." Ron was nodding at the giant with wide eyes.

"Didn't seem that bad." Hermione didn't look like she meant it.

"Snape?" Harry looked around the room. "It's dad's fault near as I can tell. They didn't get along when they were younger. I'll be fine."

Hagrid was a bit put off by the boy's response. He didn't seem upset with the matter and shrugged it off. Harry noticed the Gringotts robbery had gotten the front page and frowned a bit as he picked it up to have a better look. "I remember that. We were there that day."

The giant went rather quiet and offered the boy another rock cake.

"Really?" Ron looked impressed.

"He didn't see anything!" snapped Hermione. "Did you?" She looked over at him on the edge of her seat.

"We saw the dragon that guards the high security vaults. That was cool." Harry seemed pleased. "No robber though. We were there to pick up our things for school with Hagrid."

The Giant seemed a bit relieved and grinned again. "Right. Quite a sight that was."

"Really!?" cried the two other children.

After Harry told them about the dragon in the bank, Ron told Hagrid about his brother Charlie, who was studying dragons in Romania. The red haired boy's brother had gotten on well with Hagrid. They seemed to share a passion for animals. After a time, the tea was gone, and it was time for the children to head back. Hagrid bid them farewell and opened the door.

A redhead with her arms crossed over her chest was standing there with her eyes locked onto her brother.

"Oh! Hello!" Hagrid went a little pale and almost jumped out of his skin at the sight of her.

"Hello, Harry." Anna didn't take her attention off her brother. She had an unpleasant looking grin on her face.

"Sorry you didn't get an invitation." Hermione concluded that she was upset over not being invited. She tried to sound as sympathetic as she could about it.

Hagrid was looking away and muttered under his breath. "Must er gotten lost er somethin..."

Harry had ducked behind a wide eyed Ron and peered around his friend's shoulder. "Hi. Anna."

"We need to talk." She crooked her finger and beckoned him out with her. The door closed almost as soon as the children were clear of the frame.

Anna ignored the surprised looks on the other children's faces as they put a bit of distance between them. She asked only a single question. "How did you do it?"

Harry's head went down. "I don't know what you mean."

The red haired girl got right in her brother's face. "Yes you do. How?"

OOooOOooOO

The three Gryffindor students puffed for breath as they put their backs against the common room door. Classes had ended for the day, and the trio had spent the rest of the day dodging the redhead between classes. She was relentless, persistent, and psychic. It hadn't been the easiest thing to do. Harry had managed though, even with his friends in tow.

"Do you think we lost her?" gasped Ron.

"I hope so. That was creepy. Why is she following you? She's not still upset about tea is she? That was almost two days ago!" The girl looked like she wanted answers to why she'd been running.

"What did you do? My mother only uses my whole name when I'm in serious trouble!" Ron was giving an annoyed stare at the spectacled boy as well.

"I didn't tell you two to run. She's only after me, don't worry about it." Harry pushed himself off the entrance way and glared at the door. "She wants something." He pushed his glasses back into place and stood waiting for the pair to catch their breath. They were both a lot more winded than he was.

"Maybe you should just invite her next time?" offered Ron as he wiped his forehead. Now that it was over, he was feeling a bit like he'd had a good time of it.

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know, but I suppose Hagrid didn't invite us either."

Harry slumped down into one of the chairs and grinned at them both. "Nah. She doesn't care. Anna makes Hagrid nervous for some reason. They get along all right. I don't think that's what this is about. She seems to like him."

"Well, what's it about then?" The girl put her hands on her hips and glared at both boys as Ron took the seat next to Harry and seemed just as pleased and relaxed.

Harry blinked as he seemed to realize the girl was still on about it. "Now that..."

She leaned in a bit more.

"...is a secret."

"Fine." The girl put her arms across her chest and planted herself down in the seat on the other side of Harry. Ron was hiding his snickers behind his hand as she fumed for a moment. The event seemed to pass and they went about their day.

OoooOOooOO

It was breakfast at Hogwarts. The students were all seated at the tables, eating the food that was laid out before them before starting their day of learning. There was a bit of milling about, but most everyone stayed at their own house table for the affair. Anna Potter was not one of those students.

The red haired girl was standing behind her brother at the Gryffindor table. "How did you do that?" She was glaring daggers at the back of his skull.

He sighed and hung his head. She would do this every at every opportunity she had until he gave in if he let her. His friends were quiet and seemed distrusting of speaking around her. "Do what?"

"I know you didn't memorize that book Harry. I'm not that dumb." The girl was tapping her foot on the tiles as she hissed at him.

"Harry did great!" Hermione seemed insulted.

"Oh, I believe you'd do something like that, Granger. My brother is another matter." She lowered her voice and leaned towards Harry's friends. "He can read a book without opening it somehow." It was strange to talk to someone who always spoke in a cheerful and subdued tone and it threw Hermione off. Ron looked uncomfortable just because she was leaning towards him.

The boy seemed to have an idea, but his sister could tell he was lying before he opened his mouth. "Well, she was right next to me..."

"Stuff it. That's what I was doing, she stopped about halfway through your little test. Seemed to finally realize Snape was picking on you exclusively."

"What?!" cried the girl as she looked at her in a miffed shock.

"Why not? Does it really matter where I get the information. The point is to get me to remember, right?" She seemed confused at why the girl was upset.

"Stay out of my head!" The girl looked horrified.

"Please, you were practically shouting it. Waving your arm like you were landing a plane no less. It was hard to miss." Anna turned her nose up a little as she backed away from the pair. "He was doing the same thing until you stopped and forced his hand. Now he's given up his little trick and he's got to show me. It's always been like that with us." She narrowed her eyes a bit more and balled her fists up as she rested them on his shoulders. It wasn't painful, but it was uncomfortable.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the boy, but didn't seem angry despite it. Ron was just sitting there with his jaw hanging a bit.

Harry was starting to get irate with his sister as she put her weight onto his shoulders as she leaned over him again. "Anna, cut it out." He groused. The girl had always enjoyed making people uncomfortable, just to the point of being irritating. As if to prove his point, she grabbed her brother''s wrist. He shook violently a couple of times and jumped from his chair. "Jeezus!" Everyone nearby was looking at the pair. The boy glanced around and frowned at her. "What the hell are you doing?" He whispered at her as he cradled his hand and shook it off a bit.

He waved her wand in front of his face for a moment. "Want to learn how to use this without a battery? Mine doesn't have one anymore. We're gonna have to wait till Christmas though. We're gonna need a few extra bulbs first. We'll burn through the spares I've got if we try it before then. Gives you plenty of time to let me in on it. How convenient." She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest as she arched her back a bit and stood on her toes to glare him in the eye. The pony tailed girl could tell she was an uncomfortable distance away from him, but he refused to let on. "I'll be looking into getting rid of the bulbs all together as soon as I can anyway. I'm sure there's a magical solution for a light bulb."

"I hate training you. I'm not even sure I know how I do it all right?" Her brother hung his head and sighed. Anna waved her arm in a wide sweeping motion while his eyes were turned down. The other students who had been watching went back to their meal. The novelty of eating with 'the boy who lived' was starting to wear off.

"She's right?" Ron's jaw went slack. The conversation had become a rather quiet one at that point.

Hermione was looking around and noticed no one else was paying attention. Harry and Anna didn't look like they were having a very heated argument. It seemed to be a familiar one, and it was becoming obvious the boy was going to give in. He seemed to be more interested in giving the girl a hard time where he could. The pair had an odd relationship.

Harry's attention was focused on his sister. He didn't want to give in, but she was pushing it until she got her way. "Look, it's not that great. I have to be touching the book to do it. It's not like it stays in my memory or anything either. It's not really any different than reading something normally."

"Books, letters, scrolls. I'd wager it works on all sorts of things doesn't it?" She moved a bit closer and grabbed both his shoulders to shake him. "C'mon! I don't hold out on you!"

"What was that then?" he snapped as he pointed at his empty seat.

"I was gonna show you anyway you jerk. Having to rely on the battery could be dangerous later on." She looked away as she said it. It was obvious she didn't like being forced to admit it. "Besides, once we get some light emitting crystals or something you might not need it anyway."

"I'm not sure I trust you with this." His frown deepened as he glared at her. "That trick could be dangerous for you to learn, and I don't mean just to you. You'll get yourself into all sorts of trouble. I saw that restricted section in the library. I've noticed you seem to be looking for trouble."

"Have I ever done you wrong that way before? Besides, why do you care if I torment the racist bigots? Someone has to keep them in line and out of your way." She didn't seem pleased with his attitude. She had been thinking about the restricted section of the library. She also hadn't said anything about changing that plan.

"No. I guess you haven't." He hung his head a bit more. He didn't like being forced to admit that either. "I know you're going to try anyway." His eyes drooped a bit as he gave her a half hearted glare.

"Wow! I wish I could do that! Do you think you could teach me?" Hermione chirped in. Ron looked interested in the answer as well. Harry turned to look back at them as his friend caught his attention.

Anna spoke up before her brother could answer. "No. It's an advanced form of meditation. You're too old to learn it." She didn't even look at the pair as she said it and kept her eyes focused on the back of her brother's ear.

"Too old?" Ron looked perplexed.

Harry gave them an apologetic shrug. "You have to start before you learn certain things. It's complicated."

Hermione's features fell. "Maybe I can find another way somewhere?"

"You've got a week to figure it out, or you'll start paying for it in my class." She tapped her foot as he turned back to look at her again. "I suggest you start opening those books and keep this quiet. Make sure your friends understand this isn't something you can talk about."

The boy looked a bit surprised and glanced around. Everyone was ignoring them for the most part. He seemed to realize that she had done something to make sure of that. 'Don't pay attention, this is boring' wasn't hard to do or harmful. It still didn't sit well with him, his house mates in particular. He'd noticed she'd left Ron and Hermione alone so he wouldn't notice. "Anna..."

"Don't push your luck." She narrowed her eyes at him and poked him in the chest with her finger.

"I hate you, but I'm getting sick of shaking my wand to keep it working halfway through the day." His shoulders fell as he bowed his head and gave in. It would hold a good long charge, but it took a bit of effort to shake it enough to charge all the way again. "Fine. I'll try and figure it out." It wasn't the first time it had happened and he hated being on the other end of the job. Anna was a difficult student for him.

"Stop grousing. You'll feel better when it's done." She slapped his shoulder and walked back towards Slytherin's table.

OOooOOooOO

Anna Potter walked out of the Great Hall a bit earlier than most of the students after the lunch break. It wasn't anything important that distracted her, she just had to pee.

As that business was finished, she was standing in the first floor rest room in front of the sink, thinking about how much she missed standing. Pansy Parkinson was sitting in the stall nearby, ignoring her as she took care of her own business. They were the only students left in the room as it was nearing the time for classes to resume for the afternoon. As the redhead had moved up to the sink, the last group of other girls walked out into the hall chatting with each other as they went.

The tap was on in front of her and she looked down at it with a small frown on her face. It was the place all right. She was washing her hands with the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. She turned off the tap and sighed just before she muttered "I wonder if it's awake?"

The girl in the stall was done, and was about to stand and conclude her own business when she heard what the girl had said. She had muttered it under her breath, but the sound had traveled through the room in the silence. She sucked in a quick breath as she lifted her feet off the floor.

Anna took out her wand and looked into the mirror with a smirk on her face. Myrtle, the ghost in the bathroom, was absent. She'd learned it was best to vacate when the room was populated by Slytherin girls years before. Pansy was in one of the stalls, and it was the perfect opportunity to make a grab for the title of Heir of Slytherin next year. She touched the sink with the light from her wand and chuckled a little. She hated that it would have to wait until next year for the payoff. "Open," she hissed in a whisper. She took two steps back and waited for nothing to happen.

Her eyes went wide as she found herself tumbling backwards down a set of stone stairs that had just dropped out from under her feet. She took a painful tumble down the stairs and hit the wall of the stairwell. It stopped her and she gasped for breath as she staggered to her feet with her hand on the small of her back as she bent over. Nothing was broken, but she was very rattled and halfway down a dark creepy staircase.

She was still shaking off the blow as she held up her hand and called her wand back into her grip. Pansy was peering down from the lip of the stairwell with a shocked expression on her face. "What the...?"

"Don't follow me." Anna walked forward with her wand off and her eyes shut.

All around her was a cool empty darkness. It didn't matter if her eyes were open or closed. She didn't dare ignite her wand with her eyes open. She trusted her senses, but not enough to detect a magical creature that was designed by nature and magic for sneaking around. She was listening close for any noise in the room. Pansy was standing at the bottom of the stairs, peering into the darkness around her. She'd followed her down despite instructions otherwise. The redhead cursed herself. "What the hell am I doing in here? I shouldn't have fooled around with this yet. I'll have to come back later." She was about to turn back and drag Pansy back up the stairs by force if she had to. Anna didn't know she spoke Parseltongue, and her sense of humor and ambition had won out in favor of her common sense. She took a single step towards the entrance and fell flat on her back with her hands on her eyes.

It had felt like someone had punched her in the eyes with both fists. Her wand clattered across the ground and she found herself sprawled out across the ground. She could still move and hopped to her feet while rubbing at her eye sockets in irritation. "The snake?! Shit! Shouldn't have assumed it was sleeping!"

She could see someone standing in front of her, feel him. Her eyes were open, and she could see the faintest outline of the room's interior. Tears started to blur her vision a bit as whatever had happened seemed to be wearing off a little at a time.

"You know who I am?" asked a cold male voice. It was deep, cold, and firm.

Anna's head snapped to the side as she crouched low. Pansy had gasped and was now hiding behind the wall of the winding staircase. Her head was poking around from behind it a little. She only had enough time to catch that much before she focused her attention back on the man in front of her as she noticed an outline in the black room.

He was a shadow, shrouded in darkness. His voice was cold and calm, she could tell he had a smirk on his face, but only just so. His head was low and his shoulders hunched inward as his arms seemed to hang into the shadows. She tried to focus her eyes a little better as she fumbled about in the dark looking for her wand.

The man chuckled as he looked at her strange wand in his hand and flipped it over to inspect it a little. "Interesting." He tossed her the weapon she and she caught it. Anna frowned a bit and calmed a little more as she looked down at it and up at him again. Her eyes grew a little more adjusted as things seemed to focus a bit more, she could see dirt and debris on the floor of the chamber. It was empty, save for a large hole in one of the walls.

"Open your mind to me." He whispered.

"Come and claim it." She gripped her wand and it ignited bathing the room in a soft red glow. She wasn't that surprised to see a shadowy ghost floating in front of her. He wasn't limiting any light and smirked at her from behind his long dark bangs. He was young, slim, and seemed to like what he was looking at despite the hard and dark glare in his eyes.

"Heh. What do you seek here?" The spirit hadn't moved any closer since her sword was drawn. He cocked his head and looked at her with interest. "Yes. I think so."

"What?" Anna took another step back. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"You're going to have to take what you want by force I think. You wanted a title girl, and now you have one. I'll enjoy watching you realize what you've done. Heh. Tread carefully, this is the only advice I offer, and the last time I'll be of any help to you. Serpents do not raise their young, they must grow to strength on their own." He regarded her and stepped back a little.

Anna was confused and disoriented. "What? Wh...you're not..." She could feel the blood draining from her face. "What the hell was that about?" She staggered towards the entrance to the chamber for a few steps and struggled to hold herself up. Pansy wasn't in the stairwell anymore. She was still in the bathroom though and wasn't moving.

"Heh. Only her second week? Most interesting." The spirit seemed to evaporate and left her standing in the dark room. Her blade shut down and she rubbed at her eyes again as she stumbled through the room towards the exit. Her eyes adjusted much quicker, everything was black and white, but she could make out more than enough to get back to the exit without falling on her face. She didn't feel right and almost got sick as she leaned against the wall next to the stairs.

It took her a few moments as she staggered up the stairs and sat down. She felt better after a few breaths and seemed to collect herself. Her eyes were almost as wide as the Slytherin girl sitting across from her. Pansy was rocking back and fourth, staring at her with wide eyes and not speaking. There were tears streaming down her face.

"You're just lucky the damn snake isn't up yet." Anna was sitting across from her rubbing the back of her neck as she tried to rub out the knots that had formed on her shoulders. She was talking to herself, but it got a jump from Pansy.

The girl nodded and looked up at the redhead again with fearful eyes. "Please, I..."

Anna was getting irate. Why was she still sitting there? She looked terrified, and she figured the blond would have taken off at the first sign of trouble. The redhead raised her wand and pointed it at the sink again. "Close," she hissed. "Shit, I bet this bites me in the ass next year. Shouldn't have been fooling around. Who the hell was that jerk anyway? What does he want with me anyway?" Anna furrowed her brow as she thought out loud as the stairs to the chamber closed back up. "Never mind, I know what he wants. I should remember how fast word gets out around here. He wants a look in my head. What the hell was he..."

Pansy's jaw was slack. "You don't know who that was?" She was on her knees and seemed to realize what she'd said. "Um, I mean...please don't hurt me!" She was prostrating herself on the ground.

Anna smiled. "No. You do?"

"His emblem is our house crest." Pansy was shaking and didn't dare look up, though her voice was a little less frightened. Maybe if she answered enough questions she'd get out of the room alive. She didn't dare try and run.

The redhead was looking at the back of the girl's head. She was confused. "Huh?"

"S-Salazar Slytherin," stammered the rather panicked girl.

"R-really?" The redhead was perplexed. "Well, I guess it is his room. What's he doing..." She had no idea what to make of the event. "I'm gonna have to control next year. Maybe I shouldn't come?" She was thinking to herself in her brain again this time. "This could become a nasty snag next year. I shouldn't have fooled with that damn sink." She narrowed her eyes at the tap, but nothing else happened. She'd wanted a vague unconfirmed possibility, and just gotten concrete evidence with a witness. "Shit." Her mind worked. "You can't kill her, and you can't erase her memories. Can I trust her enough to keep her mouth shut? Should I bother? Son of a bitch"  
There were advantages to just letting her run her mouth.

Pansy seemed to realize she wasn't being destroyed and was looking up with a tentative worry on her face. She was still bowing and was trying to get some kind of sign of what to do. The redhead didn't seem very interested in her, but rather lost in thought. "You were raised by Muggles? Not your parents I mean..." The last part was a bit of a hasty amendment.

Anna narrowed her eyes at her and she shrank back a bit. "Yeah. I'm not completely stupid though. I know who Salazar Slytherin is. Any idea what he wants from me? He said something about me getting some sort of title out of this." She couldn't let on, but she was a little worried about what she might hear.

The girl's eyes were wide as she put her hand over her mouth and backed into a wall as Anna strolled closer and locked her eyes onto her. "It..."

"You know something? Please feel free to share." Anna smirked a bit as she realized the girl was far too terrified of her to resist any method of persuasion she decided to use.

"You are his Heir." The girl spoke in an awed and horrified tone. Her eyes were wide and full of fear.

"I'm..." Anna wasn't expecting the girl to realize what the chamber was right away. She seemed to think of something. "Wait. His heir?" Tom had that job wrapped up already. She was just planning on laying the groundwork for stealing it after she and her brother killed him. "This..." Was it cool? Did it suck? She had no idea. "I? I'm his heir? What makes you say that? I thought someone already had that job?"

It was confusing for Pansy to see frustration on the face of someone who had just been told they'd be the lord of everything someday. She was making it sound like a bad thing.

"I ... How can that be? I don't think so?" Pansy looked confused and nervous. Maybe something she didn't know because of her Muggle upbringing? The girl hadn't spoken of them much, she talked a lot, but never said much of anything. Nothing that made a lot of sense to the other students. She was a pure blood, but an odd one. Not in a nice way either, just almost nice.

"Oh." Anna was looking at the tiles of the bathroom. "Has class started yet?"

"I have no idea." The girl was cringing in front of the smaller redhead.

"Shit. Now what?" She was looking up at the ceiling with her hand under her chin.

"You have my loyalty!" Pansy almost threw herself on the floor in front of her.

"Oh. Okay, I guess. I've got no idea what the hell this means. I sure didn't see it coming." Anna wasn't smiling. Pansy realized it was the first time she'd seen her without the strange reserved grin on her lips. She looked worried and confused, as if she'd just realized that the most wonderful thing anyone could ever tell anyone, was some sort of problem. "I can tell this is going to snowball into all sorts of trouble. Great, I was hoping only Harry would get caught up in that sort of thing, sort of." As it was, she had no idea what to do about it, or what it meant, if anything. It was a useless title as far as she knew. Though, it could give her a bit of pull within Slytherin if word got out.

OoooOOooOO

"I found the Chamber of Secrets in the first floor bathroom. Well, I wouldn't call it 'found' so much as 'fell into'. The ghost of Salazar Slytherin appeared before me and told me I was his heir." Anna was looking at McGonagall with a serious looking frown on her face.

"I suppose that is a good excuse. Not a true one, but I suppose I did not ask for one." She looked quite stern as she glared at the two girls who had arrived five minutes late to her class. Anna looked a bit banged up, but Pansy was unmarked. The larger girl looked embarrassed and nervous, she was trying her best not to look at the teacher.

"I trust there was no trouble then?" McGonagall narrowed her eyes as she leveled her stare at Pansy. The girl was red as a beet and glaring at the floor, she'd yet to speak. "Are you certain there's nothing you two wish to say?"

Pansy shook her head in a slow and deliberate manner. She looked terrified to say anything.

"I expect you two to be on time in the future. I'll have you cleaning up my boards, and getting all the chalk dust up after my classes have ended if you try this again." McGonagall frowned as she leaned in a bit closer. It was obvious Anna had already dealt with her tormentor somehow or another. She was more than a little surprised the girl looked as roughed up as she did. Then she noticed something else. "What happened to your eyes?"

Once again Anna was surprised. "What?"

"What happened to your eyes?" Repeated the teacher as her features got stern once again.

"I just told you." The redhead looked confused and glanced around for a reflective surface. "What's with my eyes?" She looked at Pansy for an answer as McGonagall sputtered in an angry shock for a moment at the cheek she though she was getting from the redhead.

Pansy's face went even redder as she opened and closed her mouth a few times. "They look...nice..." The blond girl was feeling very small and sank her neck between her shoulders a little as she avoided eye contact with anyone.

The redhead turned back to see McGonagall giving her a very sour glare as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

OoooOOooOO

Anna was irate. She was siting in the Hospital wing glaring at her sheets. She'd been forced into one of the beds and given a number of disgusting things to drink. Madam Pomfrey seemed to be getting worried. She couldn't figure out the big deal. Her eyes had grown lighter, almost to a gold from brown, and her pupils were shaped a bit different. When they retracted, they became a small slit, rather than a circle. "What's the big deal anyway?"

Pansy had been released from custody. She wouldn't give any information and seemed frightened enough that the staff now blamed her for the mess. Anna imagined Madam Pompfrey was trying her hardest to use whatever the most disgusting method for trying to do whatever she was doing to her. McGonagall had told her she'd be in detention with her for a month. In her mind, that just kept her off Snape's calender for a while.

It was almost irritating the way he'd ignored her in favor of her brother. She could be much more irritating, but going head on against one of the teachers wasn't a good idea at that point. It was better to take advantage of it to learn a bit more about dealing with the potions master. She'd been theorizing, and figured he somehow associated her with her mother, and Harry with their father. It was still there, but seemed more subdued. He was trying to control his temper with her for some reason. She couldn't be sure if it was her, or if he was supposed to be giving Harry a hard time for some reason.

"This is the second class I've missed. I've only been here a week." She crossed her arms an Pomfery brought her another huge steaming cup of ass juice. "Great. Is there any way I can just show you where this place is rather than drink another potion I don't need? My eyes are fine."

The woman looked stern and handed her the cup of swill. "Drink it. We need to find out what's been done. Even a prank can be harmful if left untreated. You girls shouldn't be fighting."

Dumbledore walked in as the woman turned away. He strolled up to them and nodded a greeting to the witch. He stood at the foot of her bed with a faint smile on his face. Pomfery was about to tell Anna to drink her potion when he raised his hand and gave her a gentle looking nod. "Excuse us for a moment. I've heard from Professor McGonagall, and I'm afraid I must to speak with Miss Potter for a moment. I am hopeful we can resolve the matter swiftly."

"Hi." The girl looked a bit nervous and poked her two index fingers at each other as she turned her head away. "I was kind of hoping we'd have a bit of time before we talked again. Heh."

"Yes. I do enjoy speaking with my students though, not too long between visits I hope." His eyes twinkled as he exuded cheerfulness. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

And so she did.

OoooOOooOO

"Well, I knew how to open it from a vision I'd gotten. Thing is, I didn't know I knew Parseltongue. It's true I was screwing with Pansy, but I wasn't expecting anything to actually happen. Far as I knew, only Harry knows Parseltongue, and he's never used it that I know of." She looked up and saw the old man was still cheerful, but a bit distracted. "Oops?" She shuddered a little. She'd never been sure if that spell was meant to kill Harry, or both of them. Her brother had taken the worst of it, but this left her wondering.

Dumbledore was working his tongue against the inside of his cheek as he stared off in a sort of daze on the end of the bed. "Yes. I see."

"I've got nothing on this. Any incite would be appreciated." The girl was hugging her knees and looking at him.

He blinked and gave a small laugh. "I'm afraid I've got no advice to give. It seems you've put yourself in quite a position, though I doubt you realize it."

"That's what worries me." The girl did look like she thought she'd just screwed up in a very big way. It didn't look like she was expecting anger from anyone concerning it. "I don't even know if it means anything. It could be just his way of patting me on the shoulder and wishing me good luck. I've got no clue. I doubt it's that simple though." She started butting her head against her kneecaps a little. "Can I stop taking cures for eye hexes now at least? I'm pretty sure she's not going to brew something up gross enough to kill this one."

"I suppose not." The old man shook his head as he stood up and looked down at her. "I do hope you realize that what you have done, may be even greater than what your brother faces? Salazar was a very powerful wizard, and a cunning and ruthless man. You must prove yourself to be his equal. You'll not accomplish that for many years, no matter how great your gifts may seem. It will likely take you most of your life to accomplish such a task. I feel I should warn you, you've just picked a fight you cannot back down from, though I doubt you really had a choice in the matter. You are as chosen as your brother, and a target for a great many people. Tom included."

"Well, that sucks." Her head was resting on her knees at that point and she looked off in a bit of a daze. "It's not like I was trying to be chosen you know. I was just screwing with Pansy a little bit. I was thinking of stealing the title after Harry kills him, just to rub it in a bit more after my brother beats his...ahem. Ya know? That's a long way off though."

The old man seemed to cheer up a little and smiled at her. "One can hope for the best."

The girl wasn't looking at him though and stared off at the opposite wall as she rested against her knees. She turned her eyes towards him but didn't move her head. "You can't pull a thorn like him out without a little pain. There will be loss, even at Hogwarts. There are many trying times ahead."

"Yes. More than you might realize. I hope you are prepared." The old man gave a small sigh after he said it. He was looking down at her with only the corners of his lips upturned.

He could tell she had a smirk on her face before she even turned to look at him. "Been training my whole life for it. I've a feeling I'm gonna regret it before I appreciate what I've done. If I live through it at all. There'll be lots of cursing about it I think." Her face fell as she seemed to think about it.

"A title like that, can kill someone who is not prepared to take the burden it entails. Be very cautious Anna, this will not be a challenge of power, or a test of strength, though it will require both."

"Great. My favorite kind of problem." The girl didn't look like she meant it at all.

Dumbledore smiled a little more as he realized she was being much more open than ever before with him. Her fake smile was gone, and replaced with something more serious, and devious. She loved playing with words. "I suppose I should return you to class then. I suppose there's little Madam Pomfrey can do for your, unique problem."

With a heavy sigh she pushed herself off the bed. "I think we'll get along all right. I'm on Harry's side."

"Noticed that did you? I'm forced to admit, Slytherin has put out some great wizards, but it is not closely associated with it. I'm not certain the advent of Salazar's Heir is a good one. I am hopeful, but you have many hard choices to make. I hope you understand if I seem, let's say, overly cautious?"

"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." The girl nodded to herself as she said it and seemed a little lost in thought.

"Where did you hear that if I might ask?" The old man put his arm on her shoulder and started walking her towards the door he seemed impressed.

She froze and blinked at him. She'd come up blank. She wasn't sure Sun Tsu even existed. Most of the names in both history and popular culture were very different. There were a few parallels though, and she was trying to decide how to respond. She'd noticed all the parallels were Historical figures rather than popular ones. Hitler, and his cronies had still stirred up trouble in Germany, Julius Cesar had ruled Rome, they stopped some time in the seventies as far as she could tell. The further back time went, the more parallels there were. The existence of magic and wizards had influenced culture and politics over time.

"Hmm. Not a perfect memory either. Imagine that, something we have in common." The old man seemed quite pleased with himself.

Anna growled a little. "Have to remember I'm on Harry's side. We gotta kick that jerk Voldemort... back into the land of the dead for good." She had to amend herself and change the last part of the sentence as she realized the kind of language she'd been planning on using.

Dumbledore seemed amused by her reaction as they reached the doors.

"After that?" asked the old man as he arched his eyebrow a bit and looked down at her.

"I'm on Harry's side." She repeated simply.

"Oh. I see. I trust you can find your way to your next class from here? I'm afraid you've missed another Defense of Dark Arts class."

The girl shrugged. "Quirrel? He's afraid of his own shadow. I doubt I'll learn much from him. He's occupied with something else."

"Really? You've yet to attend his class as I recall. You might be surprised what you might learn from him." Dumbledore looked a bit taken by the statement.

"I guess." Anna seemed to realize she was talking far too much. It was odd. "You have a way with people. I'm left wondering whether it's just you, or something you can do?" She cocked her head a little.

He sighed and shook his head without his grin fading even a little. "I look forward to the coming year. I have little doubt it will be interesting."

"I wish interesting didn't suck quite so much. Those stairs hurt." She wasn't pleased with herself over the ordeal. "No more screwing around with stuff too early. I've a feeling I almost got myself killed." She turned and sulked a little as she went towards her next class.

Dumbledore stayed at the door to the hospital wing and watched her vanish into the hallway. "I fear what she may have unleashed, but I've a strange feeling she may have a small chance of success." He shrugged to himself and sighed as he turned back towards his office. She'd given him direct warnings as well. He'd have to be mindful of that, but thinking on it to much could be just as bad, if not more dangerous. The girl was more dangerous than she seemed to realize. It would be a hard lesson for her to learn, and he could not teach her. He would, however, do his best to help her learn.

He paused and turned his head to glance down the hallway for a moment. "Perhaps this will help with that a bit?" She was giving him hope, and he had little doubt she would become a very great, or very terrible witch. "'Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer'. Hmm. Odd statement for an eleven year old girl, but there is wisdom in it."

OoooOOooOO

Harry had pulled his sister aside during lunch period again. They were off in the corner of the Great Hall. Pansy Parkinson was now an almost permanent fixture at her side. A number of girls were giving her the cold shoulder at Slytherin's table. She simply stared at her meal and kept giving the pair glances from time to time.

"I see you've made a friend." He glanced over at the blond girl and turned his eyes back towards the redhead.

"So I have." She nodded and gave him a serious frown. Her arms were over her chest and she narrowed her eyes at him two different ways. "I'm sure that's not what this is about, but I can't leave her a lone very long when we're surrounded by the whole house just yet. What do you want?"

"What the hell are you doing? Everyone in your house wants to kill you! They aren't really shy about telling everyone else either." He looked like he wanted to reach out and shake her. Her mood put a stop to it. "What's this 'Heir of Slytherin' thing I keep hearing about? I get the feeling it's something you shouldn't be joking around about."

The girl put her finger under her chin and seemed to think about it. She glanced back and saw Pansy ignoring a few hissed insults.

The girl didn't talk much anymore, and she'd tipped her off on a few ambushes. One of the Prefects had almost managed to surprise her, but the girl whispered his position into her ear. Her favorite punishment was to choke them just long enough to keep them from casting a spell. Though, she had brought one or two of the more persistent ones to their knees. So far, she'd managed to catch them all. From what she could tell, it was stunning spells, or small irritating curses they were trying to use. She wasn't too hard on them and refrained from making any pass out.

With a small sigh the pony tailed girl spoke up. "I'm Salazar Slytherin's heir. I opened the chamber of secrets, almost cracked my skull open, and damn near got myself killed. All for a title, that so far, no one believes in. Pansy's been quiet, she saw the whole mess. I think she might have tried telling a few other first years, but they just made fun of her I think. Word has leaked about. The house isn't very happy with me right now. I'll win them over."

"They are going to kill you!" He did grab her shoulders and shake her this time.

"Nah." She waved her hand in his face and looked away. "It's all part of my master plan. I gotta admit, sooner or later, one of em is gonna catch me. What I do to them will determine how well I'm received later. That, coupled with how long I can hold out before then. It's a mind game."

Her brother let her go and stepped back with his hand on the back of his head. "Look. All I'm saying is..."

She brushed it off before he even finished speaking. "What? I've got this worked out. I'm trying to keep them busy and out of your hair."

"Anna! We've only been here a week and your whole house wants to kill you!" A few heads turned as the boy said it, but not many beyond the ends of the table. He lowered his voice. "Come on now. It's a bit much for so soon isn't it?"

"Well, I really am the Heir of Slytherin, so I'm pretty sure there's nothing I can do about it. Just have to forge ahead. I can handle this. I know how to deal with these kinds of people. They have to think I'm the most evil, biggest bad ass, dark witch this side of the pond. Even though I'm not that bad." Her eyes shifted and she moved her foot across the tile at her feet a few times. "No worries, I'm good at this." She seemed quite cheerful again.

"How do you know?" He glared at her and grabbed her wrist. "How do you know all this? Where did you learn it?"

This made the redhead's face fall quite a bit. "Great. This again." She put her hand on her hip and cocked her head as she narrowed her eyes at him again. Her mind worked on the problem for a moment. "Great? How do I handle this? He's been asking this more and more lately." It had started about three years ago and was growing in frequency. Her lips turned up a bit. "Oh! I've got just the thing!"

Harry hadn't moved. His sister seemed to be thinking about the question. She'd never done that before.

"I've been dropping hints for years..." she looked away from him as she said it and started to walk around him. She stopped to his right. She had to move out of view until she got her silent laughter under control. "Sue me. I had a past life."

"What?" The boy's face fell. He looked like he was about to refute it for a moment, but then something seemed to click into place. "You mean?"

"I remember before I was born, yeah. Quite a bit of it." She had a sunny grin on her face as she looked at him by turning her head towards him. "No point in mentioning it to anyone really. It's why we sound more American. Though, you seem to have adjusted well."

"R-really?" The boy looked flustered. "So, who..."

She cut him off again with her cheerful grin growing a little wider. "Anakin Skywalker."

All of the color drained from her brother's face. His pupils became dilated and he found himself unable to move.

Anna already had her vacant and fake looking cheerful smile on her face as she turned to face her table again. "I told you I've been giving you hints for years. I already told you the guy's whole life story." Only Harry would get that, maybe it would make him feel better. "Believe me, I know how to deal with these people. I've conquered a whole galaxy, Slytherin is nothing! Don't worry, it ended well, remember?" She slapped his shoulder and marched back towards her seat.

Hermione and Ron poked at Harry's cheek almost two minutes later. "Do you think she hexed him?" Ron looked at the girl as she frowned and waved her hand in his face.

"I don't see how, those wands are hard to miss." She seemed confused and interested in the problem.

The Harry's finger moved a little, and a half second later the boy seemed to jump back to life. He almost fell over and was gasping for breath as he caught himself on the wall. He was pale and covered with sweat. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Hermione and Ron jumped away the moment he jumped in their prodding. Both were looking on with wide eyes at the boy's, interesting reaction.

"She's not pregnant is she?" cried Hermione.

Harry's eyes locked onto hers and he almost fell over again. "No. It's much worse."

"Twins?" Ron's jaw dropped.

"You wouldn't understand if I told you." He shook his head and seemed to regain his composure a little. "I don't think I'll be bothering her about this again. I think she's got a pretty good idea what she's doing." He paused and seemed to think about it. "Well, maybe. She says she's the Heir of Slytherin."

"What's that mean?" asked Ron.

"Sounds like something you have to be in Slytherin to hear about. We could ask, but I doubt they'd tell us. I've heard there's a quite a few stories at Hogwarts you don't hear if you aren't in a certain house." Hermione shrugged and seemed a bit frustrated at finding information that was out of reach.

"Well, I'm not sure I should explain. I think my sister can handle Slytherin, though I'm still keeping an eye on her." He started back towards the table and his friends trailed behind him.

"Not sure?" Ron scratched his head. "Why?"

"At least give us the chance to understand." Hermione didn't want to let the interesting development go either.

"You don't want to know. Trust me." He shook off the last bit of his conversation with his sister and seemed to relax again. "Don't worry about it. It doesn't really matter anyway, I guess."

OOooOOooOO

Pansy looked up and watched Anna sit down next to her. The girl said nothing and ate her meal. The angry glares of the girls around them abated a little. "Still not speaking dear?" The redhead glanced around at the first years that surrounded them. The hissing whispers further down the table stopped as soon as she'd neared. "Don't worry. They'll come around."

The blond nodded, she smiled a little as she glanced around the table again. The first years wouldn't screw with her, they'd found out that her master didn't like it. The others would learn, and soon she'd be helping her to teach them. "Yes." She hadn't said much, but Anna's talked with her from time to time. The others all talked of following the great Dark Lord. Anna spoke to her of becoming strong enough to stand on her own, and not follow like dogs. She found herself liking that line of thinking. The redhead wasn't so bad once she'd gotten to know her. She was much kinder than she had thought possible for someone with such a title. Though, she did have one hell of a mean streak.

OoooOOooOO

TBC...


	6. Chapter 6

A matter of force.

Part 6

True Destiny.

OoooOOooOO

Anna and Harry Potter stood looking down a long and lonesome road. They were standing side by side, each with an old and worn guitar hanging off their backs by a shoulder strap. It was a hot day in what appeared to be a desert, a long stretch of highway was the only path before them. Neither one could see anything beyond desert and sky in any direction.

"What the hell is this Anna?" Harry seemed annoyed.

"Just a dream I think. Another one of those weird ones we'll both remember tomorrow from the look of it." She shrugged at him. It had happened to them from time to time. The dreams were clearer and more vivid when they did it. Almost to the point of being real. Neither one had been able to figure out how it happened, or how to do it themselves. It seemed rather random, and didn't happen often.

A car rushed down the road and passed them both without slowing. They both watched it vanish into the distance and looked at each other. Anna shrugged again.

"Now what? Why do I have this anyway?" Harry frowned as he tugged at the strap to his instrument.

The girl started walking and stuck her thumb out. "C'mon."

"What are you doing?" the boy followed after her in a lazy jog.

"Do you want to just stand here all night? It's not like we're going to die or get hot, but this is boring."

Harry sighed and hung his head as he jogged up to her side. He seemed to collect himself and walked along beside her. "How are things? Who's your new friend?"

The redhead got a smirk on her face and kept her eyes down the road. "Pansy Parkinson. She's the only one who knows I'm the Heir of Slytherin. Well, her and Dumbledore are the only ones who are sure of it. I'll bet McGonagall knows something too. I personally don't get this heir thing. It's kind of like Hitler appointing a Jewish civil rights activist the next leader of Germany from what I understand of him. Seems odd to me. I'm not quite sure what I've gotten into on that front yet. I can handle it no matter how it turns out." She seemed to brush the subject off as she finished.

"Do you actually like her?" He only seemed half interested in the answer.

"I'm starting to. She's afraid of me, I'm working on that. I don't want her to look like my servant." The girl seemed a little annoyed at the thought. "I think she'll clean up nice."

"Is she?" Harry glanced down at her face as he asked.

She looked up at him and gave him a faint smirk. "No. I've learned to enjoy the little things, like doing something for yourself. I tried the evil overlord thing, it was pretty gratifying at first, but it really sucked after a while. No way I'm doing that again."

The boy who lived gave a heavy sigh. "Don't remind me about that." He didn't want to admit to himself that it made him feel any better, but did anyway.

"Well, you did ask." She seemed cheerful as she skipped a bit ahead of him.

Harry found himself wondering why he kept carrying the guitar. It was just something to keep him from thinking about his sister. He couldn't get much from her beyond a certain point. He new damn well she could lie to him if she wanted. Most people couldn't, though he suspected a few of the faculty could. Dumbledore and Snape in particular, Quirrel was very well guarded as well. He kept hoping the class would get more interesting soon. The man had a well disciplined mind, but he seemed afraid of his own shadow. He was pretty sure he'd seen it make him jump once or twice. Anna had avoided two classes so far, and she hadn't missed much from what he'd seen. He was losing hope that it would ever become interesting.

"Something on your mind?" Anna had noticed his silence.

"Nah. Just thinking about school." He scratched his head. "I'm glad you've found a friend at least."

"Getting worried about me being all alone?" The redhead's face cracked in another good natured grin.

"It was more the death threats." He narrowed his eyes at her and she looked away towards the asphalt that stretched before them. It was becoming overcast, and a few small rumbles could be heard in the distance. The clouds were coming up on them at an unnatural pace, but not a drop of rain was falling from them. The pair looked on as they stopped at the same time and moved to the middle of the road.

"That doesn't look good." Harry didn't look worried as he looked up at the sky. His mannerisms almost seemed lazy, and he was pretty relaxed most of the time. He'd been on edge since he'd gotten to Hogwarts, but only seemed to express it to his sister.

The girl frowned a little as she thought about it. She was looking up at the sky with him and he didn't notice. Harry had gotten awful bitchy with her as of late. The redhead decided she'd deserved a bit of it and left it at that. The clouds were black above them and lightning blasted the desert all around them, leaving long low rumbles in it's wake. "I dunno. It's kind of making me wish I'd dreamed up my wand instead of this guitar." She'd resisted the urge to pick a few tunes out as they walked. She felt like she was supposed to leave it alone, much the same reason her brother was still carrying his.

They both looked forward again at the same time and found themselves confronted by a blinding light before them. It was much too bright to be a car or truck. It was a huge single orange ball of light that seemed alive with flame that was hovering above the ground in the middle of the road.

Anna and Harry both stepped back with their jaws hanging open at what stepped out of nothing and before them.

"Hey. You're right. I do wish I'd dreamed up my wand." Harry was staring up at the ten foot tall demon that glared down at them both. It had red skin and huge black horns. A long pointed tail waved in the air at a lazy pace behind its thick tree trunk like goat's legs.

It glared down at them with yellow eyes and pointed its finger down at them both. "Play the best song in the world, or I'll eat your souls!"

Anna and Harry looked at each other and then back at the demon. "Okay." They pulled the guitars off their backs at the same time as they both spoke.

"Any idea what you're doing?" Harry glanced over at the girl and gave a weak smile.

"Even a dark lord has to have a hobby." She sniffed as she glanced up at the demon as she settled the guitar into position and pulled her pick across the strings giving a melodious chime.

"This is one strange dream." The boy sighed and did the same.

The demon was looking down at them both and smirking to itself. It seemed certain it would be devouring their souls soon.

They both started playing the first thing that came to their heads. It was a beautiful song, just the right pacing, all the words were flowing in and out of the chords as if the pair sang like one person who was playing an impossible song on a single guitar. At just the right moment, the song ended. Anna had tears in her eyes, Harry was looking down at his guitar in a sort of wonder.

"Kick ass." The boy was pleased.

The demon was looking down at them in shock. It's tail lashed behind it. It snorted and pointed at them as it backed away in what seemed like fear. "Be you angels?"

Anna glared up at him and her brother pushed his glasses up his nose with his index finger as they both spoke. "Nay! We are but men! Rock!" They jammed on their guitars and the huge monster seemed to be pushed away by the sound. A bright light consumed them both and the dream ended.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter sat upright in bed with her eyes wide. She was gasping for breath. "Holy shit!" Her face cracked into a rather insane looking grin as she curled her fingers and started chuckling. "Yesssss..."

OooOOooOO

Harry was sitting on the edge of his bed. He was groggy and didn't look like he was going to remain up long. His eyes went wide as his head snapped up and towards the wall. "Oh shit." He jumped from his bed and rushed to the door to the common room. It was the middle of the night and no one was around to stop him.

The boy glared at the door and waited. He could tell she was already there. "HP! Open the door! I need you!"

It gave him a moment of pause. "HP?" He shook the thought off and pushed the entrance open. A small arm reached out and snagged him, dragging him into the hall by force.

"I admit, it was cool. Is it really..." He was being pulled off to the side away from the painting she covered his mouth to stop him from speaking. She released him as she grabbed both his shoulders and stared at him as she pushed him into the wall. "We shouldn't be up. We'll get in trouble if we get caught. You know Filtch is about."

"Shut up! Don't you know what this means?" the redhead hissed at him. She seemed excited.

"Nothing, it was a really cool, really weird dream." He was glaring at her and starting to look tired again. "You're going to make me learn to play guitar aren't you?"

"Yes! That wasn't just a dream! It was a vision!" She seemed to be getting irate with him.

The boy shrugged. "I kind of doubt that's really going to happen."

"No. Don't be an idiot! It's one of those interpretive things. Trust me Harry, this is going to be super awesome!" She was almost jumping up and down.

"What does it mean?" He still looked uninterested.

"We're starting a band." The girl awaited his positive answer.

"No."

"What? I'm not asking. The dream has spoken. We're going to be the greatest band in rock history!" She gripped his shoulders a little tighter.

"Do I have to?" His eyes were starting to droop a bit more.

"Yes."

"Fine. We don't even have guitars Anna. I'm going to sleep now." Harry was turning back towards the portrait that hid his dorm.

"We've got a band name! The rest will come!" she cried in what seemed like triumph. She was being much louder than she should.

Harry paused and hunched his shoulders a bit. "What's the band name?" He didn't sound like he wanted to ask.

"Tenacious D!" chirped his sister as she skipped into the shadows and vanished into the halls in silence.

"Great." He scratched his neck and went back to his common area. Already his mind was wandering back to the song, he couldn't remember it, but knew it was really awesome. "Dang. How that go again?" He muttered as he glanced up at the portrait. He said the password and stumbled back inside for a few more hours sleep.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter looked a bit stiff and was walking in a strange manner as Ron Weasley woke up and started getting ready for classes with the rest of the first years. Harry was up before anyone else was every day. The redhead, along with everyone else had grown accustomed to it. The boy in question rubbed at his scar a little as he sat down on the bed again a little slower than normal.

"Are you all right? Didn't pull something in your sleep did you?" Ron seemed a little worried.

Still rubbing at his scar in an absent manner he rubbed the inside of his leg a bit. His face was a little flushed. "It's nothing. I'll be fine if I sit here for a minute. Just a little stiff." He looked a little spaced out and was thinking rather hard on something. Ron noticed him shove an odd looking stick into one of his drawers. It was flat and about three feet long, with unevenly spaced lines on it.

"You sure?" Ron hopped onto the mattress next to him and tied his shoes with a tap of his wand. Whatever the stick was it was only of mild interest. All the first years knew the laces trick by that point, it was one of the first few charms Flitwick taught.

Harry had a somewhat haggard look on his face. "I had a strange dream last night. Anna's..."

"Acting weird?" Ron guessed.

"Stupid girl. What good are cock push ups? She's being sadistic for no good reason. How the heck did that song go anyway?" Harry muttered it under his breath. Ron only caught enough to get confused.

"What?" The Weasley boy stood up with his friend. "You're doing a routine in the morning or something? Is that why you're up before us every day? You work out?" He looked a little embarrassed and impressed.

"Something like that." The mouse haired boy shifted his robes a little straighter and shook his legs a bit before walking towards the stairs to the common room with Ron at his side. "It's nothing. Anna's gotten some weird idea in her head. It's not the first time, and it'll go one of two ways."

"Hows that?" Weasley scratched at the back of his ear with his wand as they moved down the stairs.

"It'll pass quickly when she loses interest, or it'll linger like a dead woodchuck under the porch." He noticed a few new notes on the bulletin board.

The red haired boy nodded as he took notice of the board as well. "Which is it?" he asked in a half interested glaze eyed state as he scanned the board.

"Woodchuck," grumbled the boy with a little irritation creeping into his voice. "Hey! Flying lessons today!" He brightened up but his features dropped almost as soon as he said it as his eyes scanned a little lower.

Harry never thought he'd meet a boy he disliked more than Dudley, but that was before he'd met Draco Malfoy. The boy had been trouble for his sister from what he'd knew, and he didn't like Harry any more than her. He was boastful, malicious, and cruel. Not that he couldn't handle it or anything. He could be ignored without much trouble, all he ever did was run his mouth thus far. It was about the only thing that gave him pause as he noticed the notice for flying lessons in the common room.

"Slytherin? Great." Ron looked a bit miffed. "We get enough of them in potions."

"It's not so bad." Harry seemed pleased. "I've been looking forward to flying lessons myself."

"You're just saying that because your sister will be there." Ron turned away and found himself looking at Hermione.

"I don't see why you'd look forward to spending more time with that...that girl." She had her arms crossed and was glaring at Harry as he turned around. "Are you sure she's really your sister?"

The boy chuckled a bit and walked between them as they left for the Great Hall and breakfast. "Yes. She's not as bad as she seems. I hope."

"What do you mean?" Ron seemed a bit surprised. "You're not sure?"

"You're just saying that because she's your sister. She's such a difficult girl!" Hermione was a bit miffed at the girl still for chasing Harry all over the school for two days, and admitting to reading her mind in class. Anna enjoyed teasing her more than Ron, and he found her frustrated reaction to his sister a little amusing at times.

The boy who lived was smiling up at the sunbeams that warmed his face through a long row of windows in the hall. "She's not as bad as she seems." The conversation seemed to brighten him up a bit. That seemed a little odd to his friends, but neither spoke up about it and moved the subject on.

"I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk." Ron slumped his shoulders and rolled his eyes as he thought about his classmates in the new course. Draco was sticking out as a boy to avoid in more than just their little group.

"Anna mentioned he's not bad on a broom stick." She was a mystery to most of the students, but was getting a respectable reputation of her own. No one was sure what to think of her, she was very outspoken and shunned by her house mates. That left most of the other students wary of her, the Heir of Slytherin rumors weren't helping matters. Slytherin seemed to hate her even more because of it.

"How doe..." Hermione cut herself off as her eyelids drooped down half way. "Oh. Right. Never mind." She seemed a little depressed and annoyed at the thought.

"I'm not really sure to be honest. I'm sure she doesn't get everything she learns from her visions, though she'd like you to believe it I think. She's pretty observant, and she's good at sneaking around and finding things out."

"I don't trust her." Hermione seemed adamant about it and crossed her arms over her chest as she stomped her feet for a few paces. "She's sneaky, and underhanded. I can just tell."

"I know, but she wouldn't hurt you. Doesn't mean you should trust her either though." Harry put his hand on her shoulder for a moment as he said the last part in what she thought was supposed to be a comforting gesture.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Ron seemed confused as he looked to the girl for an answer.

"I have no idea. Just let it go. It's making me cross." The girl had a scowl on her face as she walked over to the table and sat down with her friends.

Both of Harry's friends jumped a bit as they realized she was standing behind her brother and watching them sit down. Neither one had noticed her approach. They weren't sure of how long she had been there, and went silent. "Hello. Flying lessons with us today? My, I'll bet you're looking forward to it."

"Well, I am at least." Harry looked over his shoulder at her and swallowed some porridge before he spoke.

"Are you here to predict that one of us will fall of their broom and break our neck?" Hermione was giving the redhead a hard glare.

"So hostile this morning? Really, Miss Granger." She wagged her finger in a playful manner. "I'm looking forward to this myself, both of us have since we were little. We've never been on broomsticks before."

"Wow. Something you're not instantly good at?" The small brunette narrowed her eyes and leaned in towards her.

Harry almost choked on his porridge as he seemed to realize what was happening. "Hey, come on now..."

"So it would seem. Careful Miss Granger, or I might start to like you." She leaned in towards Harry's hear. "Still can't remember that song can you?" She seemed to be interested in an answer from him.

"Leave me alone." He grumbled as he turned his head away from her. "I can't remember any more than you do. Just forget about it, the whole stupid mess."

She stood back up and pointed at him. "The D shall rise. You cannot resist its Ass Rocking-ness." Her ponytail whipped around as she turned away to leave. Pansy Parkinson was waiting near the end of the Gryfindor table, she was looking less and less nervous with each passing day. The redhead started back to her house table. Nevill's owl dropped a small package in front of him as she went by. "A remembrall. Careful not to lose it. You'll find it useful if you can hang onto it. Rats, I was hoping he'd remember a few bars at least..." She started muttering to herself as she moved on.

Hermione seemed irate. "What is wrong with that girl? Honestly!"

The boy looked confused as he realized she'd put her hand on his shoulder as she passed. "Huh?"

"Well? Aren't you going to open it?" Ron didn't sound much like he was wondering what was inside.

"Hey...It's a remembrall." Nevill picked up the small orb and glanced over at Anna as she sat down with her friend. "Gran sent it to me. She knows I forget things..." It was glowing red in his palm. "Oh. I've forgotten something." He only seemed half interested in the new trinket. "How d'ya suppose she does it? Must be nice knowing what's going to happen before it does."

"She has nightmares sometimes, really bad ones. Not all if it is stuff she wants to know."

Everyone nearby turned to look at Harry. He seemed pretty serious, but still somewhat cheerful. "I don't envy her much."

Nevill shuddered a bit. "I guess not." If there was one thing everyone in the school was sure of, it was that Anna was tough. He didn't like the idea of thinking about what might scare her.

"What kind of...things?" Hermione seemed a bit pensive, but interested.

"I'm not sure I want to know." Ron's eyes went wide, he wasn't feeling much better than Nevill. The large boy almost fell off his seat as she asked Harry.

"I'm not sure. She doesn't talk about that kind of thing with anyone. Whenever I ask she acts like she doesn't remember." He put his nose down and started eating. He wasn't sure he wanted to know either. "She's told me revealing too much can be dangerous. It might have something to do with that."

"Funny how often we end up talking about her. Not just with you two either. Lots of people ask me what I know about her because I'm friends with you. I'm not saying anything though." Ron shuddered. "She's scary!"

Hermione glanced over at him and said nothing with a sour expression.

Harry snorted some of his porridge up his nose as he burst into laughter. It was cut short by the discomfort in his nostrils and he blew his nose a few time on his napkin while chuckling a bit. "Heh. That she is Ron."

Hermione seemed a little disgusted. "I'm not scared of her." She opened the book 'Quidditch through the ages' and stuck her nose into it. "I've got to study this, you two should learn a little as well. There's all sorts of tips about flying on broomsticks in here."

"Really?" Nevill's eyes went wide as he leaned in a little.

Hermione latched onto the interest she wasn't getting from Ron or Harry. "Sure! I'm sure there's something in here that will be of use later. Look, I'll read a bit. It's best to learn all we can before we start."

Harry snorted again in mild amusement. He knew Hermione hadn't changed the subject on accident.

Ron rolled his eyes as his face slipped off his fist and almost fell into his porridge. He righted himself and leaned towards Harry. "There she goes, bet she does this until breakfast is over."

"Well, might be a good idea for people who haven't flown before to not eat much before the class." The brown haired boy didn't seem worried about himself as he polished off his porridge and started chewing on a few strips of bacon and some small sausage links.

"You've got a point." Ron arched his eyebrows and nodded a few times as he thought about it. For once, he didn't seem nervous either.

Hermione and Nevill both paused the lecture and glanced over at the pair. Nevill looked a little distraught, but pushed his bowl away at the same time as the girl. She started again and Nevill's attention was back on every word.

OooOOooOO

Draco glared at the redhead as he found himself in the firm grip of the small girl. She stood up slowly and twisted his wrist a little to loosen his grip a bit. "Tell me, Malfoy. Where were you planning on wearing that Ribbon exactly?" She stripped Pansy's hair ribbon out of his grip. He'd pulled it, and a few strands of hair off her head as he walked by and tugged at one of the ends.

The blond then gave a painful squeak and chuckles of amusement rippled across the table among the students who had noticed. Everyone else was trying to figure out what was funny still.

Crabbe and Goyle, his two body guards were standing behind them. They were both rubbing at their throats as if trying to wipe something away, but neither was choking. Their eyes were wide as they looked at the girl and stepped back. They seemed to relax a bit and did nothing to protect their leader as they stopped trying to wipe nothing from their necks.

The girl released Draco's wrist before he could start pretending to scream in pain. She was behind him before he could react much and tied the green ribbon around his throat in a huge pretty bow on the back of his neck. She stepped back and tapped it with her wand before stepping back between his two body guards. He seemed a little stunned and was almost frozen in place as her not quite rough handling kept him subdued. "I'll tell you what. Since you wanted it so badly, I'm sure Pansy won't mind if you wear it all day!" She seemed quite cheerful as she clapped her hands together and tried her best to look adorable.

The blond girl in question was watching the scene with a grin on her face. Malfoy was tugging at the ribbon as hard as he could. It wasn't budging, and he wasn't going to break it no matter how hard he pulled. "Untie this damn thing!" He growled at his companions. "Useless slugs! Do something!"

The pair were tugging on the strands as Pansy and Anna watched the scene grow much more comical than they had hoped. Anna had enchanted the ribbon to stay tied for twenty four hours. It was a simple spell a lot of students used to keep their shoes from coming untied over the day. The time could be varied, but it only worked twenty four hours at most. It also prevented breaking or cutting during the time allowed. It was a required enchantment for any wizarding sports footwear.

Before long, Crabbe and Goyle had their feet planted on Malfoy's back as they tugged at the ribbon making the boy's face turn red. He was trying to get them to stop at this point, but they couldn't hear him through his chokes. The tables around them was roaring with laughter at the sight, drawing the attention of the rest of the hall.

Snape came upon the scene and stunned Crabbe and Goyle with his wand as he rushed up to Draco as he fell to his knees. He found the boy was catching his breath, but unharmed otherwise and stood up to glare down at all of them. "What is going on?" Everyone around the scene had fallen silent as soon as the teacher had appeared.

Malfoy jabbed his finger at the redhead as he faked gasping for breath more than he needed to. "She...tried to kill me!"

"It looks like Crabbe and Goyle tried to kill you to me." The redhead shrugged as she looked up at the house head. "What's this got to do with me?"

"You put this around my neck and tried to choke me! I almost died!" The boy locked his eyes onto the redhead in a hateful glare.

"I thought you wanted it. Why else would you take it? We gave it to you rather than turn you in for the thief you were, just to be kind. This is how you pay us back? Really Malfoy! You're trying to blame me for your friends incompetence?" The redhead seemed miffed. Pansy was trying her best to keep from giggling, and was only somewhat successful.

"She enchanted it to choke me! She's lucky I knew the enchantment to counter it!" The blond boy was livid and looking back and fourth between her and Snape in a rather shifty manner.

"What have you got to say?" Snape turned towards the redhead with a frown that promised lots of punishment.

Anna was expecting to get punished no matter what. "Well, I do know a spell like that. He won't mind if I use it again to prove his story. After all, he does know how to counter it, right?" She pulled her wand out of her robes, but didn't point it at anyone. She was looking Draco in the eyes and enjoying the color draining from his already pale face. His eyes were wide as he fumbled about his waist with his right hand to find his wand. He was having trouble getting past his robe. "If I'm not expelled, I'm sure I'll spend months of detention with you Professor. I'm sure that would be...less than pleasant."

Snape arched his eyebrow a little and his glare hardened as his hair whipped about as locked his eyes on Malfoy. "Well?"

The boy's jaw worked up and down a few times as he kept his eyes on Anna's even stare. She hadn't budged since she said it. "Nevermind, it's nothing. Those idiots were trying to help me." He glared at Crabbe and Goyle, who were still lying on the floor from Snape's stun spell. It wore off and the two boys started staggering to their feet. Neither was in any pain, but seemed disoriented.

Snape glared down at the redhead strolled back towards the faculty table without another word.

Draco seemed to vanish between the two dumb oafs as they slipped away to the other end of the table and endured the snickers of two house tables as they passed by.

"Thank you." Pansy was smiling at her. "I enjoyed that."

"It's not wrong to do that all the time. You should just pick your targets a little better." The redhead seemed quite pleased with herself. "I thought I'd be cleaning cauldrons for weeks. That dope. If he hadn't lied, I would have gotten in trouble. Wouldn't have taken them long to realize what I really did to that ribbon. Sooner or later, someone would have tried to take it off and figured out he was lying. Now, he can't go for help without getting caught in a lie by Snape. He has to leave it on. It's not like he doesn't know, but he has to take a don't ask don't tell position. Otherwise he'll be forced to dock house points. I think Lucius Malfoy might have something to do with it as well."

The situation with Snape was starting to bug her, why hadn't he punished her yet? He'd had plenty of opportunity to make her much more miserable than he had. Something was up, and she intended to find out for sure what it was. From what she knew, Lilly Potter had stood up for him at least once. That couldn't be it on it's own, could it? The man was turning out to be an irritating mystery, and she wasn't sure what to expect from him. It could also be her house. He couldn't punish her much without taking house points away from Slytherin, perhaps he was trying so hard to keep himself in check out of house loyalty? She couldn't tell, and it was starting to get to her. She almost wished he would start punishing her a bit, because not getting any at all was becoming maddening. It occurred to her that he might be screwing with her head on purpose as well.

Pansy seemed to think about what the girl had said. "You're right." Anna was a strange girl, but she was starting to be a little fun as well. Everything about her seemed to defy her expectations. She was almost the opposite of what she expected from a dark lord, almost.

There were still a few snickers floating around the table as the students started to settle into the meal again.

OooOOooOO

At three thirty that afternoon, Harry and the other Gryffindor first years hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. The sky was clear, and a light breeze swept across the grounds. They moved across the field to an open flat area opposite the forbidden forest on the grounds.

The Slytherin students were already there. Harry found himself smirking as he noticed Malfoy glancing angrily at the back of the pack. His two cohorts flanked him as usual. He was digging into his robe's collar with his finger. He had the ribbon tucked away beneath his robe and was glaring at the redhead from near the middle of the group.

Harry was with his friends, but right across the split between the houses from his sister. There was a large gap between the two houses. He looked over at her and she nodded at him. They were all standing in front of broomsticks that were laid out in neat rows on the grass.

Anna didn't seem interested in what she was saying but spoke up to speak to her brother. "Harry. Longbottom is going to hurt himself, be a dear and look after him."

Pansy seemed a little confused for a moment as she looked over at her. "Really?"

She put up her hand. "I like to think I'm above such humor. It's no fun if they don't deserve it. Longbottom has it bad enough, best not to rub it in."

The blond nodded and shrugged. "I guess."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were about the only students who heard her. No one else was paying enough attention to care as they indulged in their own conversations.

"Did you hear that?" gasped Ron, he looked a little disgusted. "Why'd you suppose she'd say something like that?"

"Because she's evil." Hermione looked like she was as miffed as Ron.

"She's not wrong." Harry seemed a bit surprised at their reaction. "I like Nevill, but he's accident prone, and people make fun of him. We should try to be kind to him when we can."

They both turned to look at him almost as one. "That's not what it sounded like to me!" snapped the brunette.

"She's just like that. It usually sounds worse than it really is." The boy took off his glasses and cleaned one of the lenses off on his robe before replacing them. "Don't worry so much."

OooOOooOO

Madam Hooch was the instructor for the course. She had short gray hair and yellow eyes. She took command of the class as soon as she arrived. Calling for all the students to stand by a broomstick.

Harry noticed that the brooms weren't in new condition. His had bent and broken twigs. He didn't see any reason it would matter.

The teacher called out to the class. "Stick your right hand over your broom, and say 'up'!"

Harry and Anna's brooms both shot up as if their hands were electromagnets for wood without either one opening their mouth. The reactions of the other student's brooms varied. The scarred boy noticed Malfoy's broom rose on command with practiced ease. "So, he does know what he's doing then." The thought shook off as Hooch began to explain how to mount the brooms. She marched up and down the isles correcting grips.

Even Hermione enjoyed hearing Malfoy had been doing it wrong for years. Ron pumped his arm a little as he heard it. He and Harry had been ignored, Hermione had to move her thumb a bit.

She marched up to the front of the groups and looked around a little to put a stop to horseplay if she noticed it. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle, three, two..."

Nevill pushed off the ground as his nerves got the best of him. Hooch dropped her whistle. "Come back boy!"

Harry looked on for a moment on the ground with the others as Nevill started rising like a cork released from the bottom of a swimming pool. He was aware the teacher was yelling protests and shot up into the air without paying them enough mind to realize what she was saying. Most of Slytherin was laughing as he left the crowd of students and caught up with and met Nevill in his climb skyward.

The boy was in tears and crying out for help. He seemed frozen in terror and unable to do anything else. He'd stopped moving as soon as he saw Harry coming up after him.

"Nevill! Calm down, you're fine! Just relax and loosen up!" Harry made sure to approach from a distance so the boy could see him coming as he almost touched the ends of their broomsticks together and hovered just in front of him, keeping pace with no difficulty as they rose.

It did little help. The large boy lurched forward reaching for the boy across from him. He dropped like a stone as his hand missed the end of Harry's broom as the stick dipped out from under him.

Harry tried to make a grab for him, but ended up snagging the broom instead. Rather than toss it aside he gripped it in his fist and followed the boy into his dive just behind him. They were no more than fifty feet above the ground. His eyes became glazed as he concentrated on the task at hand.

The boy's broom moved around Nevil and he slowed his fall just enough to put the back end of his broom between Nevill's legs with the larger boy's hands draped across his shoulders. They curved in the air as the new weight was added and came down ten feet to the right of the rather stunned looking group only a few inches above the ground at high speed. The broom continued away across the field and curved around so the broom pilot could bleed off the speed he'd built up.

He and Nevill touched the ground just behind Madam Hooch. Both of them took a few steps as Harry grabbed the larger boy's shoulder and arm to keep him on his feet. They found themselves looking at the teacher as she stared down at them with wide eyes.

"Please! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Nevill was quaking in terror as he looked up at her scowl.

Her eyes were focused on Nevill's broom. It was in Harry's hand, the spectacled boy slapped it into the larger boy's arms as he realized this and blushed a bit more. "I probably shouldn't have done that, huh?" He looked a little nervous.

Her features hardened, but only a bit. "No. You shouldn't have..."

Harry almost jumped out of his skin as someone snagged his wrist and spun him around. He was halfway expecting Anna. What he found was worse. McGonagall had his arm in a firm but painless grip and tugged him away through the bewildered students.

Anna was chuckling at him as he passed by him and he gave her a sour frown. "I bet she knew about this part too," he thought to himself as he noticed her expression.

She waved her hand at him as he passed with a huge smile on her lips. "Bye, Harry. Have fun!"

McGonagall glared at her, but said nothing as she stormed away. "...how dare you!...could have broken your neck..."

Everyone was giving her odd looks. Some of the Slytherin students looked a bit confused. Pansy included.

Ron and Hermione weren't happy at all. Both of them were discussing her in an unpleasant manner by the look of them.

"Did you know something about that before you told him to...?" Pansy glanced back as Harry was pulled towards the main building by the head of his house.

"Of course." Nevill's remembrall floated into her palm from the grass and she gripped it. Her lips turned into a frown as it began to glow bright red. Much brighter than it had ever shined in it's owner's hand. Her eyebrow was twitching as she glared down at it. "What the hell?"

"It seems you've forgotten...a lot." Pansy looked confused.

Anna blushed and shoved it into Hermione's chest as the girl stomped her way up to them. Hermione was pretty upset and snapped at her. "That doesn't belong to you! I'll bet you did that on purpose too! You could have stopped him." She handed it back to Ron, who leaned back so others could hand it back to it's owner. He stood behind Hermione, preventing her from being surrounded by Slytherin.

The red haired girl blinked as she wiped the grass that had stuck to the crystal off her palm on her robes. "Of course I did. He'll be thanking me for it at lunch."

"Are you joking? He'll be lucky if he's not expelled!" The girl pointed her finger in the redhead's face and scowled at her. "I don't like you."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that!" Anna grabbed her finger and shook it as if it was an extended hand. "I'm afraid I can't spend my life getting him out of every little thing can I? Besides, what about your friend Nevill?"

"You are an awful girl!" The girl's hair became even more frazzled. She was livid and her face flushed as she whipped around and crossed her arms over her chest. She wanted to slap the girl, but wasn't about to start a fist fight in the middle of the Slytherin pack. "He's your brother!"

Anna just pinched her cheek and smiled. "Don't worry so much. It's bad for your heart. You don't really think Dumbledore would expel him for saving Nevill do you? He wouldn't have died, but still. I really am starting to like you two. Standing up for my brother like that is so cute!" She looked like she wanted to pinch her cheek again and the frazzled girl backed away a step.

Hermione wasn't happy with the redhead, or the logical responses she was getting. She wanted to argue a bit more. Ron had moved up behind her and grabbed her shoulder to pull her back a little more. He didn't look pleased with Anna either. Madam Hooch was starting to take command of the class again and she was forced back to her place. Nevill was shivering, but seemed more in control of his nerves. He didn't look hopeful that Anna Potter would be as kind as her brother was, he tried to glance back at her spot, but found an empty broomstick lying on the ground.

"You should relax." Nevill froze up. Everyone was looking at the redhead as she walked up behind his blind spot and put her hand on his shoulder. "My brother wouldn't be very happy if you wasted his efforts by feeling bad about what he did instead of getting on with the class you know. He did help you, and it will be remembered."

"Yes. Thank you Miss Potter." Madam Hooch looked like she wanted to deduct points, but decided to tolerate the interruption, it was a little surprising from a Slytherin student to say the least. Nevill did look a little better, and was looking up at her now instead of the grass. He was still terrified of course, but it was starting to die down a little. Anna was back in her place again and seemed to try and sit on thin air. Her broom rose from the ground and caught her rear as it hovered above the ground. Everyone was confused, it was making her feel very smug. She stretched her arms out and popped her neck as the teacher called for their attention to continue class.

OooOOooOO

Anna found herself circling around the castle in two packs. Gryffindor, who were right behind the instructor, and Slytherin at the rear. This left her and her classmates unsupervised for the most part.

Pansy and Anna were at the rear of the pack, watching the other Slytherin students in front of them. Anna hopped up and stood on her broomstick, balancing with ease.

A few of her housemates were looking back at her. They were doing laps around the castle at about a hundred and fifty feet.

Malfoy peeled off by pulling his broomstick back, Crabbe and Goyle both followed back. The blond boy steered himself right into Anna's path as he came to an almost complete stop.

His eyes went wide, at worst he was hoping to force her to swerve around him and slow down. She landed on the broomstick that passed under him just ahead of him. "Careful Malfoy, your clumsiness might get you hurt." She was leaning back at him and wagging her finger as she stood on the stick.

Pansy looked more than a little surprised and glanced forward to see more of her classmates slowing down to move up beside them. The redhead watched them approach. All of them were male.

"It'd be a shame if you fell off that broom." A boy named Melvin with black hair and sharp angry gray eyes spat at her.

His sister had a dark smirk on her face as he rode at his side. "Wouldn't it though?"

"Would it?" Anna stepped off her broom and fell into a dive as she faked looking thoughtful and put her finger up to the corner of her mouth while rolling her eyes skyward.

Everyone gasped in shock at the display. "She's crazy!" cried the dark haired boy.

No one even noticed her broom until it swooped in behind her back and carried her back up to Pansy's side. She was relaxing on it with her arms behind her head as if on a mattress. "I mean, the ground is really hard, and so very far away. It's not like any of you would save me either. I don't know how I could get out of it." A stone floated up from the ground. It was about the size of a basketball with a nearly flat edge on one side. She hopped over to it and floated along beside her broom. "It's not like I could do this with just anything either. I'm sure I'd be doomed if you broke my broomstick, or kept it away somehow. No way I'd get out of that one to get you back. Right Malfoy?"

Her broom did a loop over her head and she grabbed it before performing another that ended with her standing on her broom. The rock dropped back to the empty grounds below and she started doing skateboard tricks on it to show off a bit more before zooming around and through the pack of rather stunned students. Draco and the others sort of hovered watching the scene in a sort of slack jawed state.

"That's impossible!" cried the blond boy as he jabbed his finger at her. She was flying circles around her classmates.

"Wonder how I can do it then?" she asked as she pulled up beside him. She was sitting on the broom with her legs crossed as if on a couch. "In..."

Anna jerked as she froze in place. The class all looked behind her towards the castle, but she couldn't move. She also wasn't falling and floated back towards the castle. She saw the inside of a window to the castle just before her feet settled on the ground again.

"What are you staring at? Get back to class." A familiar and unpleasant voice that the girl very much didn't want to hear spoke from behind her.

Severus Snape was glaring at her as he tapped her nose with his wand with a bit more force than needed. She rubbed at it as she stepped back and looked up at the man as he scowled at her. He slipped it back into his belt and loomed over her with the obvious intent of intimidation. She looked annoyed, but not afraid.

"Showing off, Miss Potter?" His cold dark eyes narrowed. "I think my cauldrons need cleaning. You'll be busy for some time this evening. I don't tolerate horse play, broomsticks are dangerous."

Anna sighed and hung her head. "Maybe there's a way out of this?" she thought to herself. "Harry's as good as I am."

"Why would..." He seemed enraged, but quiet despite his tone.

"He's just been made Seeker on Gryffindor. They'll crush Slytherin without me. Though, even I can't guarantee a win against someone like him. I'll make him earn it at least."

The man's frown deepened. "We'll see. I'll see you in my dungeon at the end of the day, Miss Potter."

"Rats. Shouldn't have added that last part." She snapped her fingers and sighed.

"Quite." The man snarled at her and turned away. He paused in the doorway. "I trust you can find your way back to class. Your broom is by the window." He opened the door to the small room he'd pulled her into, it looked almost like an office, but didn't seem to belong to anyone in particular. As he stepped out he stopped again and turned his head, but not enough for her to see his face. "I've a feeling you know why I don't like you. Possibly in great detail. I also don't like losing, which I dislike more I'm unsure of. I'll consider your offer. You'd better produce."

"Of course." She nodded, a little surprised at how much anger was in his tone. "Harry wouldn't forgive me if I went easy on him."

The man snapped his head forward and walked away at a fast pace. She could hear his footsteps in the hall as he moved off.

"Okay. Topics not to talk about with Snape are getting clear. Any and everything apparently." She scratched her head as she grabbed her broom and jumped from the window with it. He seemed to grow more upset every time she opened her mouth. "What the hell is up with him? At least he's done something." She noticed the Gryffindor students pass by and hopped out the window on her broomstick after they had gone by. She caught herself and rose up behind Slytherin as they moved by over her head to take her original position beside Pansy.

"Are you all right?" muttered the girl in confusion.

"I'm fine. I'll be gone for a while this evening. It's just detention, no big deal." The redhead shrugged it off.

Pansy seemed a bit put off by her being so calm and dismissive about it. "If you say so."

She noticed Malfoy smirking at her over his shoulder. "Like he had anything to do with it." She wasn't worried about it much.

OooOOooOO

Harry was a bit confused as McGonagall poked her head into Flitwick's class and asked for Wood. He could tell she wasn't very angry, in fact, she seemed more excited.

Wood turned out to be a burly fifth year boy. He seemed as confused as the first year boy was as he stepped out.

"Follow me you two." McGonagall. They moved down the hall a bit before the woman pointed them into an empty class. She barked Peeves out of the room and he rushed off through one of the walls. She then turned towards the boys and spoke in a sharp but even tone. "Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood, I've found you a Seeker."

Harry's eyebrow arched as he looked at the older boy. He could tell before his grin appeared he was delighted to hear that. "Are you serious Professor?"

"Absolutely." The woman seemed quite certain. "The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?"

He nodded. He was pretty sure it wasn't a punishment.

"He caught Nevill Longbottom in a fifty foot dive on the back of his broom. He didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it."

"Really?" Harry seemed a bit confused. "Nevill's the only other person I've even see fly a broom."

Wood was looking at him as if all his dreams had come true at once. That bothered the younger boy on some level, but it wasn't a bad feeling he was getting really.

"Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" He looked like he wanted to start swinging Harry's hands.

"Wood is captain of the Gryffindor team." McGonagall explained.

"He's just the right build for a Seeker, too. Light, speedy, we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor. A Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven I'd say."

The woman nodded once. "I'll speak with Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in the last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks. "I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you." She smiled after she said it. "Your father would be proud. He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."

"Why would you want to look at Snape?" muttered Harry as he thought about it. They both looked at him. McGonagall turned away and started walking out of the room.

Oliver burst into laughter and slapped him in the back. The boy took the shot in the back with no reaction and smiled at the older boy. "Better watch out. My sister is in Slytherin, she won't stand for this long."

His chuckles stopped. McGonagall paused as she reached the door, her own snickers dying down as she glanced back at them.

"She's competitive, beating her won't be easy." Harry seemed pleased with this development.

"We can hope Professor Snape doesn't notice." Wood seemed to shake it off. Snape would ignore a first year, and tryouts were over the day before.

"I wouldn't bet on that. I'm looking forward to it anyway." His cheerful mood as he thought about it seemed to confuse the other two people in the room with him.

"She's only a girl, right? I'm sure you can beat her." Wood almost didn't notice the glare the teacher gave him from the doorway. She remained silent and stepped out of the room as the boys moved to follow.

"I've got no idea! This is great!" It helped the younger boy's mood even more as he thought about it.

OooOOooOO

Hedwig and Carrot coughed in violent fits as they staggered back towards the owl cages. Their eyes were out of focus and the pair's wings dragged along the stones. They ran into each other a few times in their travels.

"Naaarrff. Pretty!" Hedwig was in a different place.

"Perhaps chemical warfare isn't the best option." Carrot seemed to be trying to keep focus. It was a losing battle. "How was I supposed to know they had electric fans?"

The evening's plan of using bug bombs to clear out the gnomes hadn't gone well.

"Naarrff." They managed to shamble their way into the cage. Carrot fell flat on his back. Hedwig was trying to keep walking through the wall at the back of the cage. After a few moments of walking the larger owl plopped herself down on her rear and turned her head around. "Now what Carrot?"

"First, we call poison control. Then, we plan for tomorrow night!" The smaller owl had his wing pointed upwards from his place on the ground.

"Why, what are...umm...you know..." Hedwig couldn't think straight enough to ask another question.

"We take over the world! The one full of pretty colors that's spinning around my head." Carrot's wing fell to the ground as he decided it was best to just lie there.

Hedwig seemed to have a similar line of thought.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next Time: The birth of a legend.


	7. Chapter 7

A matter of force.

Part 7

Anna Potter and the Stone of Blood.

OooOOooOO

Severus Snape was sitting at his desk. Dinner was being served in the Great Hall, but he didn't have much of an appetite.

Anna Potter had reported to his dungeon for detention. He'd given her a bucket of potion safe solvent, a putty knife, and a worn used scouring pad. She should have still been there cleaning cauldrons while he watched her suffer in silence.

Instead, the girl had taken to her work just as she had at the Dursleys. Cleaning disgusting pots was a normal activity for her, and she'd done quite well. Neither had spoken a word after he'd said. "Here. Clean these."

The tall thin dark man, was sitting and glaring at the rows of cauldrons at the back of his classroom. Every single one of them looked brand new. The dents had been removed, the handles straightened, even the most caked on grime and sludge was chipped away into the bin he'd supplied her with. None of the metal was scratched or damaged, despite years of use. She'd done it in about two and a half hours.

He wasn't sure how she'd done it, he'd stopped paying attention when he realized she was working in complete silence, and wasn't about to give him a reason to yell at her for noise. Only the sound of her tools working accompanied him as he read his potions book and worked on planning the courses he would teach in the near future. There were no groans of disgust, or squeaks of effort, or sniffling.

He felt a surge of dark pleasure when she told him she'd finished with what he'd given her. He would get to berate her for shoddy quick handed work. Then his eyes settled on the impossible. If they weren't made of pewter, they would be shining. He opened his mouth and closed it as he stared at them all. "Yes. You may go." His voice was a hiss and she took full advantage of her chance and headed for the door.

"Miss Potter." He didn't have to call to her, just speaking was enough to halt her as she opened the door. She turned to face him with no real expression. She seemed interested in what he wanted, but unafraid of what it might be. "I have no need of your services."

The girl thought about it as she cocked her head while still halfway stepping out the door. "Suit yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you." She shrugged and turned away to escape at last. The news hadn't phased her in the slightest, he'd been hoping for even a hint of disappointment.

He frowned as he slumped down into his chair into the position he now sat in. He balled up his fist and tore his eyes away from the cauldrons. "I'm going to have to speak with the team. They had better not lose to this upstart first year."

OooOOooOO

"Really?" Ron's jaw was slack.

"You're kidding?!" Hermione's eyes were wide as she gripped the edge of the table.

It was dinner time. Harry had just finished telling them both about what had happened to him during flying lessons.

"Seeker?!" said the Weasley boy in excitement. "But, first years never... You must be the youngest house player in about..."

"A century!" Hermione chimed in before Harry could speak up. "What is it with you two? Are you some kind of super wizards?"

The boy adjusted his glasses and blushed a bit. "No... I dunno? Wood told me it's been a while..." He seemed uncertain of how to respond to that. He seemed to shake it off and smiled again. "I start training next week. Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret. I'm not sure we can though, Anna knows."

This caused Ron and Hermione to look very uncomfortable and they turned their eyes away from him. He looked confused, but was more interested in his dinner.

Fred and George Weasley entered the hall and moved straight up to Harry.

"Well done," said George as he leaned in towards the scarred boy's ear a little. "Wood told us. We're on the team, Beaters."

"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year!" agreed Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this years team is going to be brilliant! You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."

"It'll be fun I think." Harry seemed pleased. "Must be good competition if we haven't won in that long."

The twins glanced at each other and shrugged. "Well, I guess." George chimed in.

"Anyways, we've got to go. Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school." Fred seemed to get distracted, and his brother with him.

"Bet it's that one behind the stature of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you." The pair moved away and someone much less welcome strolled up with a smug grin on his face.

Draco Malfoy, and his two bodyguards. "Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"Never. I'm staying with Sirius Black now. I also don't think I'm being executed." He grinned up at the boy in an almost welcoming way. "You're being awful brave considering what my sister's done to you in the past. You don't really think I'm any weaker do you?"

Malfoy's smug grin faded and his eyes became angry. Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles and tried to look intimidating. They were both given a bit of pause as the sound seemed to elicit a small chuckle from the Potter boy.

"I'd take you down anytime on my own." The blond boy jabbed his finger. "Tonight if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only, no contact. What's the mater? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

"Of course he has!" Ron jumped from his seat. "I'm his second, who's yours?"

"No. I'm his second." Everyone turned to see Anna watching the scene with a smile on her face. "I'll be making sure Mr. Malfoy makes his appointment. Still feeling brave, Draco?"

"You're to late. Weasley already..." Draco glanced down at the mouse haired boy who was glaring at his sister in irritation.

"Anna will be my second." Harry turned back to his plate and started eating.

"Are you mad? You can't run around the school at night that way!" Hermione looked shocked.

Ron seemed confused and a little grateful the other redhead had shown up. "What he said." He pointed his finger at Harry for a moment and put his rear back into his seat.

"I..." Draco was flustered and glaring at her now.

Anna put her nose up to his and narrowed her eyes as she stared him down. "You just gotta ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky?"

Malfoy stepped back away from her and clenched his fist. It looked like he wanted to go for his wand, but restrained himself with great effort.

"Well? Do ya, punk?" Anna had her wand showing as she shifted her robe to where she could grab it.

Crabbe and Goyle both looked a bit nervous, but neither one was quite stupid enough to speak. Their leader was glaring at them both, sizing them up. "Never mind. Seems I don't have anyone who might do. Another time, Potter."

"Fine." Harry nodded and went back to ignoring him as he stormed off with his cohorts behind him. They both looked relieved. He looked up at the red haired girl. "Thanks for the tip."

"Sure thing." She shrugged at him and looked over at Hermione and Ron. They weren't even looking at her and had their noses in their plates. The Slytherin girl walked away again and back towards her table with a knowing grin that neither of Harry's friends noticed.

"What? Did she tell you about this?" Hermione seemed glad she was gone, and her cheeks were a little flushed.

Ron wasn't in much better condition. "You knew he'd back down?"

"She thinks it's funny you know." Harry didn't feel like irritating Hermione into lecturing them about it. He had a feeling what had been proposed was against the rules. "How you're acting now I mean."

They both looked at him a little wide eyed and then back at each other.

"I'm pretty sure it's why she does it in the first place." Harry tapped the end of his fork against his chin as he thought about it.

"What?" cried Hermone as her face flushed again. "She's playing with us?"

"To think, I was feeling bad." Ron seemed a little confused, and only a bit upset.

"I kn..." Harry was cut off by a resounding and somewhat musical clang as a large package was dropped in front of him. His head snapped up and he'd noticed the same thing had happed to his sister. The girl had pulled it off the table and set it beside herself. What was inside was obvious due to the unique shape.

A small note was attached to the side. Harry flipped it open, despite not needing to.

Ron was over his shoulder reading it out loud. It was obvious Harry cared less about it. Hermione moved to his other shoulder. "Harry. Anna mentioned you needed these for something called 'The D'. Good luck with that. Sirius. P.S. Looking forward to hearing you play."

Harry hung his head as he pulled the wrapping away from the acoustic guitar and gave it a look over. Most of the other students around them were looking on in mild interest. "Like I said. Woodchuck."

"You can play guitar?" The brunette seemed impressed. "Is there anything you can't do?"

"I can't play guitar, no." The boy who lived was frowning at her a little.

"Then why?" Inquired Ron. "I mean, if you can't play, what good is it? Is it enchanted?"

"I can't play, unfortunately for me, Anna can." He hung his head and put it beneath his seat. "Don't worry about it. I'm hoping it'll just go away."

His friends decided to let the matter drop and continued with the meal.

Harry shuddered as he noticed his sister give him an evil glare. Pansy seemed quite pleased as she talked with the girl about the instrument she'd just received.

OooOOooOO

The blond Slytherin girl looked on in surprise at the instrument that had landed in front of her friend. "You can play guitar?"

"Yeah." The redhead was looking back at her brother as she put the instrument down beside her seat, leaning against he bench. "I'm a little rusty, and I want to get a little refresher in before I pull it out in front of others. I'll rock your fucking socks off sometime. Don't worry."

"Oh." The girl blushed a bit. She wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're loosening up a bit. You've been a bit stiff up till now." Anna seemed pleased with the girl at her side.

"What?" Pansy looked a little embarrassed.

"I want friends, not servants. I'd rather not deal with people who only hang around me because they're afraid not to." The redhead shrugged. "Fear is a useful tool, and a dangerous weapon. It's not to be used on everyone you meet."

The blond girl seemed a little surprised and leaned in a little more. "What do you mean?"

"It's just a matter of picking the right tool for the task at hand. You wouldn't try to sand a board with a paint brush would you?"

Pansy shook her head, but didn't look sure of it. "I don't think so."

"Social tools are no different. You might be able to do something with fear, but that doesn't mean you should. It's like using a hammer to put a screw in. It might work, but most of the time it does more harm than good."

The larger girl seemed to understand that. "Oh." She knew there was a deeper meaning in it, but she wasn't quite getting it either. "So, I'm your friend then?"

The redhead nodded. "Sure. I like you." She seemed certain, and didn't hesitate."In fact, I'd prefer it if you spoke your mind a bit more. I might argue a little, but I won't hurt you. Don't worry. I'm not as aggressive as I seem, that's no accident either."

"Okay." Parkinson seemed pleased to hear it, and a little surprised.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was walking down a hallway populated by few students. She was deep inside the castle heading back to her common room from her last class of the day. Pansy was at her side with a rather cheery looking smile on her face. Neither one was speaking at the moment, both were more interested in the trip to the dorms. They needed to make a right, but the redhead paused in the middle of the hall, looking into the shadowy corridor ahead of them. It split off in two directions a short way into the shadows.

Her eyes turned to a small white box sitting on a small table next to the wall under a portrait. It looked out of place, and had a large red bow on top of it. An asian girl was standing a little ways beside it, peering at it with what seemed like mild interest.

The blond girl walked up and tapped her shoulder. "What is it?"

"A moment." She looked back and noticed a group of first year Slytherin girls approaching the scene from behind them.

"Miss Chang, a moment of your time?" Anna turned and got the asian girl's attention. She looked a little flustered and embarrassed as she looked up from the box.

Anna wasn't looking at her, but rather into the hallway behind her. She could see two mops of shaggy red hair hidden in the shadows behind a suit of armor in the darkened hallway. There was a third party as well, hidden just around the corner.

"Y-yes?" The asian girl seemed to clear herself up a bit. She knew who Anna was, and made it clear she wanted her to state her business and leave her alone. Her name was Cho Chang, and she was a second year in Ravenclaw.

Anna took her sweet time in speaking and drew it out for a bit. Pansy was looking at the girl without much expression. She wasn't sure what the redhead was doing. "A word of advice. Hogwarts isn't the place for curious young girls go about opening strange packages. If you see one, it's best to let it lie."

The dark haired girl gasped and looked insulted for a moment. Three screams and a loud violent wet sound from behind her put a stop to it though. She turned to see three Slytherin girls covered in thick green slime. They were all screeching in disgust and standing around the opened box.

Anna patted the girl on the shoulder. "You're welcome." She strolled forward and stood in the middle of the hallway, just outside the worst of the mess. The three angry girls stormed away cursing down the hall as they went, none of them noticed the others in the hall.

"You did that?" cried Chang as she stomped up behind her.

"No. Weasleys, have anything to say for yourselves? You as well." She turned her eyes towards the boy who thought he was hidden in the shadows by the wall. "Hmm. Hufflepuff, I don't know you."

"Good." He didn't look pleased with her. The two red haired boys were scratching the backs of their heads trying to figure out how she'd seen them in the first place.

"Then, why?" muttered the asian girl in confusion.

"I prefer a more, deserving target." She was giving the boy she didn't know an irritated glare. "Hiring someone else to do your dirty work? May I ask what she's done to offend?"

The boy looked away towards the wall and cursed under his breath.

"Cedric, you prick!" The girl seemed to realize who she was looking at. "You did this? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Anna arched her eyebrow a little. "Cedric Diggory huh?"

"What of it?" He was giving her a sour frown.

"What, were you planning on stepping in and playing hero? Did I steal your idea?" Anna was surprised at his reaction. She was fishing, but wasn't expecting to catch something.

"How did...?" His eyes went wide as he took a step back.

"What?" muttered the asian girl.

"Weasleys, you can go. I think Miss Chang has something to discuss with Mr. Diggory. Diggory, just so you know, that was lame." Anna felt a small bit of sympathy for screwing up his plan, but didn't let on.

The Ravenclaw studentl turned red and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Come Pansy! Our work here is done!" She pointed her finger into the air and started to march away.

Fred looked over at George and shrugged. "Wonder how she noticed us?"

His brother was moving off after the redhead. "I don't know, those Potter kids are starting to impress. I'm getting worried our status as wonder duo may be in jeopardy."

The second year girl was in front of Cedric with a dark gleam in her eyes she cracked her knuckles and he took a step back. "Where do you two think you're going?"

"Well, we are for hire. If you'd like to set up a revenge plan, we're available." George was eager to add another to his list of clients.

Cho gave Cedric and the twins a swift kick in the groin before any of them could respond. They were all on their knees on the ground clutching themselves. The dark haired girl snorted and looked down at them. "No thanks, I can take care of that myself."

"Noted," squeaked Fred.

OooOOooOO

Anna frowned as she found herself in the hallway looking at an irate Cho Chang. She was only a dozen or so yards away from the still disgusting scene.

"Why did you stop him?" The girl had moved up in front of her, blocking her path and leaned in with both her fist balled up and pointing at the ground.

"Pardon?" Pansy looked like she wanted to step between them, but Anna put her arm up to stop her.

"He might have gotten the balls to ask me out if you hadn't screwed that up!" The Asian girl was jabbing her finger into her face as she spoke. "I know he likes me, I've seen him looking."

"Because I felt it was better to err on the side of caution. I saw the Weasley twins and an unknown party." The pony tailed girl shrugged. She found herself thinking the pair a little young for it.

The girl wanted to keep yelling at her, but couldn't find a reason. She walked a few paces away and turned back around a few times.

"You know, you could just ask him." Anna was getting a little impatient with the display.

"Oh! No! I couldn't!" The girl's face went red.

"Why not?" Pansy lifted her nose a bit.

"Well, you know. You're both girls..." Cho seemed a little surprised at their reaction.

The redhead's face fell a little, but the blond seemed to understand.

"What should we do?" asked Pansy.

"Do?" Anna looked back at her. "Why should we do anything?"

"Because you made me..." The girl flushed a little more and looked away.

Anna noticed the Weasley boys moving towards them, both boys were clutching themselves. She could see Cedric staggering just behind them, all were recovering, but what had happened was obvious. "Oh. I see." The first year redhead found her heart going out more towards the three males' pain than the asian girl. Pansy seemed to agree with Cho.

The trio of boys tried to move past the trio of girls on the opposite side of the hall in silence. They had recovered enough to walk without hobbling by the time they passed them. All three of the girls' eyes locked on them as they tried to scurry by.

No one was sure what happened next. There was a sound, like stone sliding against stone behind the girls. A flash of light filled the hall and Anna felt like someone had punched her in the chest.

"Shit!" Her mind cried as she found herself unable to move. Before she could get her bearings, someone rammed into her, causing her to fall back into what should have been a wall. The last thing she saw was a set of gray eyes and dark hair before everything went black.

OooOOooOO

Anna sat up and frowned. She was holding a small crystal in her palm that had been jammed into her back when she'd woken up. "What the hell?" She was on top of a mess of bodies. They started to groan under her and move about a bit as she hopped off and held the strange object in her hands. Her wand came to life and she flipped the clear rock over a few times while peering at it in curiosity in the light. "What the hell is this thing?"

Fred Weasley was at her side and scratching his head with his brother behind her opposite shoulder. "It's a stun crystal. Aurors use them to incapacitate small groups of people."

"That explains how they got all of us." George looked a bit annoyed. "Hey. I think we've found a new secret chamber." The twins' spirits seemed lifted as they looked around at the dark gloomy empty room. It was about twenty feet square, with a sand covered floor.

She turned and held her wand up to see Pansy, Cedric, and Cho sitting on the ground and recovering still. They were up, and untangled in front of a small chute that was protruding from the wall. A rune covered stone slab had covered the entrance behind their fall.

"No. We didn't. Someone put us in here after they stunned us. We need to find out where we are, and how to get out." Cedric was making light of his own with his wand. Cho was beside him with her own wand ready, she looked frightened and wasn't speaking.

"I doubt this is a broom closet." Anna didn't look happy.

"Is everyone all right?" Pansy was looking everyone over at the red haired girl's side. No one appeared to be hurt, and everyone was standing and moving about the small room they'd found themselves in. It was a dark dry dungeon. Dust covered the floor, and thick stone slabs made up the walls around them.

Anna walked over towards the other end of the room and shined her light over a skeleton in the corner. "Not a good sign." It looked quite old, but gave no real clues to how it ended up there. The tattered remains of what had once been robes hung off the dried bones.

Cho looked close to having a panic attack, but kept herself quiet and under control as she gripped Cedric's sleeve. He glanced down at her, but seemed more interested in their new surroundings.

"Well, I'm willing to bet we can't go back the way we came." Cedric was standing where they had landed and shining his light on the small stone trap door. It was made of thick stone and had several markings none of them could read carved into it.

"We'll see." Anna stabbed her wand into it. The blade was still short, but it was at full cutting strength. A shower of green sparks flew from the slab, but it was undamaged. "Shit."

"So, now what?" asked Fred and George at the same time.

"We don't know what's down here." Cho was shaking, it could be heard in her voice.

"No, there's a door there. We should take it." Fred was shining a light of his own from the tip of his wand on the old stone door ahead of them.

George seemed to agree. "We'll find a way out. The two of us do this sort of thing all the time. Can't be that bad. It's Hogwarts after all."

"That's what scares me," replied Anna as she peered into the shadows of the next room and put her wand forward. The others noticed she was peering at the door frame and floor as she waved her wand around it.

"What are you doing?" asked Pansy.

"Looking for traps." The smallest girl glanced up at her for a moment before turning her serious gaze towards the task again.

"She goes first." Cho blurted out.

Cedric glanced down at her. "Hey. We'll be fine. Fred and George are here, and so am I."

"Cedric, it's not your balls on the line, it's your neck. I'm leading this party." The redhead glared back at them all with a hard and serious frown on her face. It was the first time any of them had seen such a look from her. "We didn't fall down here. We were pushed. I don't think this leads to the library, or the trophy room."

"Where's it go then?" George didn't look impressed.

"I agree with her." Pansy moved up beside her.

"Of course you do!" snapped Cho. She clutched Cedric a little tighter.

"Come on then, we'll make a game of it." Fred and George seemed pleased as they walked into the next room beside Anna. She was standing just inside, looking around at the part of the room she could see. There was still a thin layer of sand on the floor. The walls looked much the same, made from thick stone slabs. There were much smaller stones making up the floor, about a foot by a half floor rectangles arranged in an overlapping pattern across the floor. No one could see more than a few meters into the room, but it was clear it was at least three times bigger than the last room. The older twins tried to move past her and into the room, but she grabbed them both by their collars, tossing them back against the door frame with surprising force. They ended up on their rears, with their backs against the door frame.

"Hey. No need for that now..." George looked as annoyed as his brother, Fred didn't bother with speaking up as he rubbed at the back of his head and glared at her in frustration. Both were also surprised that she was able to do it at all. The girl was about half their size.

Anna put her palm back to silence them and extended the blade of her wand. A bit more light filled the room, revealing a pattern in the floor. The redhead put her free hand forward and closed her eyes.

Everyone else was standing in the doorway looking at her.

"What are you doing?" Cedric seemed a bit irate as Fred and George dusted themselves off. Both twins went pale at what happened next.

Soft whistling filled the room as the swoosh of darts passed by them all across the room. The clatter of wood could be heard for a few seconds after she lowered her hand and reached down to pick up one of the arrows that landed at her feet. They were about a foot and a half long and about a half inch or so thick. Each one had a barbed and sharp looking blade on the tip. They looked new as well, implying some sort of magical reloading spell. She doubted someone was coming down to reload the traps, the place was ancient. "Bother. Traps." She sighed and looked back at them. "Might be making an evening of this."

"I bet this is your fault!" snapped Cho as she scowled at the redhead girl. Anna didn't seem to notice and didn't respond.

Pansy glared back at her.

"Not now." Anna stepped between the other preteens and looked around at them with a calm and even gaze. Everyone looked like they wanted to start yelling at each other. "It does complicate things a bit." Fred hung his head and sighed.

"Are they mad? Death traps in a school?" George looked more than a little shaken. "What kind of place is this?"

"I'm betting you two won't find this on that map of yours." Anna was getting irate and tapped her foot as she thought. "If it was just me, I could do this no problem. How do we get the mob past this though?" She'd tried moving the sand with her power to create a path where they could see the triggers, but found it too difficult to do for more than a small area at a time. The sand itself was enchanted to spread itself across the room in order to prevent it from simply being brushed away so the traps could be navigated. She couldn't push more than about a few feet of the sand out of the way at a time and it flowed back into place like water.

"Hey, how did..." George started to say as a small daze crossed his features for a moment.

Fred slapped him on the chest and shook his head, he was also surprised, but mindful of the others around them as well.

"Maybe if we set it off enough, it will run out of arrows?" Pansy looked hopeful.

"No. This is Hogwarts, it'll never run out." Cedric kicked at the dirt, a few small stones clattered across the floor, but nothing large enough to set off the trap again..

"How do we get across this without stepping on the triggers. We can barely see them because of all this sand." There was just enough to make seeing the individual bricks that made up the floor questionable.

"Hey. That does give me an idea." Anna slapped her fist into her palm. "Thanks Pansy."

She reached out her hand and started setting off triggers in the room again. Each one supplied another arrow.

"What are you doing?" Cho seemed confused and stepped away from Cedric a bit to try and see into the room from over her shoulder. She couldn't tell what the girl was looking at despite it.

"I don't see how this will help, it won't ever run out." The Hufflepuff student seemed unimpressed. "We're wasting time. We should just avoid the triggers. You obviously know where they are by now."

Anna was waving her arms as she focused on the shadows. "It's going to take a bit, but I think I can make a safe walkway. I tried moving the sand but it didn't work because of some sort of enchantment, but this..."

Cedric held his wand and made a bit more light. He gasped at what he saw. It was crude looking, but the Slytherin girl was weaving a pathway out of the arrow shafts. The crude structure was expanding across the floor as it moved towards them from the other side of the room. It would keep them a few inches above the triggers on the floor if it held. Anna could tell where they were and could have made it across for herself, and made sure the supports for the crude bridge avoided the triggers.

After about ten minutes it stretched across the room to the short redhead's feet. She hopped on and started across. "One at a time. It won't take much weight, so don't screw around. Watch your feet, the arrowheads are still there." She strolled into the shadows giving off a faint red glow into the room as she went.

A few more skeletons could be seen as they each traversed the bridge, some not as old as others could be seen around them scattered in the room. It was obvious what had killed them this time as all of them had rotting and cobweb covered arrows stuck into various places. There were about four whole skeletons, two lying on the floor, with another resting against one of the walls. The other was on a support, a few simple stone pillars were scattered about the room at even intervals, about six.

Each student crossed and tried to take as little of it in as possible. The structure was flimsy, and cracked and popped as they all crossed keeping them all on their toes as they stepped gingerly across it. In the end each student crossed in safety over the forty feet of traps to the next door.

"Great, now what?" asked George. He had taken up the rear of the group and they were all safe and sound on the other side. A low whining hum could be heard through the shadows of the small doorway on the other side. The sound came and went in a rhythmic way as if some sort of machine or gears was keeping the timing for it.

Anna glanced back at him and looked over at the door. She was the only one who had approached it yet as the others seemed more interested in seeing everyone across the room safe. The group turned to look at her as she held her wand into the next room. "Are you sure we can't get through that slab over the entrance?"

"Positive." Cedric nodded and moved up beside her.

"Crap."

The older boy gasped as the Weasley twins moved up behind him. Pansy and Cho shoved their way up beside them to have a look at the long corridor full of spinning blades. There were huge saw blade like traps shooting down the walls at high speed. Dozens of the seven to eight foot blades were jumping from the walls, floors and ceiling as they cut a path through the hall before vanishing back and around in what appeared to be a hidden conveyor belt of death. Anna noted they were also coming out of the corners of the hallway, leaving no safe zones to linger in. It was possible to get through, but not as a group. The timing was set up to create walls of death that would hold them to a single spot for a few seconds, on the ground face first for the most part from the look of it.

"Ideas anyone?" Pansy was gripping Cho by her shoulders with uncomfortable force, the Asian girl seemed a little comforted by it. The blond glanced back at the others ahead of her and the second year girl.

Anna shrugged and looked to Cedric and the Weasley boys. "Time to shine boys. Impress us with your manly brains."

They backed away a little and looked at each other.

"I thought you were leading this?" Cedric seemed a bit annoyed at being put on the spot.

"Well, I could make it. Getting the rest of us through is the problem." She shrugged again.

"You're just a first year, stop acting so tough!" Cho spat at her.

Pansy looked about ready to slug her. "I believe her!"

"That's enough. You two can do what you want once we get out of here." Anna moved between them again and shoved Pansy's shoulder a little. "Calm down. You two aren't excused from thinking either." The pair looked away from each other feeling a bit chided, but the moment passed as the problem took over again.

"We'll have to go one at a time?" George was eying the timing of the blades. It was easy to see Fred was doing the same. Both of them looked serious, and joking around had stopped between them.

"Two at a time." Fred was looking at the other side of the room. "One on each side. We shouldn't be in the middle. It would only make things harder."

"Right." George seemed to agree without much thought.

Anna frowned back at them. "I'm not so sure all of us will make it. We definitely can't go as a group though."

"I don't know, we're all in good shape. I think we can all make it, if we're careful." Cedric looked around at everyone as he pulled his eyes away from studying the timing himself. It was obvious he thought himself the most athletic of the group, he was quite burly for his age, and had good reason to think so.

"I don't like it, but it seems we've got no choice." Anna agreed with a little reluctance. "Don't forget, you can't freeze up, there's no safe place to stand."

"We'll go two at a time." George popped his knuckles and kept his eyes on the blades.

"Right, Gorge and I will go first." His brother nodded and got a rather cocky grin on his face.

"No. You two might be two interested in what's happening on the other side of the hall. Cedric, you and Fred go first. George will go with Pansy, and I'll cross with Cho." Anna stepped in front of George. "I've a feeling you two might get cocky and try to turn this into a race if we let you."

He gave her an irate glare and looked towards the wall away from her as he crossed his arms. "We'll be fine."

"And if one of you gets caught, the other will dive right into the middle of it without thinking." Cedric nodded his agreement as he walked up and put his arm on the boy's shoulder. "I hate to admit it, but I think she's right George."

The two brothers relented, more to keep from arguing than agreement.

It took more than a little coordination to get through. It was a complicated game of diving, standing, and rushing in short quick bursts. The first two groups had gone through with little incident. All had at least two close calls and were missing a little bit of robe at least. Pansy had lost a small lock of hair.

Cho was giving Anna nervous looks as they readied themselves for the sprint. Her eyes were darting back and fourth between the trap and the girl beside her.

Anna noticed her glances and spoke up. "Pay attention to what you're doing. I'd rather not have to explain what happened to you when we get out of here. You can trust me that far at least."

The girl nodded and looked into the web of spinning death. She felt her body grow cold as she tensed herself to start moving.

Both girls rushed forward at the same time, each side by side, diving to the ground almost in unison as they reached the first set of angled blades. They quickly rushed to their knees and crawled ahead below the passing horizontal blades. The vertical blades blocked their view of each other, but posed no threat the way they were positioned in their sprinting. They rushed forward over a blade that rose up like a wall in front of them. Each was gasping for breath as they dove to the ground again after that and continued forward after the next spinning metal trap passed over them. Cho rushed forward and Anna's head snapped around. They were close to the end, and the girl decided to chance rushing herself. She tripped forward as the bottom half of her shoe sole was cut in half and hit the floor face first.

Anna's head snapped around as she moved ahead as the girl started to stagger to her feet. "No! Don't get up!" She was hitting the dirt herself for her own safety as she reached and called to the girl. The vertical blades cut off her view for a moment and she gasped and waited as the blade passed over her head a second time.

When the vertical blades went back down she saw something that surprised her a little. George Weasley had jumped back into the trap and kept her down. He'd lost a good sized chunk of his robe's shoulder doing it, but there was no blood visible.

They clamored past the last set of blades to safety and Anna followed a second later after her path cleared again. She looked relieved. She walked up to Cho and pulled her shoulder, forcing her to turn towards her.

"Don't get impatient. It almost cost you, and him." She jerked her thumb up at the older redhead who was blushing a little.

Cedric looked relieved, and Fred was beaming at his brother.

"Come on. We'd better see what the hell is next." Cedric didn't look like he was looking forward to it and waved his arm towards the entrance as Anna strolled up front to inspect it. "After you."

"Gee, thanks." The girl's reply was light and sarcastic.

"Thank you..." muttered Chang as she looked up at George. She looked flustered and spoke in a quiet tone.

"Er...right. Don't worry about it." The boy scratched his head and nodded. "I'm sure that was the worst of it. We'll be fine."

OooOOooOO

A large number of floating rocks moved about in the air in a huge open room with no floor. It looked more like a cavern than a room, but was lit by torches along the walls. The group looked around in a dazed state of awe from a small eight foot platform that was the only footing in the room, beyond the one in front of the other door at the top of the room about a hundred and fifty yards away. Each of the about thirty floating stones looked like it would hold no more than two or three of them at a time, they all rose and dipped as they made curving revolutions in the air around the room, spinning on their axis on occasion.

"Well, two by two again? This one is obvious." Pansy looked at the redhead and shrugged.

"Unless you can fly?" Cedric frowned at her for a moment. "I do wish I had a broomstick right now."

"That makes two of us," agreed Anna.

"I think if any of us had one wish, that would be it," commented George.

"Quite right." agreed his brother.

Anna wasn't about to argue, but it wasn't the way she felt about it. "No need to split the brothers up this time. The point of going in pairs is to help each other this time. Catch your partner if they miss if you can. Don't get dragged off yourself doing it."

Chang looked a little disappointed to hear it for a moment.

"If you've been watching, the stones pass close enough that you should be able to just hop across. Don't miss your chance, because they flip after the first pass." Cedric was pointing this out to every one.

Fred and George seemed to be having a good time of the trap about half way through. Together they were able to get their timing down and skip from one stone to the next with only a few off balance moments. They waved down at the group below from the top of the room with huge grins on their faces.

"It's easy!" cried one of them. No one could tell which from that distance.

"Who's next?" asked Anna as she looked at the group.

"I'll go!" chimed Cho. She was expecting Cedric to want to go after the two brothers.

"I just want to get this over with." Pansy nodded and stepped forward.

Chang glanced back at her for a moment, but didn't argue.

The pair hopped onto the first stone together as it passed near enough to reach with little effort. The next few stones brought them high into the air over the bottomless pit. The pattern of movement was irregular as they swooped around each other in twisting, but repeating patterns.

Anna was on the ground with Cedric when her eyes went wide. "No! Look out!" The shifting pattern of the stones had changed in an instant. The two girls were forced to duck and make an off balance jump onto the next platform as one of the other rocks swooped in just over their heads and almost knocked the both of them off.

Pansy grunted as Cho missed the side and they grabbed each other's arms. The blond girl gave a grunt of effort as she tossed Cho by swinging her instead of pulling her up with her. The smaller girl landed on the platform where the Weasley boys caught her with ease. She staggered back and was forced to start walking forward as the stone rotated in the air threatening to tip her off the edge. She managed to keep enough of herself to notice another stone swoop in just behind her and jumped across to it in the nick of time to keep herself afloat.

Anna and Cedric were on the ground having problems of their own. One of the stones slammed into the ground between them, leaving a dent in the sandy floor, and forcing them both to jump back and land on their rears on either side of the entrance.

"Aw man." The redhead whimpered as she saw two more diving in at them. Cedric sidestepped the next stone, with Anna doing the same. They both moved on top of the rocks as they shifted back into the air and curved upwards into the increasing violence of the rocks' movements.

Pansy managed to hop onto the stone that had just crashed into hers. The collision sent a few shards of spraying rock into the air as they collided and she half stepped half slid onto the next foot hold. She staggered and ducked as a spinning one swooped down at her from above. The platform was still to far away to jump, but another stone shot up from below and she kicked off and landed on her hands and knees on it as it curved back down towards the trio in the doorway. They had backed out of the room, but not far into the next room as they watched the display in horror. Though Pansy was too busy to notice, there were several dents in the top platform's floor as well. The others had been forced out by the trap.

The blond grunted as she landed a little short, but managed to grab the edge of the ledge to safety. She was trying to kick her leg up, but nearly lost her grip as one of the boulders crashed into the platform to her right, missing her by mere inches. The vibration knocked her leg back down and she cursed to herself as she struggled to keep her hands in place.

The red haired girl and her partner weren't having it any easier. The girl snagged the back of Cedric's shirt as he prepared to dive forward onto another stone and pulled him back by putting her arm across his chest and shouldering him back onto the surface of their current foothold. Another rock slammed into the top of the stone he'd been planning to move to and he looked up at her in thanks before the shifting of the rock started to slide them both off.

The boy grabbed her before she tumbled away by her collar and grunted in effort as he pushed his legs as hard as he could and jumped across a three foot gap onto a safer stone. He shoved her down by pushing her back to the floor on top of her as two more large rocks collided just over their heads, showering them both with shrapnel of varying size. The redhead was spitting out a bit of ground up rock as she rolled the older boy down beside her to keep him from getting his skull bashed in and they kicked off together to the next foothold.

They both seemed surprised that they had made it to the platform, it had seemed a bit further away. Pansy was still struggling and called for a hand.

"Hey! I can't hold on!"

Cedric's eyes went wide as he rushed to her side and gripped her arms, pulling her up with them while the trio in the next room cried out. He couldn't hear or understand their warnings, but saw the shadow looming over him as he dragged the girl all the way onto the platform. They both fell on their rears and noticed the short Slytherin student looming over them with her hands pushing on what seemed like the air between them and one of the platform boulders. It was poised to crush all three of them.

Her face was a strain of effort and her feet were dug into the ground. "Move!" she screamed without looking back. The pair scrambled away and through the door. They turned just in time to see the pony tailed girl hop back from the stone as it slammed into the ground and roll into the doorway with them. A huge cloud of dust blasted them all in the face as three rocks slammed into the doorway at once, blocking the path back.

"That sucked!" Anna was still trying to spit out the pulverized rock in her mouth as she pushed herself to her feet.

Cedric was gasping for breath and nodding with wide eyes. He brushed some of the debris out of his hair in an absent manner. Pansy shifted away from him with her eyes turned away. "Thanks. Guess I owe you."

"I'd say we all owe each other after this mess." George slapped them on the shoulder creating a small cloud of dust that made all three of them cough a little.

Fred nodded. "Yeah. Discounts for life all around for this one." It was obvious they were relieved to have gotten off so easy compared to the others.

"Where are we?" Cho Chang started looking around at the new room they had entered.

"Great. Wonder what sort of horrors this time?" The Hufflepuff student wasn't looking forward to the next room. Everyone else seemed to have a similar mindset.

The group found themselves standing in an open torch lit room. A bottomless pit encircled a large stone square with a set of stairs leading up to it. They were battered, tired, and dirty. All of them were still alive though. They formed a circle with their backs to each other and looked around the room. Each had their wand ready. There was two sets of stairs leading away, each bridging the gap between the suspended stone platform and the walls of the room. One set had a door, and a large blue glowing crystal rested on a stone altar. It was about the size of a large grapefruit, and it's light overpowered the torches that lit the room they were in from the corners.

Anna was the first to walk up and have a closer look. She extended her wand and frowned as she found she couldn't move it past the door frame. It was a small room, and five feet separated them from the stone.

Cho was behind her peering over her shoulder into the room. "There's a switch under that crystal."

Anna blinked and glanced back at the girl. "Yes. Good eye. There's a barrier though." She could see where the crystal's resting spot could move. It also didn't have a thin layer of sand covering it like almost everything else in the dungeon. The floating platform was just a little dusted with it as some sort of artwork was clear on the floor at their feet.

"Our situation..." started Fred as he seemed to notice it.

"...has not improved," finished his brother as he took note of the same thing.

"We'd noticed." Pansy had her arms crossed and glared at them. She didn't seem to realize what they were looking at.

"Oh. Oh no." Cedric staggered and almost fell over. His head was hanging low and he was gasping for breath.

Anna's head turned back and her face went a little slack as well. Cho was the next to react and gave a small alarmed squeak. They had seen the design on the ground, but being up above it on the stairs gave a different perspective.

It was simple art, little more than stick figures, but it got the point across. A single person was holding up a round object, the others were lying on the ground beneath the altar on the platform in pools of blood. The winner of the prize, was holding some kind of weapon that was covered in what every one assumed was blood. Whether it was a wand or a sword was unclear.

"Well, this complicates things." Anna didn't look any more pleased than the others.

"What does this mean?" Pansy was looking around at everyone else in the room. The Weasley twins were holding each other's shoulder as they stared down at the grim mural.

"It means, only one of us can get to the switch that opens the door. It won't let us in while more than one of us is still alive." Anna was regarding it from her place with Cho.

"What?!" cried the Weasley boys in unison.

Everyone but Cedric was looking up at the redhead. The Diggory boy was simply scowling at the image and looked thoughtful.

Pansy was shaking her head and looking up at Anna in horror.

Cho took a step back away from the redhead and gripped her wand. Her eyes darted around the room. "We...what do we do?" She looked about ready to start casting spells, but she didn't know anything worse than a stunning spell.

The Hufflepuff boy was clenching his fist in rage. "Those traps weren't meant to kill all of us, just pare us down a bit. This whole mess, it's supposed to be some sort of sick competition!"

"Yes. This place is some sort of test. A test for very nasty people." Anna sat down on the stairs in front of the barrier and stared at the mural with her fist on her chin. She didn't seem that worried about it.

"We can't!" cried the two brothers at once.

"Well, if there's any killing to be done, I'll be doing it. Still, we've come through all right this far working together. No reason to rule it out yet." Anna was looking at her nails and buffed them on her robes.

Cedric seemed to get a boost in confidence at that statement. "She's right. We know where the door is. Those stairs there. It's in that wall. We just have to find a way to get it to open."

"There is a switch in plain view, but we can't reach it." Cho jerked her thumb back at the crystal.

The red haired girl nodded. "I'm willing to bet she's right." She hopped down to stand on the platform with the others. Cho followed her and they all looked at each other. "Ideas?"

Cedric reached down and picked up a small loose stone from the platform. It was very old, and there were a few scattered pieces lying about. It bounced away from the invisible barrier. He jerked his arm in frustration. "Damn. We've got to find something that will get through that damn barrier. Maybe we can knock it off or something? It might open the door, even with the barrier in place."

Anna blinked. She turned back around and walked up the stairs part way. She could see the stone resting on its altar. Shining blue light bathed her face from the doorway. Her face was a frown as she reached out with her power, and found the entrance blocked. She couldn't push through.

"Damn..." It was a tough position to be in, everyone behind her was watching and seemed a little confused.

"Did you think of something?" Pansy looked desperate and afraid to move too close to her.

"Not yet," she grumbled. She turned her eyes to the wall outside the room around the door. "Why bother guarding something like...Ah." The door was sealed tight, but the thick walls were ignored. The room was carved into the cavern wall, so putting a barrier over it was a bit of a waste.

The students all looked on a little dumbstruck as the crystal picked itself up from the switch and floated up to the doorway. It passed through the barrier, or the barrier had fallen when the switch was thrown. She wasn't sure which. The redhead looked at the stone as it floated in front of her. "I wonder what it is?"

"I don't know." Cedric was the only one who didn't look back as the door opened on the opposite stairwell. Sunlight was shining from the opening down at them. It was starting to grow orange outside as the sun set in the distance. His eyes were staring at the strange stone as well. "What are you going to..."

The girl turned away and the stone dropped into the bottomless pit. She looked up at the slack jawed boy and noticed everyone else was looking at her. "What?" She was a little confused at the surprised expressions she was getting from them.

"Why did you..." Pansy was too shocked to finish her question. Whatever it was, it was obvious that it was both valuable and powerful.

"Yeah!" agreed Cedric.

"Why would I want something I was supposed to kill everyone in the room to get?" She was looking back at them as if it should be obvious. "Come on, before the door closes again." She ushered them towards the door a little, it didn't take much to get them rushing out.

The redhead sighed as she looked back over her shoulder at the room again.

A soft whisper, carried on the wind over the stone sliding back into place behind her as she exited. "A wise choice, touching the stone without the life blood of the others upon you, would have cursed you to spend the rest of your days as a man."

The girl froze and looked back at the room with wide eyes. She jabbed her finger at the vanishing space between the door and the wall. "I fucking hate you!" She was gasping and clutching her chest as she staggered out after the others.

"Are you all right?" Cedric was the first to greet her. "We should still be able to make dinner! Fred and George said they can see the Great Hall ahead, and no one has showed up yet for the evening meal.

"That means we might just be able to forget about this whole mess." Cho seemed pleased with the news.

"Anna?" Pansy looked a bit worried. "Are you okay?"

The girl gave her an intense glare for a moment, but her face softened after just a moment. "I'm fine. C'mon. We should get back. Anyone know what time it is?"

"Time for dinner I'm afraid. No chance of going back to change first if you want to eat." Fred seemed pleased with himself.

George was beaming as well. "There's a path on the other side of these bushes that will take us right to the Great Hall! What a story this'll make!"

"I'll bet Lee Jordan's ears will turn red!" The twins mood seemed to be affecting the others.

"Hey. I guess I was wrong about you." Cedric glanced down at the redhead as she walked with Cho and Pansy on either side of her.

"Yeah. Me too." Chang seemed a bit embarrassed. "Sorry I've been so..."

"You're not that wrong," replied the small Slytherin girl with a rather malevolent looking smirk. "Look, don't worry about it. We were all on edge down there and with good reason." She brushed it off and continued on her way to the hall.

Pansy seemed pleased with that comment and grinned. "I hate to admit, but you had me worried for a moment."

Cedric had moved on ahead with the Weasleys. He didn't look quite as enthusiastic as they did about the affair, but seemed to take it in stride.

"Well, I'll see you." Cho walked away as they entered a small door and into Hogwarts.

Anna nodded and walked with Pansy. They were both covered in dust and gave off a small cloud as they plopped themselves down in their seats at the table with everyone else a minute or two later. There were still a few stragglers coming in and everyone was giving them odd looks.

"Forget to take a bath this week Potter?" sneered a nearby third year girl.

"No, we've been building bridges and skipping stones. Why?" replied the Pansy with a bit more cheer than usual.

Anna nodded and smiled. "Quite productive I'd say." The redhead looked up the table. Other than a few isolated incidents, the older students left her alone. They seemed content to ignore her. Most of her trouble had been third years or younger. She'd discovered most of the elder students she'd been forced to deal with where a sibling to younger students. Words seemed to be the weapon of choice as of late, but someone had crossed the line. She had a feeling she was looking for someone in her own house.

The first year boys were her biggest problem, the second years would hurt her if they got the chance. First years didn't know enough to hurt her in most cases, second years were only a little more dangerous. They would take any opportunity that presented itself to get her and she knew it. She wasn't falling in line, and she was outspoken against the ideals of those in control. She wasn't sure how much that included Severus Snape either. Still, she needed to figure out who had attacked her, and why.

The answer to her question was frozen at the end of the table with wide eyes. His jaw was hanging a little as he stared at the two girls. A young first year boy with black hair and gray eyes. She knew him of course, but his stunned state had made him stand out enough to recognize the brief flash of features she'd seen. She pretended to not notice and turned towards Pansy.

"Did you see something?" asked Anna's friend.

"No. Nothing of importance." The redhead shrugged and started digging in as the food appeared before them.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was lying in bed that night with her eyes wide open. Her low light vision was better since she'd acquired her new eyes. It had taken her a while to figure it out, but she had noticed it. She was frowning to herself as she stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what to do about Melvin. Melvin Boggs was the name of the black haired Slytherin boy who had shoved her and the others into that death trap. Everyone appeared to have gotten off scott free from the incident.

She still had to figure out why, and it wasn't something she could just up and ask him. The girl had serious doubts about the honesty of any answer she might get anyway. She needed a way to question him. She closed her eyes and frowned, he was so close, yet so far away. Her thoughts turned towards him, she could almost see him sleeping in his bed. A furious anger burned inside her as she glared down at him.

The boy in her mind opened his eyes. He was looking up at her in what looked like horror. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Anna shot up like a rod from her bed. Another cry of terror that was muffled as others in his dorm forced him to be silent by pelting him with pillows and other random but harmless objects. She stared at the open doorway and noticed a few girls had been disturbed by the screams, but drifted off as they realized it had nothing to do with them.

The redhead narrowed her eyes as she seemed to think about it. She laid back again and closed her eyes. Another boy she knew from classes, she thought about him in the same way. She didn't like him much either, but there was no connection, nothing for her to latch onto. Another name, the same result. She furrowed her brow, trying to figure out what was going on with it. "Once more then. Draco Malfoy this time."

She could see him lying in his bed beneath her. She reached out to touch his cheek and grinned as she felt something.

The color of her hair was dulled as she looked around an old, but wealthy looking home. In the middle of the parlor, surrounded by other Slytherin, and assorted people she didn't know, stood Draco Malfoy. He was taller, but looked like a boy still. Most of the other students around him looked like taller versions of themselves.

"Oh look, it's my favorite toy, come to amuse us. Watch this." He walked up to her with his nose in the air. "Stupid girl." His hand raked across her cheek and she glared up at him. "I didn't tell you that you could leave your cage." He poured a pot of scalding hot tea on top of her head and laughed. "Clean up that mess.". He shattered the tea pot on the ground. "You won't be eating for a week, to make up for the cost of that pot."

The redhead sat up in bed and gasped as her eyes flew open. "That smarmy little..." She pushed her anger back a bit, it was her own fault for going in there in the first place.

She put her head back onto her pillow and settled back in again. Her grin widened a bit, she laid in wait for about an hour and a half before she closed her eyes again. This time, Melvin was sound asleep. "Heh. Seeing as you've got no problem shoving me into a death trap, I've got no problem trying this out on you."

OooOOooOO

Melvin was sitting in a dark tower, looking out at the countryside far below him. It was raining, and everything was muddy and gray. The shutters and doors on the burg below him were all closed. Racks of potions, and forbidden magic tomes lined the walls around him.

His eyes turned to look down at the small shimmering object on the floor of his personal lair. Nothing should have been out of place. "What?"

He bent down to pick up the loose stun crystal, it was used and had no charge left in it. As he started to stand back up, he noticed a leg in front of him. His eyes turned up and into the eyes of a thirty something man in a worn fedora. He was smoking a cigarette and glaring down at him. The yellow eyes appeared monstrous and inhuman as they glared down at him with thin lines for irises. The man's clothes were worn and dirty looking, a simple pair of slacks, and a tattered looking green and red striped sweater.

"Look familiar?" The man asked him.

The boy staggered back with wide eyes and fell onto his rear. He looked like an eleven year old boy, in a body much to large for his features. "Who?"

"I asked you a question, kid." The man's voice was gruff and hate filled. He lifted Melvin by his shirt and pulled him up to his nose. "I'm going to ask a few, and you're going to answer all of them."

The man boy grew angry. "How dare you! Do you have any idea who I am?" He was almost laughing as he spat his threat in his face. He shoved the stranger in his chest and away from him and pulled his wand out to point at him in an arrogant and flashy way. "I'll just destroy you now."

The stranger's arm lashed out to smack his wand hand and shove it out of the way.

Melvin screamed in pain as he clutched his arm. He gasped as he realized it felt wet and warm. His eyes turned to the man's left hand, he was now standing over him. A glove with four knife like fingers was dripping with his blood and onto the imported rug on the ground.

"You don't seem to understand who you're messing with kid. I asked you a question. Does it look familiar?"

"Yes." Melvin was curled up at the man's feet. He looked up at him with defiant eyes. "So what? Why do you care?"

"Heh. Who said I cared?" He slashed the boy across his face digging into the flesh of his cheek with his claws.

The angry boy screamed in pain as he was thrown onto the floor by the blow. "Who are you? What do you want?" He was crawling on his back away from the terrifying figure that lorded over him with a dark and angry glare in his eyes.

"Make sure you tell your friends about me." The man lifted his chin with the index blade of his glove, cutting a cleft in his chin as he did so. He sliced back quickly and stabbed his shoulder into the ground with all four fingers as he leaned into the boy's face. The fires of hell itself burned in his eyes as his rancid breath flooded the boy's senses. "Heh. I'll be seeing you kid. You'd better feel like talking next time." The man pulled his claws out and punched straight down into his chest pinning him to the floor again against the blades. The dark figure stood up and took off his hat, dusting the brim off onto the boy who was writhing in agony on the ground and trying his best to breathe.

The man turned away chuckling to himself as he walked out the door singing a tune to himself. "One two, Freddy's coming for you, three four, better lock your door, five six, get your crucifix, seven eight, better stay up late, nine ten, never sleep again." The door closed as the song ended.

Melvin was screaming in terror on the ground. He sat upright in bed as reality melted into place around him. He was covered in sweat and two pillows almost knocked him out of bed and onto the ground. He was shaking and looking around in shock. "Just a dream..." He swallowed hard and breathed in shallow but heavy gasps.

His eyes fell onto the nightstand by his bed. His breathing became faster as his eyes went wide. A single piece of paper was resting on his dresser, a writing quill with far too much ink in it was sent to the ground as he picked up the page. It was shaking in his hand, his face was white and sweat was pouring down his face. Written on the page was a single question.

"Are you ready, for Freddy?"

He sniffed as he hugged his knees and rocked back and fourth on his mattress.

"Stop simpering and toss me back my pillow! I was having a good dream!" Malfoy looked groggy, but still found enough energy to be spiteful. "Don't wet your bed Boggs."

The dark haired boy ignored him and simply rocked back and fourth on his sheets muttering to himself. "Just a dream...just a dream..." He was clutching the crumpled paper in his hand as tight as he could. It had felt real, too real. He was looking at his arm, checking for non existent scars. His hand was rubbing against his shoulder and he shuddered again as a chill ran down his spine. His voice was wispy and quiet as he started singing to himself. "One two, Freddy's coming for you..."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter smiled as she watched Melvin stagger down the stairs the next morning. He still looked pale, and had a haunted look in his eyes as he entered the room. Pansy didn't notice what she was looking at, as she had her nose in her potions text book.

"What's the matter Boggs? I heard you wet the bed last night?" sneered a second year boy who had just come away from Draco Malfoy's side. The blond boy was sitting in an arm chair across the room from Anna, with Crabbe and Goyle standing on either side of him, laughing at the scene.

The dark haired boy didn't seem to care. "He's coming for us. He told me to tell you." The boy muttered as he shied away from the older boy.

"I think Boggs has cracked." The second year boy seemed amused by it. "What's the matter, the pressure of being a first year too much for you?"

The boy's fearful eyes shifted around the room.

Anna noticed his eyes fall on her and she caught his gaze with her own. She gave him a playful looking wave of her hand, made to look like she was being catish for some reason. No one else seemed to notice this.

The unfortunate boy almost fell onto a small decorative table behind him as he rushed out the entrance to the common area.

"What's with him?" muttered the older boy in disgust.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter stood in the shadows near the entrance to the trap. Melvin turned a nearby corner, alone. She'd had to wait a few days to find him. He seemed calm and back to normal, he also seemed to be ignoring her, and avoiding her whenever possible. Pansy was standing at her side with a frown on her face.

"What are we doing here?" She looked down at the redhead and spoke in a whisper.

"Waiting for the opportune moment." She stepped forward as Melvin entered the darkened section of hallway. "Hello Melvin."

The boy froze in place and did not move as she walked up behind him. "I'm thinking, you and I should have a little talk."

He turned his head and she frowned a little. He didn't seem afraid of her. "I know."

"Well, we seem to be alone." She looked around. Pansy was behind her with her arms crossed over her chest trying to look intimidating.

"Do you have any idea what you've done to me?" The boy turned to look at her. He had a somber look on his face and kept his eyes on the girl's angry glare.

"I'm hoping you'll be willing to tell me all about it. Otherwise, my friend would be glad to pay you another visit." She gripped his robes and pulled him up to her face.

The color drained from his face. "It was..."

"A friend, a very old friend, of mine. Yes." The girl seemed satisfied she was in control of the situation and released him. The blond girl was trying to look intimidating, but listened with interest to the conversation. She had no idea what was going on and seemed confused about what the redhead wanted with him.

"It's not coincidence, and I didn't do it just because I don't like you." He was giving her an angry looking stare, but his tone was very subdued. "Every single student at Hogwarts has at least one class that forces them to pass this place at least once a week."

"Do tell." Anna narrowed her eyes at him. He'd started in on her after the 'Heir of Slytherin' incident had gotten around. He'd been quiet, and snubbed her for the most part before then.

"This is not for the ears of those not involved." He glanced over at Pansy. The girl furrowed her eyebrows and puffed her chest out a little.

"Call her my personal witness if you wish." Anna didn't feel like waving the girl off.

Pansy glanced at her in mild surprise. She'd been ready to walk away.

"It was a test. What you have done is impossible. Since the beginning of Hogwarts history, my family has been responsible for administering it, to...prospects like yourself." He glared her in the eyes. "You...passed. No one else should have come out of there with you."

Pansy's eyes went wide as she realized who she was looking at. "That was you?" Anna put her arm up to stop her from stepping up to slug him. She glared at the girl for a moment and turned away.

"Yeah. It was me. I'm to test all who claim to be the Heir of Slytherin. Just as my father tested Lord Voldemort himself. How did you escape? What you've done is impossible, you should be..."

"Dead? A pity I'm not. I'm afraid I've found it's not a title you take with you in death. My brother will deal with him for me, and there's nothing he can do to reclaim his title." Anna grabbed his shirt again, but didn't move him.

Boggs turned his head away from her and looked towards the wall. "Yes there is. Don't expect everyone knowing your claim is true to start bowing in worship before you. They can be rid of you, and keep their old boss if they can manage it. When he rises, he'll destroy you for what you've done."

"I expected as much. You're underestimating me, and my brother a great deal. He doesn't need my help to destroy your master, though, that doesn't mean it will be easy either." She turned her back on him and tapped her cheek with her finger in thought.

Pansy wanted to slug the boy for what he'd done still but Anna barred her rushing him with her arm again.

Melvin spat his response out in a disgusted tone. "Idiot girl. 'He' isn't my master anymore. I must serve you. My father serves another. I can never go home again. You're stuck with me now, and my sister."

It was Anna's turn to freeze up. "Huh?"

The boy's angry glare focused on her. "You've just made my own father my worst enemy. Both me and my sister will die if we return home. You've passed and we must follow you. My father serves another, and he'll be rid of us if he can. Mother won't protect us either."

Pansy snorted in disgust. "I suppose you're out of luck then! Worm!"

Anna was standing by the wall, butting her forehead against it. "No. No. No. No."

The pair behind her were looking on in a sort of disgusted surprise after a moment.

"What are you doing? You can't be serious? He tried to kill us!" Pansy seemed somewhat aghast as she walked up to the wall next to her and leaned in to whisper.

"Pansy. The law says he has to stay with his parents, right? I mean, he's not seventeen yet." Anna's eyes looked hopeful. "There's nothing I can do!"

"My parents won't take legal action. It would risk uncovering father's role in the disappearance of several students years ago. I've already written to him to consult about your testing. He'll be expecting news of your failure soon." He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked uncomfortable just standing there in the open. A few other students had passed the whispered conversation and ignored it, but they were alone for the most part. "I am in your service now, as is my sister."

"You have a twin sister?" Anna looked surprised.

"Margaret Boggs." Pansy arched her eyebrow and looked surprised that the girl hadn't put something so simple together.

"Guess I never cared before." The little redhead turned her eyes towards the boy. He was too afraid of her to lie about something like it and she could not sense any deception from him. He didn't want to be near her, and it was clear in more than just his body language. She shrugged and walked up to him. She slapped his shoulders and felt up and down his arms. "Bit scrawny isn't he?" He was a lanky boy who seemed a little like a younger version of Snape.

"What?" The boy's face fell a bit. She was kicking at the side of his leg as if testing tires on a car.

"Tell me, is your sister in any better shape? I mean, would you consider her to be more, active?" The redhead was walking around him while sizing him up.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He seemed irate, but submissive.

"Well. You said you wanted to serve me. I suppose that means I have to figure out how useful you are. I don't have much need of servants though. I mean, you're going to have to convince me to keep you around by becoming a better person. I imagine your sister will be the same way."

Pansy was smirking at him, she was making him squirm, and making it quite a show.

"Convince you?" He muttered as he shrank back a little as she pulled his hair out of his eyes and looked at his face. "I never said I wanted to serve you, I said I had to. This isn't a choice I'm making here. I don't have any other options."

"You'll need to be able to keep up. I'm not just talking about magic either. Pansy is an active girl, I don't often leave her winded. Plus, I hate it when people bow and scrape to me. I'm going to have to explain this to Sirius. I doubt he'll throw you into the streets. Especially after a bit of coaching in civil behavior from me. I'm still not sure he'll allow me to keep you."

The boy could tell he was being insulted, but hung his head and did nothing. "Whatever you say."

"Don't worry. You'll find that while fear is a useful tool, and a potent weapon, I find you catch more flies with honey than vinegar." She clapped her hand on his shoulder. "I suppose I can keep you. You're both going to have to prove I can trust you. I try not to be cruel when I don't have a practical use for it."

"Who is Freddy?" He looked up at her and turned his eyes away.

"Call him the prize I was awarded for getting through your little test." It wasn't true, but she didn't see the need to be honest about it. The fewer people who knew the truth about him the better.

"Your predecessor got a Basilisk egg." The boy snorted and rubbed at his chest where the creature had stabbed him. He was trying to sound unimpressed.

Pansy looked confused, but her hostility had lessened a bit. "Who?"

"He could have killed you." Replied the redhead with a small shrug. "I've got better uses for the Master of Dreams. Having him carve up my enemies would cause more trouble than it would solve."

The dark haired boy nodded once. The blond looked even more confused.

"You're better off not knowing." The boy glared at her, and the redhead shrugged and gave a small nod of agreement.

Anna smiled at her. "Don't worry. You'll never meet him, we're friends. You don't want to, trust me."

"Oh." Pansy seemed satisfied with that.

The trio started walking down the hall together. Anna hung back and watched as they gave each other distrusting glances. "Better uses indeed." She was looking forward to the next few evenings now.

OooOOooOO

TBC...


	8. Chapter 8

A matter of force.

Part 8

A Nightmare in Slytherin Dorm 2: Anna's revenge.

OooOOooOO

Anna was looking at Melvin in the hall outside the entrance to the Slytherin dorm. "Margaret? I remember her now, snotty little thing. Now that I remember, she did grow rather quiet after the incident. I hadn't really thought about it though."

Pansy was behind them glaring daggers into the boy's back, she had both her arms crossed over her chest and wanted to slug him still.. He ignored her and looked like he was going to the dentist as he turned to give her a half lidded, unenthusiastic stare.

The redhead strolled into the common room with her two companions and glanced around.

The girl in question was sitting in the corner, alone. There was an empty armchair next to her, and she was as close to the wall as possible. The black haired girl was trying her best to look small. The girl was looking at the group as they entered and muttered a curse under her breath as she realized she'd been noticed as she looked down at her knees. Her lips grew tight as it was obvious her brother wasn't having a much better time of it.

"Hi." Anna sat down next to her and grinned. Pansy wasn't quite sure what she should be doing and stayed standing with her arms crossed. Melvin was looking at the floor and not speaking.

"I see you've spoken to my brother." The girl shifted her eyes away as far as she could without turning her face away from her new mistress. She had shoulder length black hair and gray eyes, both Boggs children were pale and thin. Anna was peering at her with a rather cheery grin on her face as she put her chin on the arm of the chair and stared at her.

"Well, I can tell you're the one who pushed us." She was larger than her brother, but not by much. Pansy still had an inch or two on her, and the blond girl was a bit more filled out. Pansy was athletic, the Boggs twins weren't.

The girl glared at her for a moment and turned her head away. "I don't know what you're..."

"You'll adjust. You're one of us now." Anna was sitting in the armchair next to her with her legs and neck draped over the arms. She was on her back and looking at her upside down as she arched her back and stretched her arms. Margaret backed away a little to avoid touching her. It was obvious the redhead was curious about her from the way she was looking at her. "He threw the stun crystal, and you pushed us in. I almost thought it was him, you've got the same eyes." The redhead seemed sure.

Pansy was working her jaw a bit and cracked her knuckles as she glared at the smaller girl. "She did?"

"Forget about it." Anna smiled at the blond girl and pulled her skirt to get her a little further away. The dark haired girl thought she was going to get hit and cringed back a little. "A family obligation is hard to back away from. Believe me, I know." She brushed her palm against the dark haired girl's cheek.

"We don't have a family anymore, thanks to you." Melvin looked like he wanted to slap her hand away.

The redhead narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. "I understand that quite well."

The boy snorted. "You don't have to worry about your parents killing you."

Margaret joined her brother in glaring at the redhead as she sat back up in her seat and crossed her legs. She didn't look worried, Pansy seemed a bit put off by the conversation.

"Well, we'll do what we can of course. I don't imagine you'll be rewarded or welcomed back if you kill me?" Anna shrugged at them.

"No." Margaret spoke up first. "We wouldn't. It would be even worse. There are things that keep us in line." Her voice was tense and wavered a little as she almost whispered the words. Whatever it was, scared her more than Anna, or Voldemort.

"That doesn't mean we like this any more. You've already destroyed our family, not even killing you will fix it. We've got no choice but to follow you and hope you don't get us destroyed." Melvin was looking around the room. A few other students had taken note of the conversation. None of them were first years, and none seemed very interested.

"Why should she trust you at all? They'll stab us in the back the first chance they get." Pansy had noticed the redhead was getting irate with the attitude she was getting from the pair. She and Margaret had gotten on well before the Heir of Slytherin had changed things for them. The redhead was seated with her eyes closed and her arms crossed as an irate but thoughtful frown formed on her face.

Melvin balled up his fist and seethed at her as he hissed at her in a voice full of hatred. "We'll be cursed if we try to go against it. We didn't have a choice about the test you know. If we fail to complete our duty, we'll both die horrible torturous deaths. Slowly wasting away into nothing, not even our souls would be spared. Salazar was very serious about guarding his secrets. My line is bound by it."

Anna stood between them and put her hands on their shoulders. "We should try and get along. I didn't exactly volunteer for this position you know. I'm stuck with it as much as these two are. So, either of you into music or anything?" She turned to look at the two dark haired students.

"What?" Margaret seemed horrified and surprised at the same time.

"Fate can be cruel." The redhead shrugged and sat down again beside her. Melvin and Pansy stayed standing, though the blond had calmed and wasn't glaring at the pair. "I understand this better than you might think. I'm stuck with you now, and you're stuck with me. If we work on it, we can make ourselves a better future!" The redhead didn't look quite sane as she posed with her finger pointed forward, she had a firm frown on her face and conviction in her eyes.

Pansy seemed a little confused. "Why are we being so nice to them?"

"Because it wouldn't help us much not to. I really can't just abandon them I suppose. I'll need the help if I'm to live up to my title. Any of you play any instruments?" The redhead was looking at the three of them and hopped up from her seat. All three of them kind of backed away a little. She seemed more cheerful than she should be.

"I can play a bit of piano. Mum's been making me take lessons since I was six." Pansy didn't look much like she enjoyed them. The girl was cringing back with her eyes squeezed shut.

"Awesome!" Anna seemed pleased. "Keyboard shouldn't be hard to pick up then. Don't worry, rocking ass is much more fun than what you're doing anyway." She turned towards the other two. "You two?"

"No." they replied in unison. Neither liked the way the conversation was going.

"Well, Melvin would make a good drummer, he looks like he wants to beat on something. That leaves Bass Guitar..." Anna was off in her own world as she thought about it.

"You want us to be a band?" Pansy seemed to be the first one to catch on.

"Why not? You can do as you like. These two don't have a choice. They must pay the rent with their rock." She almost spun on her heels to face them and narrowed her eyes as she put her bottom lip out a little.

The twins were looking at each other in a sort of horrified confusion.

"Are you mad?" Melvin gasped as his arms relaxed at his sides.

"Obviously." Margaret gave a small sigh. "She's right. We don't have a choice."

"Jeez, they're as bad as Harry is about this." Anna glanced at Pansy and gave her a small shrug as she brushed it off. "They'll get into it. Might take a bit though."

The blond seemed a bit pensive. "I guess...it could be a bit fun...I suppose..." Pansy didn't trust the twins, but she didn't want Anna to be the only person she ever spoke with either. She'd gotten on well with Margaret before, so there was a bit of hope.

"Welcome to the greatest band in rock history! The D is now complete!" Anna looked like she wanted to start giving a mad laugh, but controlled herself with a bit of effort.

"What's 'The D'?" asked Pansy in confusion. She was getting a bit disturbed, and they were attracting more attention from the room around them.

"We'll talk about it later. I'll introduce you two to my brother. He's on rhythm guitar. It'll be a good way to get to know each other." Anna didn't seem to care much what anyone else thought of the matter. "Besides, Sirius might not be keen on paying for these two every summer. Might be a good way to help talk him into it. Especially after we start getting a bit of income from it. I trust your tuition at Hogwarts is taken care of already?"

The pair turned their heads away from her, each in the opposite direction, and nodded once. Melvin spoke up first. "Our parents can't do anything about it either. It's part of the deal. Don't expect them to pay for our school supplies. You're responsible for us now."

"Supplies aren't free, and I'll have to pay for the instruments myself." Their leader's face fell a little as she put her finger on her chin and thought about it. "We should be fine though." She turned away and started towards the dorm rooms. "I'll get my guitar, it's almost time for Harry's rock training. You can come with me and laugh at him. I've got to write a letter to Sirius later, a rather long one. I hope he's not too upset." Anna had noticed that Melvin and Margaret seemed well versed on whatever had been done to them. It was clear their parents had started preparing them for the duty when they were very young. She paused before she got too far and turned to look at the twins again as she walked back. "Anything else I should know?"

The dark haired pair looked away. It was a question they were hoping she wouldn't ask.

The girl kicked at the stones that made up the floor and spoke up. "We have to serve you, but we can't fight for you. Our first duty is to continue the line, so that others might be tested in the future. We aren't soldiers, or assassins. Until we have viable replacements, as in kids of our own already attending Hogwarts, we won't die for you. Though, we will assist you as best we can."

"Jeez. Nazi's, they started in on this real young huh?" Anna didn't look pleased with what she was hearing.

It was something the pair was expecting, and it lifted their spirits a little. Until they realized she wasn't upset with them or their duty.

"Eleven, and you've already got a soul eating death looming over your head? Man, that Salazar guy was a real prick." Anna shifted her eyes towards Pansy. The redhead had her arms crossed over her chest and was tapping her foot as she seemed to think. "Well, I guess Harry and I have it about as bad. Voldemort isn't exactly known for his kindness. We're gonna have to kick his ass you know."

"We are aware of that." Melvin spoke up this time. He and his sister both had real fear in their angry eyes. Anna could feel it coming off them in powerful waves of emotion. Her back went straight and she frowned at them both with a serious look coming over her face.

The look on the redhead's face caught more than a few eyes. It was the first time most of them had seen anything but a cheerful grin on her face.

"With us in service to you, my father is useless to Lord Voldemort. Regardless of whether we live or die, he can't fight for him until we're replaced, and we will be." Melvin was pissed he jabbed his finger at her, but refrained from shouting.

A female Prefect walked up to the group. She had long black hair, green eyes, and thought herself quite beautiful. Anna didn't care much for her, but more because she was a bimbo than a threat.

Anna answered her question before it left her mouth. "No problem. We're just ironing out the details of a lifetime of servitude. It's got to do with that whole Heir of Slytherin mess again. Do you mind? You're kind of interrupting." She grinned up at the older girl as her eyes as they went wide and angry.

"You idiot. You need to stop running your mouth. Don't you get it? You're as much a target for him as your brother is. If you get yourself killed, we might be able to return to our family. We can't have a hand in it, we must give any help we can, we cannot betray you, but there is still hope for us. If Voldemort kills you while we still live, he gets us, and our father."

The redhead's face went serious again as she turned towards the doorway to the dorms again. "I sense much fear in you. Is that really what you want for yourselves, and your parents?"

The boy was shaking with rage as he watched her vanish into the doorway. Margaret and Pansy were both standing back and not speaking by the chairs in the corner. Margaret didn't look pleased with her brother.

He looked around and noticed about fifteen Slytherin students of varying were staring at him with wide eyes. "Shit."

"You idiot. She made you do that on purpose." The black haired girl clenched her fist as her jaw went tight as she walked up to him. "What do you think will happen when they write home and ask their parents about our family? The cat is out of the bag now. She's not just a rumor anymore."

"Well, it's about time." Pansy seemed to think about it and gave a small satisfied nod.

"No. Dolt. This is a bad thing." Margaret was glaring up at the tall blond with her arms crossed and her lip twitching quite a bit. "We've just made enemies of the remaining Death Eaters. All of them. They'll be after her now, as much as her brother, if not more. She can damage his strength, and the trust of his followers. Having another option besides him isn't going to help him much with what forces he has left. She's almost as dangerous to him as Harry is."

Melvin looked a bit surprised to hear it as well, but not as much as Pansy.

Pansy's eyes went wide. "What?!" She fell back into one of the chairs and went silent as she noticed a few students had already started writing letters and giving the group odd looks.

Anna almost skipped out the door with her guitar in her hand. "Hi. Let's go." She had a sunny grin on her face as she seemed to be having trouble not hopping to her destination. It was an odd sight to see three doomed looking gloomy students trailing just behind the disturbingly sunny redhead at a slow pace.

OooOOooOO

"Hi." Harry Potter was sitting in a small courtyard. It wasn't frequented much by students in the evening and was most often used as a shortcut between classes when it wasn't raining outside. It was a little more than a simple flower garden with a few stone benches and some sidewalk. He had his guitar and noted the rather large group of Slytherin students who had approached him with his sister leading them. Classes were done for the day and he'd been meeting his sister for a few weeks about twice a week for guitar lessons in the spot. He knew Pansy, and had seen the others. He didn't know them, and hanging around Anna was a new thing for them. They didn't look pleased to be there either. "What's this about?"

"They're in the band." The redhead pulled her guitar off her back and plucked a few strings as she sat down next to him. "Don't worry. They've been like this since I met them. They'll be fine."

"I'm not sure I like the idea of you shanghaiing people into this." Harry didn't look comfortable with the looks he was getting from the two dark haired students. Most of their anger was directed towards Anna though.

"Well, I have to keep them. I'll explain more later, it's one of those duty things that I can't do much about." The smallest of the girls shrugged. She'd been teasing them as much as she could since she 'acquired' Melvin. She didn't want to be unkind to them or anything, but they had tried to kill her. Duty or not, it was irritating.

Pansy rolled her eyes and sat down at a nearby bench, she seemed a little down, but not as much as the other two. "Hi Harry."

"Hey." he gave her a small nod and smiled a little. It was the first time she'd spoken to him.

Anna opened her mouth to say something, but paused.

Albus Dumbledore was walking into the courtyard shaking his head. He gave a heavy sigh and stopped as he noticed them. "Ah, here they are. Anna, Harry, a moment of your time."

Three people were standing behind him. An older balding man in a long dark coat, and two young men. One was wearing a black vest over a t-shirt, the other had flannel over his. Two young women in their early twenties were standing in the doorway behind them looking on.

Anna looked surprised and confused. Harry arched his eyebrow at this. The other three students seemed to realize something was up, and hung back in silence as he approached the brother and sister with a weak looking smile. "Yeah? Did you need something Professor?" Anna was trying to look attentive and pleasant while flicking her eyes at the trio behind the old man.

"Well. To be honest, no. There are some people here to see you. I'm not quite sure who they are, but I'm afraid I've got little choice but to believe they have a great need to speak with you about something." The old man seemed to be at a bit of a loss.

"Miss Potter." The bald man approached her with a formal smile on his face. He extended his hand to her. "We need your help."

"Who's this little babe?" asked the dark haired boy in the vest of his companion. He kept shaking his head to get his shoulder length hair out of his face.

"Yeah. How's this gonna help us?" The other boy had short blond hair and a red ball cap backwards on his skull. "Where the heck are we anyway? Kind of looks like that place we rescued the babes from."

"Yeah. Dude, you're totally right!" The pair looked at each other looking pleased with their collective thought process. Both men nodded to themselves and looked around the courtyard. Dumbledore gave a small frown as he watched the proceedings.

Anna had put her hand into the bald man's grip in a careful manner as she watched them. As soon as the words left the older boy's mouth she froze up and almost choked. "Whoa!"

Harry noticed her reaction and jumped to his feet. He didn't look very worried, but a little confused. "Anna? Are you okay?"

Both of the older boys looked around at the group a bit more. The one in the vest slapped his friend in the chest. "Hey, these kids look kind of familiar."

"Yeah. Now that you mention it..." His companion seemed to look at them all a little closer.

Both of their eyes went wide. Anna, and both the older boys spoke at the same time. "No way!" They were all pointing their fingers at each other. "Excellent!" they all cried together as they played air guitar.

Anna was about to start talking again, but both boys pushed the older balding man aside as they bowed before her. "We're not worthy! We're not worthy! We're scum! We suck!" She was once again surprised and wide eyed as she stared down at them both. If she wasn't mistaken, they were crying.

Dumbledore seemed a bit more relaxed at this point, but still unsure of what was going on. "I understand you have a request for the girl?" He was going to be quite irate if this had something to do with 'the boy who lived'. He'd been forced to turn away several attempts by the press to access the pair for interviews. More people were interested in the boy at the moment, but once word of the girl's gifts spread, that might change. "I'm still not entirely certain of who you are exactly. I'm afraid I'm less than comfortable with this meeting, despite what you've shown me."

"Anna, who the hell are these guys?" Harry was looking up at the old man.

"Forgive me. I don't mean to waste so much of your time. I was hoping introductions would come a bit sooner." The bald man in the coat put on a pair of shades and smiled at him. "I'm..."

"Rufus! Harry!" She grabbed the boy by his shoulders and shook him with a huge grin on her face. "It's Bill S. Preston Esquire, and Ted Theodore Logan!"

"Who?" The mouse haired boy was confused and gripped his guitar a little tighter. Dumbledore seemed to calm a bit more as he realized the girl did indeed know them somehow. Harry didn't seem to though and he remained silent at their side.

The pair of older boys looked at her in confusion. "Didn't you say we were in the past?" Bill scratched his forehead just under his cap as he looked back at Rufus.

"Yeah," agreed Ted. "A most astute observation." They nodded to themselves as they realized that had been a somewhat intelligent statement.

"I'm sorry I didn't explain more Professor. I'd hoped it would be faster if I explained it to everyone." Rufus seemed apologetic and hung his head a bit.

"Harry! This is the greatest rock band of all time! Bill S. Preston Esquire, and Ted Theodore Logan! Together they are..."

"Wyld Stallyns!" cried the two boys and the little redhead together as they started to play air guitar.

"I thought you said we were 'The Greatest Band in Rock History'!?" Harry was losing his patience a little and seemed confused.

"We are." The redhead shrugged.

"Yeah." Both boys and Rufus looked at him with a bit of surprise.

"Isn't that the same thing?" asked Pansy as she stepped forward, Margaret and Melvin were behind her, looking like they wanted to be elsewhere.

"No." Rufus, Bill, Ted, and Anna all replied at once.

"I'm afraid we're running short on time." Rufus looked at his watch. "Anna Potter, we need your help."

"Sure, what's up?" She looked over at Harry and then back up at them. "Wait. You want me to teach them? Me?" Her eyes were wide and she took a step back. They were both giving her very pleading looks, but also rather vacant ones. It was a tall order, and it gave her a moment of pause as she stopped and put her finger on her bottom lip and looked down for a moment.

The bald man shrugged and nodded. "Where else would I go? Everyone knows that Anna and Harry Potter are the two greatest guitar players of all time. Stallyns rule of course, but the D still rocks ass." He stated all of it as if it were a well known fact.

The children behind Anna were looking at each other in confusion.

"Well, we can't do that here. I trust you've got accommodations?" The redhead nodded. "I doubt Dumbledore will be allowed to keep three Muggles around here, future or not."

"She is correct." The old man cleared his throat. "I'm not certain I approve either."

She looked up at him with the widest cutest eyes she could muster. It was quite startling. "You don't understand! I have to! It's Wyld Stallyns!"

The old man sighed. "I'm sure they 'rock quite hard', as you put it, however..."

She grabbed onto his robe and cut him off. "Professor, forgive me, but these guys rock so hard they bring about world peace. I'm not kidding, I really do have to do this." She was almost on her knees before him, but hadn't quite reached that point.

This caught everyone but the newcomers by surprise. Even Dumbledore seemed a bit more than put off. "I beg your pardon dear?"

"Wyld Stallyns music is so good, it stops wars and brings about a new age of peace and prosperity. It's the single greatest event in our lifetimes." The redhead was looking around as everyone stared at her. "What?"

"That is still about a decade away..." Rufus sighed and nodded. "Have we met before?" He arched his eyebrows from behind his shades and looked at her.

"No. I'm psychic." She was quite cheerful. "What, you didn't know?"

"No, but it does explain a bit." He didn't seem that surprised. "At any rate, our time grows shorter. We'll need to start soon, if we're to win the battle of the bands. I'm sure we can work out some sort of payment plan."

Anna nodded and seemed to think about it for a moment. "I'll take care of the guitar work. You set up a bass guitar trainer and put the other two into class with the ladies. Oh, and we want to see the concert before we come back."

Rufus smiled at her. "Deal." He walked away towards the door. Bill and Ted almost followed, but he gave them a small hand motion telling them to stay put. They nodded and shrugged before turning back to watch the kids talk to the headmaster.

"What?!" cried the students behind her in shock.

"I must remind you that class is in session for the year. I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave the grounds." Dumbledore didn't seem upset, and seemed to want to remind them of their obligations at the school.

"We'll be back in like thirty seconds. I take it they showed you the booth?" She was looking up at him.

Dumbledore worked his mouth open and closed for a moment. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, it's too dangerous. I have no way of safeguarding you should something go wrong. Your guardian is expecting you home. I can't allow it. I am sorry."

"What if I get all of us permission?" Anna didn't want to give it up and crossed her arms. She was looking back out of the corner of her eyes away from him.

Dumbledore sighed and nodded. "Providing it doesn't disrupt your schooling. I'm afraid I can't allow Muggles onto Hogwarts grounds again either. If the wrong people found out about this, it could do a great deal to disrupt things. That won't be accomplished today at any rate. You'll have to deal with it during a school break."

Rufus walked back out into the courtyard and smiled. "Forgive me for being a bit forward. I'm afraid even our methods have limits. The school break will be to far into the future for us to make our appointment." He handed Dumbledore several letters.

The old man opened the one on top and blinked in surprise. He tapped it with his wand and looked over at Rufus with an impressed nod. It was a signed permission slip with Sirius Black's signature on it. There was a seal on the bottom that he recognized. There was one for Pansy as well. The Boggs children had a letter as well, the signature was a large X but his magic showed it to be a valid signature. "I suppose. You'll be back before the evening you say? The children have only started the year, and I don't see what a single evening will do for your friends."

Rufus leaned in towards the redhead while the old man tapped his wand against the letters again, only to find all of them were quite real. "Don't forget to write home and explain things when you get back."

"Wow, that letter I've got to write is getting really long." Anna hung her head a bit. "Hope I don't scare him."

"What's going on?" asked Pansy as she looked at Harry. "I'm confused."

The boy glanced around and found all the other children were looking at him. He didn't look upset, and seemed to give up and relax as he watched. "How should I know? Anna's just weird."

"Oh." Melvin was hoping for a bit more.

Margaret didn't seem much better off. "Are we going somewhere?"

Dumbledore still looked rather uncertain as they all piled into the phone booth. It was a tight fit, but everyone managed.

"Um, what are we doing in here again?" Melvin looked a bit pensive as he found his face pressed against a window.

"Is it some sort of magic?" asked Pansy in confusion.

"Nah. Just a time machine, we'll be fine." Anna was at the door looking up at the old man through the glass while giving him a cheerful wave.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Rufus smiled down at all of them and dialed on the number pad.

"I hate this." Margaret was shoved between Bill and Ted, each one of the older boys had a girl hanging off his arm causing her even more discomfort as she was squashed between them. She was giving Anna dirty looks.

Harry glanced at her and shrugged with a grin on his face. "Don't be like that. It'll be a most excellent adventure I think."

OooOOooOO

Anna was sitting back in the most comfortable chair she'd ever sat in. She was in a hotel, it was getting to be around nine in the evening. Pansy and Margaret were sitting on their beds in the room. There were three beds, a sitting area, a star trek style food dispenser, and a lavish bathroom with a hot tub in it. There were a lot of rules they had to follow, they couldn't read the papers, they couldn't watch television beyond about sixty channels that ran music videos, movies, and shows from their era in time. They pretty much had to stay in the hotel they were put up in. There were a few things they could still do, watch movies, listen to music, none later than a year after their departure date though.

"How long do we get to stay here?" Pansy looked a little worried. "I thought you told Dumbledore we'd only be gone a few moments or something."

"We're in the future, and we will only be gone a moment to him. We're going to be here for about sixteen months. A little over a year." The redhead looked quite serene and relaxed. On the table next to her was what would now be her old Hogwarts text books for her first year. Anna had a suspicion her future self was putting up the bill for this. Not that she minded much.

"SIXTEEN MONTHS?!" cried both girls as their eyes went wide. Margaret flopped down onto the mattress and stared at the ceiling.

"Yes, and all you have to do is learn to rock, and stay here." She turned and smiled at them both as she stretched her arms out. "The food isn't as good as Hogwarts, but you have to admit it's a bit more comfortable."

"My parents..." started Pansy as her gaze became a little distant.

"What they don't know won't hurt them. As far as anyone there is concerned, we'll have been gone maybe a minute or two at most." Anna sighed as she tried to comfort them both. "It's a nice place, we've got plenty to keep us busy, and I get to know my new coven." She was being quite cheerful.

Both girls turned to look at her with more than a little surprise.

"What?" Pansy gasped.

"What did you expect? There's three of us after all." The redhead shrugged and looked between them. "You've both already sworn yourselves to me. Might as well make the best of it."

Margaret worked her mouth open and closed a little. "Great." She hung her head and nodded. "Fine." She didn't look much like she was looking forward to it.

Pansy was still feeling a bit nervous and wrung the sheets between her legs as she gripped them. "Are you sure we won't get into trouble? I mean..."

"Sure. As long as no one here talks about how long we've really been gone." The redhead's cheer cooled a little as her voice became serious for a moment. "As long as we don't bring it up, I doubt anyone will bother asking. If Dumbledore asks, he'll most likely ask me. He's the only one I'd worry about getting curious, and I doubt he'll say anything if he does suspect. So long as we take a little time to keep ourselves sharp when we're able." She pointed at the stacks of books on the table next to the chair she'd been sitting in. "Don't worry so much, if anyone gets in trouble over this, it'll be me."

The two women who had shown up to get them with Bill and Ted entered the room after a soft knock. They looked cheerful and glanced around at the trio. "Hi." said the brunette.

Anna grinned at them and welcomed them in. "Joanna and Elisabeth right?"

The women nodded and looked excited to meet her. There was a bit of hand gripping and squealing, but not enough to make the redhead uncomfortable. Margaret and Pansy drifted over without saying anything. The women hadn't said much, and neither girl had realized they were even British.

"We'll be starting classes tomorrow. We thought we'd come meet our classmates." The dark haired woman let Anna's hands go. She turned towards the young blond and beamed at her. "I guess that means we'll be together."

"Melvin is in with the boys, I'll meet him later." The older blond seemed just as cheerful as her friend. "We don't often get to talk with people from our homeland. You'll be really awesome."

"Yes, most excellent." agreed the other woman.

"You know who I am?" Pansy was a little perplexed.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Anna was teasing her friend and pulled on her cheek a bit. "We're famous, these people are from the future. Well, recently anyway."

"W-we are?" Margaret was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah. Rich too." Anna turned her head without releasing the stunned Pansy's cheek. She narrowed her eyes a little at the girl as she stepped back and blushed.

"They didn't know?" the blond woman asked the redhead in surprise.

"I started this band like a few hours ago. It was just me and Harry until earlier today. I had to teach them anyway, this kind of makes things easier on me anyway to be honest." The girl gave a small shrug of her shoulders and looked at the other two girls. They were standing slack jawed and looking at the two older women.

"Why else would we be here?" Anna waved her hand in front of them. "Hello?"

"I..."

"Don't even try to act like you don't want it." The redhead poked Margaret in her chest with her finger as the girl started to look angry for a moment. The look faded and she blushed again. "Anyway. This is Elisabeth." The dark haired woman bowed her head a little in greeting. "This is Joanna. They're going to marry Bill and Ted, and rock with them in their band, Wyld Stallyns."

"Nice to meet you." Pansy stuck her hand out and shook their hands, she didn't look certain. "I wonder how long it's going to take me to wake up. This has got to be the strangest dream I've ever had."

"We aren't dreaming." Margaret shook their hands as well and seemed to be feeling a little better. "I've never heard of Wyld Stallyns, are they a Muggle band?"

Anna was sitting on one of the beds again. "They're the greatest band of all time. They don't exist yet. I'll wager we'll be out of Hogwarts, or close to it before they get started. Not sure of that though, but I don't think it'll happen before Voldemort is taken care of."

Both the other Hogwarts students shuddered a little at the casual mention of that name by the girl. She ignored their discomfort and looked up at the older women. They both looked confused, but didn't push the issue.

"So now what?" asked Margaret as she sat down on her own bed. Within a few moments all five of them were on the beds chatting amongst themselves.

Anna wasn't having too bad a time of it, but it was new waters for her. Her head whipped around and her eyes went wide as someone said the most horrible thing they could have in her mind.

"Hey, why don't we give each other makeovers?!"

The redhead wasn't sure who'd said it, other than it wasn't Joanna. The color drained from her face and she sucked in a quick breath. "My god, I've found myself trapped in a sleepover party! How the hell did this happen?" She was horrified.

"Are you all right?" asked Joanna with a little good natured concern in her voice.

"I'm fine." Anna gave a heavy sigh and relaxed her shoulders a bit. "Just remember I'm a bit of a tomboy and we'll be fine. You put a movie on with the word 'Horse' or 'Diaries' in the title and I'll start screaming."

"Oh, I think we'll be fine." The woman pinched her nose a bit and winked at her.

OooOOooOO

Melvin was in his room with Harry, Bill, and Ted. He was pretty sure they were the two biggest morons he'd ever met. Harry was having a ball with them both.

"Really? I bet that was interesting." Harry was being quite attentive to the stories the pair were telling him. They were sitting on a couch on the opposite side of the room.

"Yeah. It was one totally deep hole." Ted chuckled and shook his head as he took a swig from his beer. Neither one of the men was drunk, or getting that way. The two boys from Hogwarts were both holding a can of soda.

Harry looked at Melvin. The boy was sulking in the corner still with his arms crossed and his eyes closed as he sat in a chair. With a small shake of his head he turned back to his conversation. They were good honest people, not very bright though. He didn't mind much. All the members of Wyld Stallyns were twenty one. "I think he's still a little upset from when you explained what a 'Melvin' is."

"Oh, sorry dude." Both men looked sympathetic and sorry.

"Forget about it." The raven haired boy shifted a bit in his seat and continued to ignore them.

"He'll be fine. He's not really angry. I like you guys, Anna's gonna teach you how to play guitar with me then?" The mouse haired boy glanced over at them and they looked a bit surprised.

"Dude, you can't play either?" Ted brushed his hair out of his face.

"No. Anna...well, I've never heard her play. She says she can." The boy shifted in an uncomfortable way and took a swig from a soda can on the table in front of the couch.

"Dude, she can wail. Tenacious D is awesome!" Bill had a confident grin on his face as he slapped the back of his hand into Harry's chest.

"Yeah." Ted agreed.

"So, we're famous then?" Harry was giving them a somewhat dazed stare.

"Yeah," said Bill as he thought about it and took another gulp from his beer.

"Totally," agreed Ted.

"Cool." The scarred boy pushed his glasses up his nose and seemed to relax again. He gave them both a good natured grin. "We'll have to jam sometime when we finish training."

"What do you mean 'we're famous'?" Melvin was standing on the other side of the coffee table looking at the trio with wide eyes. His arms were hanging at his side, his jaw was clenched tight and his eyes wide. He was breathing heavily through his nose.

"Rich too." Ted pointed at him and grinned.

"I don't believe this..." the black haired boy hung his head and stared at the floor. "Come on Harry. You really believe..."

Harry's calm smile cut off his response. "I'm sure they're telling the truth actually. I'm empathic, you really can't lie to me without me knowing."

"Woah." Ted looked surprised. "Does that mean you can do those card readings and stuff?"

"No way dude, you have to do that over the telephone or something." Bill seemed confused.

Melvin glared at them both. "How long are we going to be here anyway?"

"Oh. It shouldn't take long. Rufus said sixteen months of intensive guitar training would do it." Ted said it in a pretty casual manner.

"SIXTEEN MONTHS!" cried both boys at once.

"Yeah. You'll only be gone a second or two though. We totally got a time machine dudes!" exclaimed Ted.

"No problems, dudes!" agreed Bill. The older pair looked like they thought they'd just given them the answer to all their problems.

"I was wondering about those books." Harry glared at the stack of Hogwarts first year books over his shoulder. They were on a small table by the window. "So now what? It's still pretty early, and we don't start training until tomorrow."

"We could watch a movie. They've got Death Reaver Five." Ted perked up a bit.

"I've seen that like six times." Melvin didn't look interested in that.

"We should play some tunes at least." Ted hopped up and walked over to a computer terminal on the wall by the door. "How do I work this thing...man, no D."

OooOOooOO

Melvin was sleeping. In his dream he stood looking out at the vast expanse of the place he ruled. He was once again in his tower, with his books, scrolls, and dark magic. Free to do as he pleased, and servant of no one.

"Hello Melvin." A horrible and familiar voice. He froze in place and swallowed.

"Yes?" He turned with great effort and found himself standing in front of the man again. He had a cigarette in his lips and puffed on it with a dark smirk on his lips.

"Stop that would you? I'm not into punishment much. I'm not mad at you." He kicked a stool out from under the small table in the middle of the room and plopped himself down.

He relaxed a bit more and took the seat opposite him with a frown on his face. "What do you want then?"

"Practice. I'm not going to bother you every night, but a few nights a week I'll be popping in, fooling around, seeing what I can and can't do. I'd like to learn about my new toy, and I'm not talking about you either." Melvin blinked, when he opened his eyes the redhead was sitting across from him with a cheerful grin on her face. "No reason to turn it into a nightmare or anything."

"I see..." He didn't look pleased, but wasn't that upset.

"I won't be bothering you like this very often after this little stint in the future. I'll leave your dreams to you when it's over. Don't worry." She seemed to catch on to the nervous look she was getting.

"What do you want from me?" he asked her.

"Want?" she blinked in mild surprise.

His eyes turned up to look at her but he kept his head down. "I must serve you, but you've not made what you want from me clear."

"Oh. Nothing really. I'd just feel bad about dumping you back into your parents house, or into the street. To be honest, I don't have much use for servants. I tend to like to do things for myself when I can. I'm still not sure about you, but I'll give you some time to settle in and calm down a bit. I'm hoping this little bit of time away will help with that."

His back went rigid as he looked at her with an unreadable gaze. After a moment he turned his eyes away and nodded. "I see."

"I might tease you a bit, but unless you become such a horrible person that I don't mind letting you die, you'll be fine with me." She shrugged and seemed to relax as her chair became a more comfortable looking arm chair. "None of this Mudblood crap anymore either, you're going to be nicer to other people who aren't jerks to you first."

"You did this somehow?" Melvin's eyes went wide. "All of us coming here this way, it was..."

Anna considered taking the credit for a moment. "No. This was just amazing luck, and rocking a whole lot of ass. I had a past life, and I still remember how to play. You could say I've had a lifetime and a half of practice. Still, it is pretty cool. Most unexpected." She gave a small shrug and watched him sit there and stare at her for a moment.

He gave a reluctant nod, and found himself unsatisfied with that conclusion. "That thing, it's what you used to look like isn't it?"

He had her on that one, even though 'Freddy' was burned and scarred, he looked a bit like she did in her former life. She kept her gaze even though and thought of a much more fun answer to that question. "You want to meet who I once was? Are you sure of that Melvin? I'm afraid he's less than pleasant."

"Why not? No nightmares right?" He shrugged and shifted in an uncomfortable manner on his seat.

"I cannot say with him..." The redhead faded out of existence in front of him as the room went completely black.

That caught the boy by surprise. "What?"

He found himself sitting at a long polished black table. It's surface looked like glass, and he could see himself through the fog his breath was making on the surface. He gasped and jumped out of his seat, it rolled away behind him on wheels. He shifted and whipped around. "My god."

Outside the windows that made up the walls of the room was an Armada of Starships floating in space around what looked like a metal, man made moon. He staggered back against the table and looked on as the huge wedge shaped cruisers passed by. There was one moving by just outside the window behind him, giving him a real sense of the colossal scale he was witnessing. He fell to his knees looking on in wonder as he realized just how many were flying around him.

A screen lit up on the table behind him and he turned to look at it. On it was two ships, one was one of the monsters floating around the moon outside, the other was ten times larger. After a moment he looked up and then down at his feet. He was standing inside it. He moved a bit closer to the window and looked down, only to see what looked like an endless stretch of metal plating.

His wonder ceased the moment he heard the chilling sound. Something was breathing heavily from the only doorway into the room. It was cold, rhythmic, and inhuman sounding. He put his hands up to steady himself against the window as he closed his eyes and turned towards the sound.

"Boggs. I am to understand you wished to meet me?" The most evil looking man Melvin had ever seen was standing before him. His body was covered in black robes, there was some sort of electronics on his chest, and a chilling black helmet and mask covered his face. His voice sounded mechanical and deep. The man was confident, Melvin wasn't.

"Who are you?" he asked in a shaky voice.

"I am Lord Darth Vader. I am Sith." The boy had no idea what that meant, but he could tell it was bad.

"What is this place?" He looked around, glad for a reason to take his eyes off the dead stare of the mask.

"This is my personal Starship. What you see outside you is the Imperial Armada. This is the flagship."

The boy seemed to think about that for a moment. "So, you're an Admiral of some kind?"

"No. I told you I was Sith." The man had walked up to the window and was standing and gazing out at the metal moon with his hands behind his back. His cold breathing never stopped throughout the conversation.

Melvin was feeling nervous and disturbed. He wanted to go back. The thing spoke again and the boy was growing less confident it was human. "You wished to know what I once was?"

The boy jumped to his feet as something started to form from the huge crater on the northern hemisphere. "What?" A beam of green light shot out of the moon and into a planet far in the distance. It was about the size of a cricket ball and he'd yet to notice it. When he did he wished he hadn't. The world, green with life, and blue with deep oceans, blasted into billions of tiny pieces. "No."

"Mr. Boggs. Now you know who I once was, do you not? Should I make it a bit clearer?" He almost sounded amused through the voice filter and breathing. The boy fell back as the face turned to look at him again, gasping for breath as it somehow choked him without touching him. The boy was actually lifted off his feet by the same power that was keeping him from breathing. A wand like Anna's, but more polished and technical looking ignited in the thing's hand as he clutched at the air. Melvin couldn't see his face, but he could tell he was angry. He closed his eyes and tensed himself, waiting for death.

"Did you find out what you wanted to know?" The girl was sipping on a cup of tea, and they were back in his tower again. He looked around in confusion before his eyes locked onto hers.

She seemed to regard him with a rather smug expression. "Do you really think I can't handle Voldemort now?"

"Y...you..." He had no idea what to say to her.

"Don't worry so much. I tried that once and it sucked more than you can imagine. I'm trying to be nice this time. All that got me was a nasty disposition, a mechanical body, and my own son had to kill me to save the galaxy." She gave him a playful wink and ruffled his hair. "You'll be fine."

Melvin blinked. "What? You made that up!"

"Really? Ask Harry about it sometime. It's a heck of a story. I used to tell it to him before we went to bed sometimes." She'd done that quite a few times in the past with her brother. She did want to share as much as she could with him. They didn't have much besides each other until very recent times.

"What?" Melvin hung his head and gave up. "Can I get back to my dream now?"

"Fine. Be that way." Anna leaned into the table and narrowed her eyes at him before she vanished.

Once the girl was gone the dream started to fade. He'd been thrown too far off course and lost it.

OooOOooOO

It was the crack of noon. Anna stood in the doorway of Bill and Ted's room with her arms crossed. "It's time for Deep Kneed Rock Squats." The pair was looking at her from their sheets, each with his head raised and a bleary stare.

"Wha?" Ted shook his head and sat up. "Dude, what time is it?"

The girl gave them a sinister looking grin. "You'll be up at the crack of noon, every day. Today, your rock training begins."

"Excellent." Bill looked half asleep, but pleased to hear it.

Harry poked his head into the room and grinned at them as he waved. He and Anna had been up for some time, their normal training regimen was unchanged. The other Hogwarts students were on a similar schedule. It would help them when they returned to Hogwarts life if their sleeping habits were unchanged.

OooOOooOO

Anna was beaming that evening. She was two doors down into the hall and holding a note in her hand. All that was on it was a room number, and a key that was taped to it. She had found the door and was now looking at rows of stocked ingredients, and a potions lab. "Woah." She looked at the note and realized she only had up to her fifth year potions book. There wouldn't be a lot of time off, but they would have time off. "Heh. Once I get a bit over the curb, I'll have Snape thinking I'm the greatest Potions genius in the Universe! Bwahahahahahahaa! Nothing would irritate him more than seeing me succeed in his class!" She chuckled to herself as she remembered all the books had liner notes in the margins as well. She'd taken a card from Snape himself, and didn't have to give him any credit.

She doubted even she'd be able to get much into the third year with the time she had, but a head start was a head start. She had a couple of hours to herself and sat down at the desk to flip through the books. There were a few extra volumes beyond her school books as well. It wouldn't take more than a few nights of sitting with her hand on the books and letting her pen do the work to build herself a handy collection of reference materials for when she returned. She was planning on picking up a copy of all the books that had been supplied to her when she got back. She paused for a moment and seemed to think about that. "Huh. I bet that's where these came from in the first place. I guess I am footing the bill after all. Well, Harry might be helping a bit..."

OooOOooOO

Bill, Ted, and Harry were in the middle of Rock training class. Anna was looking on from the back of the room as they went about their warm up exercises. They were in a mostly empty hotel room with flooring rather than carpets and a few stools set up for them to sit on while practicing. There were a few stage lights and some amplifiers as well but they hadn't used them yet.

"Dick Simulation, Cock Push Ups..." Harry was sensing an irritating theme to their training. The redhead had them performing ten to twenty of each at a time. Deep Knee Rock Squats were the most normal work out they'd done.

"I do find myself wondering what good cock push ups are to my future guitar skills." Bill seemed thoughtful as he slid up next to Harry on his knees while holding his guitar.

"Yeah, they totally leave me sore in a most tender of places," agreed Ted as he completed his slide as well.

The trio stood and turned towards the instructor. She had a mad grin on her face as she watched them with her guitar resting on her lap. "We've run through a few new chords this week. Harry, you're lagging behind, you need to learn the C and D chords a little better. Your transition is still sloppy."

"Sorry." He grumbled and hung his head a bit.

"Use the Force dope. I know you can do better." She strummed a bit on her guitar.

"Yeah, use the Force." Ted closed his eyes and breathed deep as he played the chords Harry needed work on.

"Dude, that Force thing totally works." Bill nodded in cheerful agreement before closing his eyes and breathing the same way Ted was. He was starting to grow a beard, The dark haired man had the beginnings of a goatee coming in.

Harry sighed and shook his head. The pair had taken the words to heart. They had assumed she was talking about some sort of mystical rock force or something similar. Like himself and his sister were some sort of eastern rock monks. He paused for a moment as he watched them both. "Say, there is some sort of connection there..." He nodded his head to get his sister's attention and walked up to her.

She looked like she was wondering what he wanted. "Yes?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea? You're always going on about how dangerous training someone can be when they get too old." He leaned in and glanced back at them.

Anna nodded but shrugged it off. "They'll be fine. They aren't very bright, and I'm afraid trying to teach them to do this with anything but guitar would prove frustrating and useless. They don't have the attention span, or the capacity for anything else I'm afraid. I like them, but there's no danger here. They do bring about world peace after all."

Harry gave a small sigh and nodded. "I get it, what they don't know won't hurt them. Right?" He gave a small shrug and turned back to join them again. "I haven't been able to connect that way with the Force for some reason..." He was looking at his guitar and frowning. "Guess I should figure it out."

The redhead ignored him and continued to instruct her other students.

OooOOooOO

Sundays were a day of rest, reflection, and personal practice for the group. They would fiddle around with their instruments a bit, but no one seemed to take much of anything seriously on Sunday. They turned out lazy and fun for the most part. Anna spent at least part of her Sundays in the potions lab, the evenings were spent hanging around with the others. They were all getting on well, and no one seemed to be having much trouble with the confinement.

One such evening, early on, Anna Potter was feeling particularly unsettled.

"Cannabis Sativa." Anna was looking at the food dispenser's voice command microphone. She'd gotten bored and had it make a few odd things. That one had just hit her.

The unit spoke up in a female voice that didn't sound electronic at all. "State medical condition for requirement."

The girl's eyes went wide as she tossed aside the DDD bra, beef jerky baseball, chocolate toilet seat cover, and a single four foot long cheese doodle in her arms. "Glaucoma."

A pound of it appeared before her eyes and she snatched it up. "Excellent." She frowned and looked back at the other girls in the room. Pansy and Margaret were reading their school books. Anna had taken to carrying one around with her when she was in the room, but it was under a small pile of odd things at her feet. The bag of pot felt heavy, in more than one way. She didn't want to turn them into a group of hardcore stoners. She hefted it in her palm for a moment. "It does help the rock." Her mind seemed to work it over as she stared at it. "Hmmmmm..."

"Quit playing with that thing would you?" Margaret looked a little tired of dealing with her fascination with the machine. "Jeez, look at all that chocolate! Are you trying to make us all fat?!"

Pansy's eyes went a little wide as she looked over at the redhead's pile of objects and she gave a small gasp and blushed.

The redhead shrugged and turned away, using her foot to shove the things she'd made into a larger pile of small weird things. Tennis shoes that looked like they were made completely out of the soles, a ball of rubber bands, candy makeup, a padded helmet, three two foot wide sandwich cookies, a three pound bon bon, a large pile of laundry lint, and four two pound peanut butter cups.

OooOOooOO

About an hour later...

A hair metal band was playing on screen screaming into a microphone. He had lightening bolt stage paint over his right eye and was staring a bit harder than he should into the camera.

Anna passed the joint over to her brother. Bill and Ted were sucking on a rather large one of their own with their future wives on the couch on the opposite wall. Pansy, Margaret, and Melvin were all on the floor, passing another around the group. There were bowls of chips, cheese doodles, and some of Anna's chocolate on the coffee table at the center of the group.

"I always heard this stuff was bad for you." Ted didn't seem to mind much as he took a few puffs before passing it along.

Anna looked back at him. "It's better for you than beer is, cigarettes will just kill you eventually. You can't overdo it either though too much can hurt you. It's good for your rock, but you'll get dumber if you over do it. Stick to getting really baked maybe twice a month or so. Make a party out of it, get together and all. Great for the band."

"Who is this anyway?" Bill was giving the music video a confused looking stare, both men had their arms around their respective girlfriend. No one seemed all that nervous about using the drug.

"Yeah. Who the hell is this butt much? Huh huh huh." Harry gave his sister a grin.

"Heh heh, yeah, change it." Anna was beaming, she had trained her brother well.

Everyone else in the room was frozen and staring at them with rather surprised stares.

The pair got rather dumb looking grins on their faces as they watched another video appear before them. There were thousands of music videos they would watch, all approved and before or during their present. The next band was a pair of effeminate men, each with long flowing hair, skin tight jeans, and white poofy shirts. They were holding acoustic guitars and singing in soft voices.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH! It's those Morrison chicks!" cried Anna "C'mon, Harry! Change it! Hurry up, this sucks! AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Huh huh, settle down Anna. Huh huh huh." He turned the channel and the pair saw a man with long dark hair and a black leather jacket holding and electric guitar.

The pair raised their fist into the air with their pinky, index, and thumb extended. "Yes! Deth Mytl!" Four voices chimed out as Bill and Ted joined in.

No one else in the room had yet to move or speak.

"Yeah! Heh heh heh heh m heh heh heh. Deth Mytl rock!" Anna started playing air guitar. "Dah, dah, dah dah dah" She was making the sound in time with the guitar beat. Within moments, she, Harry, Bill and Ted were all standing next to each other doing exactly the same thing, playing air guitar and singing along with the metal tune, all of them were out of tune and more screaming than singing.

Bill and Ted's girlfriends were turning red as they almost died laughing at the scene.

The Hogwarts students were all confused, Melvin was holding his laughter in with a surprising will. Margaret and Pansy looked on with their jaws hanging open at the scene. Neither one had any idea what to say or do.

The song ended and the group of guitar players went quiet. Bill and Ted raised their fist and cried "Yeah!" together with a bit of enthusiasm.

Anna and Harry stood not speaking for a moment.

The boy spoke up first. "Huh huh. Whoa! That was cool. Huh huh huh huh."

"Yeah. Heh heh heh." They both sat back down and pointed the remote at the screen. "This sucks. Change it."

The next channel showed a band that consisted of three women with acoustic guitars and no clothes. It was obviously meant to be an artistic statement and none of their private areas were showing as clever camera angles kept them hidden behind their instruments.

"Wait a minute Anna, I think those chicks are naked! Huh huh huh." Harry was looking at the screen with wide eyes.

"Heh heh. Really? Um, that's pretty cool, I guess. Maybe we'll get to see their butts? Heh heh heh heh."

"Yeah, that would rule! Huh huh huh."

The others were giggling a bit at them and they settled in to zone out to music videos for a while.

OooOOooOO

Guitar lent itself very well to the force, three months in, and Harry could handle his instrument well. He did not yet rock. Anna was still spending time with him, but focused more on Bill and Ted. The pair was doing their best, and he could tell it was working out. However, something was wrong with his sister.

Her eyes were wide and her lips were pursed tight as she glared down at him. He'd thought he was doing well.

"Good job." She hissed it almost the same way Snape did.

"Whatever, Snape." The boy grumbled as he looked away.

"What was that?" growled the redhead. She staggered a little and looked over her shoulder at him.

OooOOooOO

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Bill, Ted, and Harry dove out of the guitar room and rolled across the floor a few meters before ending up on their bellies with rather alarmed expressions.

"This is bad." Harry had wide eyes and was holding his ignited wand in his hand in a defensive position towards the door as he pushed himself to his knees. All three of them were smoking a little and pulled themselves up off their bellies with what looked like a lot of effort. The trio was panting for breath.

"Did you say your sister turned to the dark side?" Ted seemed confused and worried.

"Bogus! Dude, we have to help her!" agreed Bill.

"I hate them! I hate them!" there were a few small crashing noises coming from the room, but she wasn't giving chase.

"What the hell is going on?" Pansy and Elizabeth emerged from a nearby room with looks of worry on their faces.

"I think my sister has turned to the dark side! She'll kill us all!" cried Harry in horror as he pointed his wand at the door. "We have too..."

"Leave her alone you jerks!" snapped Pansy.

The girl on the other side of the door could be heard again as the group stood in silence looking at each other. "I hate my life!" Harry turned his head towards the door, if he wasn't mistaken, she was crying.

Elisabeth and Pansy walked into the room and rushed up to the redhead's sides. She was sitting on one of the chairs with tears in her eyes as she gave the world a vacant stare and rocked back and fourth.

"Anna? Are you all right?" Pansy was shaking her shoulders a little as she and Elisabeth gave each other worried glances.

"I hate them..." she muttered under her breath as she gave them both a rather crazed glazed over stare.

"Why?" Elisabeth looked confused.

"Because they're male!" She sniffled and looked up at the two females.

"Oh my!" Elisabeth seemed to catch on a little.

"Jeeze. You should have said something. I thought you made that dispenser thing make all that stuff this morning as a joke!" Pansy blushed as she realized the girl had taken a bit longer in the bathroom than usual that day.

The redhead had enough sense not to say it out loud, but her mind was screaming. "I miss my balls! I gotta find a way to get them back! I can't deal with this crap! This sucks! Every month? No! I feel like the floor of a taxi cab!"

Harry, Bill, and Ted were all peering around the doorway with looks of horror on their faces.

"You mean...every month...this..." The boy's glasses fell of his face and clattered on the floor.

The two men gave him sympathetic stares. "Dude."

OooOOooOO

Anna and Harry were standing before Wyld Stallyns with the rest of the Hogwarts students sitting around them. They had all grown a little. Harry's hair now brushed his shoulders, while Anna's reached the small of her back. They would all be as close to when they left as they could when they went back, but Anna had a feeling Harry was going to keep his new look. They had also gotten a few clothes. Anna had girl's underwear for the first time in her life, and they were both wearing Jedi robes. Anna's were black, and Harry's were brown and tan. They had gotten them as Christmas gifts from their future selves. All the children would return with a good sized tote bag of new clothes. Birthdays and Christmas were not forgotten for any of them.

Bill, Ted, Joanna, and Elisabeth had all of their attention as the Potter twins watched with their friends. They started to play, and the jaws of all in the room dropped. Harry and Anna first though, as they both recognized the song.

When it was over, Bill looked down at his guitar and grinned. "Whoa."

"Excellent!" the pair cried as they jammed a bit on the guitars together.

The young redhead was gripping her brother's shoulder. "That song!"

"Well, I guess it makes sense they wrote it." Harry gave a shrug.

"What do you think?" asked Ted as he and Bill walked up to her. The women were behind them grinning at the group.

"You know that song Tribute?" The girl looked up at them.

"Yeah. A most excellent song." Bill said as Ted nodded with him.

"That was about that song. Dudes, your rock training is now complete!" The girl seemed pleased and clapped her hands together once.

"Excellent!" chimed the pair as they jumped and gave each other a high five.

"Congratulations, my most excellent friends." Rufus walked into the room and smiled at Bill and Ted.

"Rufus!" the pair cried as they smiled and greeted him.

"It's time then. If you'll come with me, you four have other business to attend." He looked at the Stallyns and grinned.

"Oh, right." The two male band members looked back at their respective woman.

"Catch you later dudes!" said Anna as she stepped aside. "We'll be at the concert."

"Yes. I'll return and pick you up in a moment. We're a little short on time, you'll be able to say goodbye later." He waved for the Stallyns to follow him and walked away. Joanna and Elizabeth both gave them a small wave as they each walked by with a baby in their arms. They would be taking the children to stay with their grandparents for a few hours while they took their honeymoons together.

OooOOooOO

Dumbledore watched the booth sink into the floor and frowned a little. "Maybe I shouldn't have." He glanced at the letter, it was indeed quite real. All the faculty knew spells that would detect forgeries. He was having a hard time feeling bad about it and was about to lean against the wall of the room to wait for their return.

The booth slammed into the ground in the same place it had before before his back touched the wall. Energy crackled across the surface as a cloud of steam prevented him from seeing anything. A wry smile crossed his features as he realized he could hear something.

"...God gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you, god gave rock and roll to everyone!" The children were singing as they stepped out of the booth and onto the tiles of Hogwarts. They all had huge grins on their faces as they stumbled forward, each one wearing a t-shirt with the words Wyld Stallyns written on it. They all had tote bags slung over their shoulders. The boy Melvin was the only one without a musical instrument in his hands. All of them looked up at Dumbledore.

"Hiya!" Anna was quite cheerful as she waved at him. "Thanks Professor! That was most triumphant!"

Harry looked to be in a good mood as well. "We're back, Professor!"

"We've only been gone a minute Harry." Margaret blushed a bit and looked away.

"Oh, right." He grinned as he looked back at her. "Later Bill, Later Ted! You too Rufus!" He and the others all waved back at the booth as the trio leaned out to wave at them.

"Be excellent to each other!" cried the trio before they closed the door and vanished into the floor.

"Party on dudes!" called the members of Tenacious D in reply just before they left.

Sitting behind the booth, smoking with the same type of steam with a few small tendrils of energy was a rock drum set and a few pieces of luggage.

"Wow, you were right!" Anna was grinning up at the old man as he looked on with a smile on his face.

"Oh?" He was quite pleased. The children almost looked miserable as they left and were all quite cheerful.

"Help in the most unexpected places!" she grinned at him. "I was expecting to have to wait till this summer to get started on this!"

"Really now?" He had noticed the children were all a bit taller than before, Harry had grown a full inch at least.

"Any chance we can get a little floor space to practice in? Out there was fine when it was just us and the guitars and all..."

"I'll arrange it." Dumbledore saw no reason to turn her down. There were still plenty of unused rooms in the castle. "You'll be keeping the same schedule I take it? I'm afraid while I approve, I can't allow it to interfere with your studies either."

"Yeah. We don't have to do this every day." The girl nodded at him and seemed grateful. "Mevin's the only one who can't really keep his instrument with him. Moving that drum set around all the time would be a real pain."

OooOOooOO

A young girl walked alone in the halls of Hogwarts. She was wearing a hooded cloak over her school uniform with the hood pulled over her head as she strolled in silence. It was a long empty stretch of hallway, with a few decorative tables and portraits lining the walls on both sides. Her pace was slow and relaxed as she ignored the scenery around her.

She paused after a moment and cocked her head a little before regaining her stride again. A faint sound that could have been her imagination had caught her attention for a moment. She hurried her pace a bit and moved towards her destination. She was having a bit of trouble remembering where she was supposed to be going.

Soft noise behind her, something she couldn't place, but knew was there. She stopped again and whirled around. She could feel something there, but couldn't see anything out of place.

With only the sound of her own soft breathing filling the hallway, she turned and started again. It was still there, just behind her, she knew it somehow. Her pace quickened, and after a moment she found herself running. She was turning through the hallways, not bothering to keep track of where she was going. She was turning corners and pushing through doors to escape the presence. Nothing would lose it.

She turned a final corner and almost fell on her rear as she bumped into something.

It was a man, she thought. He was standing before her out of nothing. A cold evil dead stare in his eyes. His clothing was ruffled, and his clothes made of gold and brown. His legs were covered in tights and a mad Buddy Jesus grin looked her dead in the eyes with his polished fiberglass face. He put his hands up, in them was a plastic red tray, with a soda, hamburger, and fries resting upon it's surface.

The girl's mouth opened, and she started to scream.

Anna Potter gasped as she shot upright in bed with wide eyes. She looked around the room in quick jerking motions as she started to realize what had happened.

"What's with you, Potter?" grumbled one girl "Have a bad dream?" She seemed pleased with her own wit.

"I saw her hanging around with Melvin." Another girl added as she yawned and stretched her arms without getting up.

"Been listening to his stories have we?" Another girl had been awakened by the commotion as well. Pansy was sitting on the edge of her bed and watched in silence. None of the girls could see Anna. Her bed was in the darkest corner of the room. "Did it scare you, Potter?" The blond girl looked like she was going to speak up if anyone said anything else.

The redhead had gone silent. "He's real. Make no mistake about that." None of them could see the grin that had formed on her face. This could work for her.

There were a few more girls awakened by the commotion. A few still slept on, but most of the room was up. The girls laughed, Margaret was rubbing her eyes and sitting up. Pansy noticed and looked over at her for a moment.

"Freddy?" Margaret asked as she yawned. "I heard my brother talking about him. I think he's full of it."

The redhead walked out of the shadows away from her bed and stretched her arms a bit before sitting on the end and looking around. She turned her gaze over to her for a moment. "Interesting. I wonder what he is?"

"Crap!" snorted the girl in the bed next to her. She didn't look impressed. "We've got to wake up in a couple of hours. I'm going back to sleep."

"Yes. Pleasant dreams." Anna hopped back onto her mattress over the end of the bed and climbed back under the sheets.

She couldn't do it to just anyone. The girls in Slytherin dorm were cocky and getting braver. They were all still held at least a little fear of her though, and that was all she needed. After a moment things had quieted down a little. Tomorrow was another night, and now she knew what she was doing. She had a wide grin on her face as she rolled into a more comfortable position and closed her eyes. "Heh. One two, Freddy's commin for you..."

OooOOooOO

Draco Malfoy was surrounded by everyone he knew. All of them were looking at him in adoration as he strolled through his lavish home. The rooms were well lit, everything was clean and expensive, old huge portraits lined the walls, and silver and gold decorated any shelf space available.. He strolled across the marble floors with a glass of champagne gripped between his fingers. He was entertaining his lackeys in an expensive party, showing off his dragon head collection. Hunting them was illegal, but the laws meant little to him. The fools couldn't catch him if he killed them in front of the authorities.

The clouds outside rumbled, catching his attention. He turned his eyes towards the door and his grin widened. Everyone was looking at him and moving around him, wondering what he might do next. "There's a storm. Let's have a look." He opened the door and walked out onto the front porch and onto the vast green estate. The building was made of black marble, with gold etching on the roman columns that lined the top of the stairs to his lawn. He strolled out without fear, while the others cowered near the doorway.

The clouds outside roared and flashed in anger above him as he stood and spread his arms. He was more powerful than nature itself, immortal, invincible. "What are you all afraid of?" He taunted back at the cowards in front of his home. He'd give them a real show now.

He turned his eyes up towards the sky with a mad grin on his face. "I'll show you!" His smile faltered at what he saw above him. There was a face in the clouds, it seemed to turn and look at him, a brimmed hat seemed to form on it's head as the angry vapors swirled more than they should right over his head. The boy lowered his arms and stared up with wide eyes as a left shoulder turned into an arm that reached down at him from high above.

"Th...this is nothing!" He pointed his wand at the sky and power began to build up on the tip. "This should impress. Heh." His cocky attitude returned for the briefest of moments.

The eyes on the face started to glow yellow just before four bolts of lightening shot out of the fingers of the hand shaped cloud. They slammed into his body and his eyes rolled up into his skull as he shook and fell to his knees as the electricity passed through him. He was seeing double vision and having trouble getting focused. He could see blurred shapes in front of him, pointing and laughing. He felt angry and opened his mouth to scream at them, he would destroy them all when he recovered for it.

His palms hit the grass, or rather the pavement. His eyes focused in on a worn looking patch of concrete below him. He stood up and glanced around.

His grand home was gone, instead, he was standing on an empty suburban street. He wasn't an adult any longer either. The homes around him didn't look like any neighborhood he'd ever seen. It was rows of two story homes, each with a driveway and a good sized lawn. A very boring and empty looking place. The gray clouds still loomed overhead in the night sky. There was a plastic three wheeled bike sitting in the curb behind him. It was upended, and the large front wheel was revolving to a stop, as if he'd been riding it and crashed into where he found himself. "What the?" It took a bit of effort to make himself turn his eyes forward.

Before him stood a two story home. It was boarded up, burned, and abandoned looking. A stark contrast to the houses around it. The night seemed darker around it. A concrete sidewalk, overgrown with grass, and littered with small bits of trash, led to the rotted looking front porch.

He turned in a fast jerk and pointed his wand as a trio of young voices startled him. Three little girls were playing with a jump rope. All of them were dressed in white, and singing a rhyme as one of them skipped over the rope. "One two, Freddy's coming for you..."

He lowered his wand with a bit of reluctance as he stared at them in confusion. They were moving too slow, it seemed unreal.

"...Three four, better lock your door..."

He'd heard that song before. He cocked his head and tried to think of where he'd heard it.

"...Five six, get your crucifix..."

He looked away and towards the house again.

"...Seven eight, better stay up late..."

The song wasn't coming to him and he glared at the doorway.

"...Nine, ten, never sleep again." The sound of the girls playing stopped. Draco's head whipped around again. There was a rope on the ground, but it was covered in leaves, and damp. Unused for quite a while by the look of it. A small laugh ahead of him caught his attention and he looked up to see the leg of what looked like one of the little girls vanish into the ajar doorway.

He was gripping his wand as tight as he could as he took a step back away. "What is this place? Where am I?" The door opened on it's own, all the way. He couldn't see anything inside the home but darkness. The boy was starting to sweat as a horrible sense of wrongness washed over him.

"Malfoy, be a dear and come here." His mother's firm voice sounded from inside the home. It sounded like she was cross with him. He took a shaky step forward and stopped again. He didn't want to go inside that place. He turned his eyes and grew conflicted as he searched the ground in front of him and rubbed his palm against the shaft of his wand as he thought about it.

When he looked up again, his Mother was standing in the doorway, glaring at him with her arms crossed over her chest. "Malfoy. There's someone I want you to meet. Come here!" She pointed down at her feet in a sharp gesture before turning back into the home. Just before she vanished he noticed there was something off about her eyes. He couldn't say why, but they looked wrong somehow.

The boy made it as far as the front door before stopping again.

Inside, he could see the shadows of furniture through a doorway just inside the home to his left. He searched around inside, not daring stick his arm inside to light the room a bit more with his wand. He gasped as something inside caught his eye.

It was a small orange glow, just below the jawline of someone sitting in what looked to be an easy chair. Two golden lines of light could be seen from his irises as the head turned up to look at him while he blew a bit of smoke about. The boy's eyes were locked on the brimmed hat resting on his head. He took another drag from the cigarette, revealing a burn scarred and unshaven face with sharper teeth than a man should have.

"What's the matter kid?" The voice was almost inhuman, deep and cold. The figure gave a snort that might have been a chuckle. "Didn't like your dream?"

"Who are you?" The blond took a step back, but found himself just inside the doorway anyway. He started to turn, but the door was closed, it hadn't shut either. It was just closed. "What do you want?"

"Name's Freddy. Have a seat kid." The man waved his hand, but there was something wrong about his fingers. Draco couldn't see enough to catch what it was though. He found himself in a chair across from the man without making a move.

The boy was feeling very small as he gasped and shook where he was. "What do you want with me?" he managed to sputter.

"You're the one who came to my house." The man was just sitting and looking at him. He could see his hand from the glow the cigarette was giving, it was resting on his knee and burning down.

"You brought me here." His eyes were locked on the burning embers, praying they would last as he gripped one of the chair's arms and shifted a bit.

"Did I? I'd say your parents sent you, but I digress." The frightening man leaned towards him a little.

"Why am I here?" He swallowed.

"Ah, the big question!" The man spread his arms and shook his head from side to side as he said it in a rather dramatic way. "Why are any of us here? We live, we dream, we die."

"I don't like this." Malfoy was shaking in terror and felt the front of his pants grow wet and warm. His wand was gripped in his hand, but forgotten and useless.

The man gave a dark chuckle at that. "Of course not. It's a nightmare."

The orange light of the cigarette went out, and everything went black.

Draco Malfoy started screaming as he crawled up into his chair as nothing but inky blackness surrounded him. The boy turned towards the back and clawed his way up to peer over the back, hoping to see something, anything that could give him his bearings. He felt something rip into his back and grew still. He couldn't move, and it took a moment to realize he felt something thick and warm dripping down his back. The pain didn't hit him right away, but when it did it felt like someone had hit him in the back with a sledge hammer.

OooOOooOO

The first year boys dorm in Slytherin all woke with a start. Draco Malfoy was sitting upright in bed screaming at the top of his lungs. He stopped and gasped for breath as he found himself looking at his palms on his knees on the mattress. He sucked in the air around him, not caring about the stench of ammonia that filled his senses. He was soaking wet, sweat and piss had drenched his sheets.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Malfoy?"

The blond boy was ignoring everyone else, and most of them had rolled over.

"Jeez, I think Malfoy pissed himself." One of the boys in a bed nearby grumbled in disgust.

"Gross, Malfoy!" groused another nearby boy the scent had made it over to.

Boggs was grinning at him and sitting on his bed as he gave him an unpleasant stare.

"You..." Draco's eyes went wide. "That song..."

Melvin gave a cruel sounding chuckle and rolled over under his sheets again with his back towards the unfortunate boy. "One two, Freddy's coming for you..."

"Shut up Boggs. You're just saying that as an excuse for pissing your sheets." Someone in the darkness commented.

"Malfoy doesn't think so." The dark haired boy replied in a quiet tone. He was enjoying the little twist of fate a bit, Draco had been the one who had tormented him the most after his dream. "Sleep tight Malfoy."

The boy in question was flustered, angry, and embarrassed. He ripped the sheets off his bed and tossed them aside onto the floor beside his bunk. He changed his clothes in silence and hopped back onto the bed, finding the driest spot he could as he gripped his pillow against his temple. He lay in silence, his eyes wide open and bloodshot. A tune was being sung inside his head over and over, he couldn't stop it.

OooOOooOO

Prank Wars

Episode One

The Phantom Menace.

ANNA POTTER, ruler of the SLYTHERIN FIRST YEARS, and all around nasty person, has struck a blow to peace, freedom and justice in the halls of HOGWARTS. The defenders of FREEDOM and LOVE, FRED and GEORGE WEASLEY, were given a mighty strike by the FORCES OF DARKNESS, when their plan to help CEDRIC DIGGORY win the heart of the beautiful CHO CHANG was compromised by her evil.. THE FORCES OF LIGHT, had paid dearly for the interference.

Hope was lost, and Cedric's dreams of a future evening of making out in the owlery were dashed at his feet by the EVIL REDHEAD.

Wounded and beaten, the FORCES OF LIGHT have found HOPE, yet again.

Poised and ready, they prepare to strike back against their oppressor, neither one realizing they were only just beginning the greatest challenge they would ever partake in...

Anna Potter was walking down a long stretch of hall as she often did, but alone. She would sometimes leave Pansy, Margaret, and Melvin alone and walked around to meditate a bit on her own. She enjoyed a bit of solitude sometimes, and hadn't had much in the past in her new home. Pansy got on with the pair better than she did. There was usually an hour to half hour break between classes. Students spent a lot of time milling about the hallways between classes, they most often stayed close to whatever their next class was in most cases.. It was rare for a student to need to hurry to the next class. There were a few other students scattered about the hall, but it was empty for the most part. Another of those stupid boxes was sitting on a table nearby, she ignored them. Not all the students had learned yet, but word was getting around in a lazy way. The Weasley boys were hiding and snickering behind two sets of armor in the shadows of a corner. It was the darkest place in the area, and would hide them from about anyone but her pretty well. She'd figured out most students couldn't see them at all.

"Potter!" A familiar voice called out from behind her. "Huh?" She turned and noticed Cedric running up from behind her. He was waving his arm and trying to get her attention.

She felt something land in her hands and turned her head back. The ribbons on the box had moved, and made the small white box jump into her arms. It had a tag on it with her name written in. "Aw, shit." The lid flew off and green ooze covered the side of her face and body as it exploded out of the box. The ribbons had wrapped around her arms to keep her from dropping it or tossing it away. She had been quick enough to close her mouth and eyes and turn her head away, her left ear was kind of funky and wouldn't work right. Otherwise she was unharmed.

The Weasley boys were being brave, and holding in their laughter as best they could in the darkness.

"I uhh..." Cedric looked disappointed as he walked up beside her.

She ignored him and turned right at the armor statues. "Step aside please."

Both sets of armor took two steps and moved aside, leaving the Weasleys trapped in a corner with no cover. They had stopped laughing.

She was glaring at them both and dripping with goo. She pointed her finger at both of them and gave them a dark smile. "Of course you realize this means war!"

The boys looked at each other and then back at her. "What?"

"You heard me." She shook her arm off and splattered the floor with more of the goo and wiped most of the gunk out of her ear. She didn't seem all that disgusted by it, or all that angry about it.

The boys were frowning at her in the same expression, it was rather comical. Cedric was behind the girl, she turned to look at him and leaned back a bit as she narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to ask me out?"

He looked confused for a moment. "No. I was trying to warn...oh. No, really I'm not!" He stepped back and waved his hands in front of him as he realized what she was talking about.

"Oh, Good. You need a new pick up line, I was hoping you weren't that stupid." She turned back towards the Weasley boys again. "As for you two, prepare yourselves, for soon it shall begin. I shall destroy you!"

"What are you on about?" cried Fred in confusion.

George looked confused as well. This had never happened to them before. "Yeah. We're even now!"

The girl crossed her arms and spit a bit of the gunk that had dripped onto her lips away before wiping them off a little more. "Even?"

Fred agreed and nodded his head a bit as he spoke. "Well, you did get us kicked in the balls, Cedric too. Plus, it left us with a bit of discontent what with the contract not being filled."

"We've never had that happen before, it looks bad." George finished.

"She made up for that later." Cedric didn't look very pleased with them.

"Heh. Well, you've put me in a similar position boys." She looked at Cedric and slapped him in the chest with her disgusting hand. It was obvious she wanted him to back off and he did. "I'm kind of glad they did it. We'll have a ball if we're mindful."

"Of what?" Cedric seemed confused as the Weasley boys went rather white.

"Of how much we can get away with of course." She turned and walked away without another word.

"Why do I have the feeling..." started George as he stepped out of his hiding place and watched her pass with his brother at his side.

"That was either the best thing we ever did, or the worst?" finished Fred as he scratched his head.

Cedric watched her walk away, she didn't seem all that bothered by the mess. She was still shaking it off a bit, but was rather calm and reserved about it. "Maybe it was both?" He looked over at them and they stared at him in a sort of wide eyed horror.

"Is that..." started Fred.

"...good?" finished his brother.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter enjoyed Potions. She wasn't sure why, but she did. Snape was evil to her and her brother. He wasn't nearly as hard on the rest of the class and never praised either of them any more than he had to. "Good job Potter." It would slip through his lips in a hateful hiss whenever he said it to either of them. Anna was getting used to hearing it. She didn't like him, and thought him to be a horrible and cruel man. She did not see him as an enemy though, and stayed on her best and quietest behavior. He'd given up on quizzing them. Anna would get things right that weren't even in the text, baiting Harry that way too often wouldn't work out either. He did slip up from time to time. She didn't. It was maddening.

The girl walked up to his desk and set down several jars, each one a potion she was allowed to make in the small lab at the top of the dorms in the common area. Most students would get extra credit for them, Anna hadn't bothered asking him and turned in her work about once a week. It was only two or three bottles at a time, but it happened with irritating regularity. He had a few minutes before he could start class. Not everyone had arrived.

"I do hope you aren't trying to curry my favor with this, Potter." He glared at her from his seat

"No. I like this class. Not to be disrespectful, Professor, but I find you to be less than appealing. I seem to find Potions interesting anyway though. Go figure." She shrugged and turned away. As long as she wasn't brewing anything dangerous, she could make what she wanted, as long as she recorded everything and gave her finished product to the Potions instructor in the required manner. She ran her fingers through her hair as she walked. What she'd said was true, it had kind of surprised her, but she had other reasons for doing it. It would make looking for a cure for her missing balls easier if she needed to take that route as well.

She had also come under the unfortunate realization that she would have to wait until after her seventh year to cure herself. The Hogwarts staff would try to turn her back if she did it before then. She also wanted a permanent solution. All the magic she'd read about just created an illusion, nothing worked. Polyjuice potion was one example. She didn't want to be drinking something all the time and taking count of ingredients either. Something permanent, or near permanent was required. She'd already discounted the Polyjuice potion anyway. She didn't want to look like someone else all the time. She knew magic like that existed, the curse in the tomb told her that. It was a curse, and curses were difficult to contract on purpose. It had been something of a disappointment to find that mentioned in several text on the subject she'd come across.

She sat down at her seat and smirked as she relaxed and put her hand on top of a stack of books by her seat. She had several books at her side, and all of them were potions books. She had her palm on the book pile and grinned as she took notes and put liners into her textbook. Her pen worked on its own, and the girl never touched her ingredients. They floated about in front of her, mixing themselves in the cauldron. It wasn't flashy or over done. The ingredients simply poured and mixed themselves without floating any more than they had to for that purpose. She was enjoying herself, and enjoying the fact she was driving the teacher up the wall behind that silent frown. She didn't bother looking up at him as she worked. She would check on her partner and give her help when she needed from time to time.

Serverus was just glaring at her from his seat. She'd found she had his attention more than her brother. He preferred to use his hands more, but still used his powers to write while he worked. The girl was enjoying his class, despite everything he'd done. Pansy was her partner as usual, the Boggs girl was next to the blond across the isle with her brother beside her. The redheaded brat had found a clique after all. Severus Snape was sitting back in his chair with his cheek in his palm while glaring at her. She'd started turning in potions brewed outside the lab. Each was labeled and stored in the proper manner. She was following the rules of such work to the letter. He'd given in and given her a few house points for her effort in the vain hope that she would stop being the perfect student. He could almost taste the anticipation of her screwing up in his class again. He had her for seven years, sooner or later, he would have his moment.

His cheek became white around the edge of his fingers as he found himself digging into his face with his fingers a bit. He pulled his hand away with a little more effort than he would have liked. "They had better not lose that match." He couldn't get her prediction about her brother out of his mind. She'd gotten under his skin, and matches didn't even start for almost a month and a half. Anna Potter was trying to work around him and keep him under control. She was showing a surprising aptitude for it, but he knew that kind of manipulation well. "Very well Potter, two can play at that game."

OooOOooOO

"Oh, Tim!" A young voice whispered in the shadows of the owlery. A sixth year girl, and her boyfriend were resting against one of the walls. He had his head on her neck as they embraced. Both of them were smiling as the boy's lips made small wet noises against the soft skin of her neck. The sixth year boy had short cut dark hair and no real distinguishing features. The girl was much the same, but with brunette hair that fell between her shoulders.

"Hanna, you're so beautiful..." The boy muttered into her ear.

Rather than the passionate gasp of pleasure he expected, his ears rang with a sharp jolt as she screamed at the top of her lungs. He jumped back and noticed her eyes locked on something behind them as she screamed again and pointed.

Tim turned his head around and his eyes went wide. Two red lights in the darkness behind them. Each was about half the size of his face, and shaped like menacing, demonic eyes. The grinding of metal followed by several loud clanks of metal hitting stone, he pulled his girlfriend into his chest and they both fell over onto their backs in wide eyed horror before the hulking form that loomed over them.

A six foot owl made of iron was glaring down at them, steam escaped it's beak as it lumbered out of the darkness and seemed to pause to regard them.

"A monster in the owlery?" Tim seemed terrified, Hanna had stopped screaming and cowered in his arms.

The thing's head flipped over on a mechanical hinge back behind it. Inside, a snow owl's neck could be seen staring down at them from over the rim of the neck. "Bother, it seems we've found ourselves within the breeding grounds of this establishment. This is the third time this week. You shouldn't be out this late, it's against the rules."

"Oh, come on, Carrot. It is rather pretty..." Another friendlier voice from inside the machine chimed in. "Poit."

"I suppose the superior tactical view could be considered romantic, what with the moon and all. It still doesn't change the fact that these students are violating curfew." The owl's head they could see had markings that made it look like it had a permanent scowl. It's tone wasn't much better. "We have no time to deal with it. Come Hedwig! To the store room!"

"What kind of creature is that?" cried the girl in horror as she buried her head in his shoulder.

The owl's eyes locked onto her for a moment as it turned its head around to glance back at her. "Actually, I am a delivery owl plotting world domination. Excuse me." The metal head closed itself again and turned away from them towards it's destination.

The huge robotic owl stomped away towards the nearby storage room, leaving the two students where they lay.

They both stayed for a long moment, each unsure of what to do.

"Um, we should go." The girl pushed herself to her feet and dusted off her robes a bit. She had a sort of dazed look in her eyes as she staggered back towards the hall.

The boy was right after her, and looking over his shoulder as he watched the thing make it's way up the steps. "I think that was that Potter girl's owl."

"Just forget about it." The girl pulled at his robe and they left the scene as it was.

OooOOooOO

Next Time: Halloween.

A/N: The Bill and Ted thing happened for a couple of reasons, beyond my thinking it was funny. I didn't want to wait until summer to make Harry rock, and I wanted them both to be a little older, so I could torture Anna on a psychological level.


	9. Chapter 9

A matter of force.

Part 9

That new car smell.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter walked through the halls of Hogwarts with a wide grin on his face. For the first time in his life, he had a towel. It was his, his own personal towel. It was tucked into his robes around his neck. He felt better just having it. The adventure with the band had ended only the day before, and now he was back at Hogwarts. He was ahead in his classes, all of them were. Anna had spent more time with her books, often keeping them in the practice room with her. She spent a good bit of her free time in the potions lab as well. They had all used it, but found themselves only a little ahead of the curve. The new clothes were a welcome change as well. Dudley's clothes were gone forever. It almost made him feel new somehow.

"Hey. Harry." Ron was looking at his clothes. "I've never seen those before."

"Anna and I got new clothes." The boy seemed pleased.

"Really? When? You haven't gotten any mail. You've been here with us for classes." Hermione seemed confused.

"It's a longer story than you'd think." Harry shrugged and looked over at the girl. "I'm not really supposed to talk about it. The fewer people who know, the better."

"Are you getting into trouble?" grumbled Hermione as she eyed him with a bit of caution.

"Well, no. Dumbledore knows. It involves my sister." The mouse haired boy seemed to think about it for a moment.

"Well, that explains a bit." Ron seemed satisfied with that answer and shrugged.

"I don't get her." Hermione seemed upset at the mere mention of her. "Sometimes she seems like she might be nice, but most of the time she's a total brat!"

"I've lived in the same room as her for years, and I couldn't tell you." He rubbed at his scar as thinking about it seemed to hurt his head. He couldn't blame Hermione as his sister seemed to take a special joy out of screwing with his friends, Hermione in particular. "She's a handful, I don't envy the Prefects in Slytherin. She's taken a rather disturbing liking for Potions."

"Is that a towel?" Ron peered into Harry's collar and seemed to notice it.

Hermione arched her eyebrow a little. "You're wearing a towel?"

"Yes. I feel better just having one." He looked over at them and seemed a bit surprised at their confusion.

"Why?" Ron was perplexed, and the girl didn't seem any clearer.

"Towels are the most useful thing it is possible to have handy in a crisis." Harry looked at them with wide eyes with his jaw hanging a little. "Everyone should know that."

They both looked at him with wide eyes.

"R-really?" Ron seemed to be thinking about it.

"What possible use would a towel be?" Hermione was working her brain as well. "Are you kidding?"

"No." Harry seemed more than genuine about his declaration. "You two should think about getting one for yourselves." He frowned at them both for a moment a little.

"I've already got a towel. Why would I want to carry it around with me?" Hermione muttered under her breath as she followed after the two boys.

Ron was at his side. "What color do you think I should get?"

OooOOooOO

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all sitting with each other at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for breakfast. Ron and Hermione were next to each other, with Harry across from them. They were finishing up their meal and talking with each other.

It was interrupted as Harry caught a package just before it hit the table. He looked at it in surprise for a moment and put it down beneath his seat.

"What is it?" asked Ron in confusion.

"Yeah. What was that?" agreed the girl.

"My new broomstick." The boy grinned at them both. "I'm not supposed to open it here."

"Really?" Ron was on his feet the moment the words left the other boy's lips. "Let's have a look then! Any idea what the model is?"

"Says it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What's that mean?" Harry was cheerful as he stood up and grabbed the package. He had no idea it was something he should be excited about. "Is that better than the ones we used during lessons?"

Ron's jaw dropped. Hermione looked surprised as well.

"Are you joking?" The boy was at his side the moment they cleared the table enough to allow it.

Hermione grabbed his arm just enough to get his attention. "I read about them. They're supposed to be the best broomstick you can buy! Well, if the ad is to be believed."

"It can be," Ron's eyes were still wide. "I've never even touched one before."

"Really? Wonder what the difference is?" The boy nudged his glasses up his nose a bit more.

The trio stood in the hall looking at the broom. Harry's eyes shot up as Draco Malfoy appeared in front of them. The blond got a very small start as he realized he'd been noticed. Crabbe and Goyle were behind him barring the way upstairs. He made a grab for the package and Harry's free hand pushed it away in an almost gentle manner. "Did you want something, Malfoy?" He didn't seem upset, but Hermione and Ron were giving him nasty stares.

Malfoy sneered, unaware the boy in front of him could feel his jealousy and spite. "A broomstick? First years aren't allowed, Potter. You'll be in for it now."

"Not just any broomstick, a Nimbus Two Thousand!" snapped Ron in defiance. "What's that you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" He turned to give Harry a smirk. "Comets look flashy, but they aren't in the same league as the Nimbus."

Harry cut in before tensions could tighten. "I find that the quality of tools has little to do with skill. I'd prefer a more even match."

The three Slytherin students chuckled at that. "Are you mad, Potter? I'd like to see you take on Slytherin on a school broom. I've heard about you. You're the new seeker on Gryffindor. You'd get crushed without that broom." Malfoy tried his best to look like he wasn't impressed. His envy was thick in the air to Harry.

"Very well." Harry gave a small nod. "Unless my sister manages to con her way onto the team. I'll agree to that."

All the students' eyes were wide at that announcement. Flitwick had approached from behind and was regarding them all. He had been about to speak up, but seemed to get a little worried.

"What?" stammered Malfoy as his eyes went wide.

"I'll play against Slytherin on a school broom." Harry shrugged. "I'll still crush them. I've got to, if I don't Snape won't let her on Slytherin's team. He doesn't like us much. It'll be loads more fun if she's playing on the other side. I'm really looking forward to it."

"You'll be killed!" cried Hermione in shock.

"I think it might be wise to reconsider, Potter." Flitwick made all the Slytherin students jump a bit as he made his presence known.

"Nah. I'm not worried. I can do it." He smiled at the man in a rather warm manner.

Malfoy looked pleased and upset at the same time. "You've given me your word then? A school broomstick."

"Yes." Harry had a smirk of his own. "Only if Anna isn't playing."

"Harry..." Ron looked a little worried.

"Are you trying to get killed?" whispered Hermione as she gripped his arm and pulled him back between herself and Ron. "Harry, you could get hurt. They'll all be using racing brooms."

"I know. Should be fun." He shrugged and walked between Crabbe and Goyle. He didn't look smug at all, he was almost excited about it.

Malfoy furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the pair follow after him. "I'm looking forward to the match now." He felt another flash of jealous rage as he found himself wishing he would be the one to crush him. "What's the matter, Potter? Afraid of your own sister?" He called over his shoulder as the trio walked up the stairs.

Flitwick gave a small frown, but started to shuffle away without saying anything.

Harry had stopped and Ron and Hermione were looking at him. He had a sort of wistful grin on his face as he glanced back over his shoulder. "I wouldn't give her anything but my best. She'd do no less for me." He continued up the stairs again as calm as ever.

Malfoy nodded, feeling satisfied. "Come on." Crabbe and Goyle both followed after their collective brain without question.

OooOOooOO

Harry had had trouble being patient for the rest of the day. He was standing on the field looking up at the raised stands. He gave the place a quick look over and smirked. His broom was polished and new looking. The words Nimbus Two Thousand were written in fancy gold writing near the tip of the handle. He was a little early and seemed to be taking it all in.

Ron had almost dragged him into the dorm room to unwrap his broom. His struggle for patience had ended by that point, and though he didn't look it, he was as excited as Ron was about it. Hermione had gotten a look when he left the common area for practice. She didn't get excited about it, but was impressed none the less. It was an impressive looking broom. Felt a bit odd to him, and he'd never have believed it if anyone had told him he'd be so impressed with something like a broomstick.

He'd never been to the stadium before and mounted his broom to have a look about. It felt wonderful to take to the air, the broom responded better than he'd thought it would. He'd given up quite an advantage, not that he minded much. Before he'd been up three minutes he was standing on the stick, looking into the stands, and having a closer look at the goals. He zipped between rows in the seats, into the foot wells as he did a few laps around the field. He was feeling relaxed, and peaceful.

He came down when he noticed someone standing in the middle of the field. There was an upturned bucket of golf balls, and a broomstick on either side of Oliver Wood as he stared up at the boy with his jaw hanging down. Harry swooped in with his arms behind his back. Just before his broom touched the grass he stepped forward and took a few paces to slow down before stopping. The broom carried itself into his hand as he did it, never touching the ground.

Wood fell to his knees before him, tears started running down his cheeks.

"Are you all right?" Harry seemed a bit disturbed and worried.

"I-I've never been better, Harry. Really."

"Are you sure?" The younger boy seemed pensive.

"Absolutely." Oliver seemed to get a hold on himself and shook his head. "Come on. I'm just gonna explain the rules tonight. You'll start practicing with the team three times a week."

"Great." Harry seemed pleased. He enjoyed keeping himself busy, and his plate was getting full.

After a brief explanation of the game, and showing Harry all the equipment for the game, Wood pulled out one final ball. It was about the size of a walnut, painted gold, and had two small silver wings that flitted about in an excited manner. "This is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch, because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker. Whichever seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages. I think the record is three months. They had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep. Well, that's it. Any questions?"

"Cool." Harry was pleased and looking forward to it.

"Great!" Wood was feeding off his infectious mood. He dumped a bunch of the golf balls into his robe as he mounted his broom. "We won't practice with the Snitch yet. It's too dark, and we might lose it." Harry followed him into the air and Wood started pitching golf balls in every direction as hard as he could.

Harry started talking as he zipped about, catching them with no real effort. He wasn't being flashy, but seemed to already be wherever Wood was tossing the golf balls. "I'm really starting to like it here. How fast does the Snitch go anyway? Are there many injuries playing Quidditch?" The younger boy seemed interested and unafraid. Wood picked up on something else as well, he was confident to the point he didn't seem to even notice the exercise they were doing.

The older boy was having trouble keeping his eyes dry. "We'll have our names on that Quidditch Cup for sure this year!"

"I hope so. How are the other teams? I hope they're all really good!" Harry was just glad to be on a broomstick.

Wood landed after he ran out of balls and turned to grin at the younger student. "Great! You didn't miss one! Help me pick up the balls, and we'll get..."

"They're already in the bucket." Harry shrugged and hefted his broom onto his shoulder.

Wood looked down, the bucket was full. "You mean, you've been dropping them in..." He'd thought the boy was dropping them onto the field. He looked around, and there were no errant balls on the ground. It was full enough he didn't bother looking further than just around the bucket. His head turned away from the balls to the grinning youth before him.

Harry looked pleased and excited. "Yeah. No point in making more work for us later, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Huh. Never thought I'd see the day...Charlie Weasley going off to chase dragons rather than playing for England might have been a good idea."

"Think I might be that good someday?" Harry seemed a bit surprised to hear it.

"I think you might be that good now, Potter." Wood looked quite serious and walked towards the school with a wistful grin on his face. He could see the Cup, almost feel it in his arms already.

OooOOooOO

A few weeks later, in the first half of October, the Potter twins were going through their usual morning routine.

Anna grinned at Harry through her blindfold. They were in the Great Hall, each with a lightsaber in hand. The pair was blindfolded and circling each other amongst about twenty tall candlestick holders. It was almost like watching the pair play a giant chess game while standing in the middle of it sword fighting. The candlesticks weren't lit, but they slid across the ground, shifting like game pieces, usually in the way of one of the combatants. The familiar crackle and pop of the weapons filled the hall as they clashed. Each had a bath towel tied over their eyes.

McGonagall and Dumbledore watched in rapt fascination from the table. They had both taken a great interest in the lessons, and often sat in on the morning practice together when they could.

"I'm not certain it would be wise to tell Severus about this." McGonagall muttered under her breath.

"Really? I would think he'd find it most interesting." Dumbledore gave a small smirk, but kept his eyes on the pair as they darted through the moving obstacles around them with more ease than children their age should have without blindfolds. He'd also noticed the weapons never passed through the metal poles that surrounded them. "I'm starting to wonder about those wands."

McGonagall looked a bit scandalized at the thought. "Surely you don't think they might be..."

"Don't call me Shirley, and I suppose it is possible." Dumbledore nodded once and took a sip of his tea. "However, these two are already well on their way to being masters of whatever style this is. I'm almost certain we have little to worry about in that particular regard. It's certainly not a muggle art. I wonder how she discovered it? I also wonder, when she discovered it. This has been going on for some time."

"I can see that. She? Are you certain?" McGonagall had noticed that Harry's behavior was a bit more disciplined. She doubted Snape was being less than bias. He had something against the Potters. She was always skirting the edge of trouble, but never in classes. She was an almost model student during a class. McGonagall had noticed she seemed very attentive in her classes. She wasn't her best student, but she was doing well, and forging ahead in her troubled spots with a bit of tenacity. Harry was much the same, but quiet for the most part otherwise, he was getting the beginnings of an excellent reputation at Hogwarts. She seemed destined for trouble, there were also several rather dark sounding rumors floating around Slytherin that year. More than usual. She'd not gotten details as of yet, but things were pointing at the redhead in front of her more than she was comfortable with.

"Harry is the student here." He nodded again and sipped at his tea in the same manner as before. He didn't seem worried. "Though, it is easy to see they are both learning."

"This is an odd, and somewhat disturbing mystery." McGonagall looked very serious as she almost sloshed her tea before taking a hurried sip. "They are still young. Are you certain they are 'Masters' of whatever this is? I think that worries me more than anything else."

Dumbledore nodded again. "I have wondered that myself. I have seen little reason to stop this. As far as I know, no other student has seen their wand as anything but a rather fancy school supply. The Potter girl might be a little trouble, but she has a better heart than she'd like to admit. She seems, certain, of her path."

"I hope you're right. I don't like the idea of this becoming any more dangerous than it already is." McGonagall knew the Potter twins might attract trouble. There were a few powerful and dangerous families that spoke the name as a curse, and as little as possible. They were going to be living in the home of one such family when they returned from school in a sick sort of irony. She would never admit it, but it wasn't much of a surprise to see one of them land in Slytherin. It was a relief to find it wasn't both of them. "I suppose not all the rumors I've heard about her are bad. She supposedly helped the Weasley boys and a few second years out of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff out of a spot of trouble. I've also heard a rather odd one that she's planning on being some sort of rock star. Her markings in Potions are much higher than they should be to hear Snape speak of her as well."

"Oh yes. That reminds me. Today is Friday isn't it?" The Headmaster seemed to remember something.

"Yes." McGonagall answered even though it didn't sound much like he was asking.

He looked a bit more cheerful. "Band practice is today. My understanding is she's opened the doors to the student body on Friday afternoon. I'll have to stop by and see what this 'D' thing is all about."

"So, it's true then?" McGonagall arched her eyebrow at him and seemed almost amused.

"Yes. The greatest band in rock history, no less." The old man seemed pleased with the both of them for it.

OooOOooOO

Anna slashed at her brother. The resistance of his blade was a satisfying feeling as they clashed with a bit of noise. They were both wearing a set of robes they only used for training. They had four sets each, and always wore them. They were complex to put on, but comfortable, and perfect for moving around unhindered in. They were also the perfect medium between formal and casual as well.

Harry smirked as he picked up on his sister's train of thought. "Your mind is on other things." He attacked, forcing her back with quick vicious slashes. She ducked and bobbed to avoid the moving candlesticks around her. Her brother found himself barred as three moved in front of him like a wall. He slid up to it and slashed down as his sister tried to catch him by stabbing between them. She pulled her blade back and they walked along beside each other, stepping around any of the candles that got in their way. "They are comfortable by the way. I've had a few people ask where they might get them from."

She jumped towards him and they darted around the moving candles jabbing at each other between them. Anna hacked down at her brother locking their sabers over his head.

The boy smirked at her and pushed his open palm towards her, but never made contact with his hand. She flew away flat on her back and slid for a few feet before jumping back to her feet. Their blades locked as he rushed forward between two candles that tried to block him and locked blades with her again. This time she met his new trick with her own open palm. The pair strained at their blades and pushed their open palms at each other without touching hands.

Anna knew trying to overpower her brother was a losing battle. She kicked off the bench behind her and flipped over her head. He turned to attack her in mid air, and she blocked with her wand while reaching out with her hand. The bench behind the boy slid towards him and at the back of his knees. He hopped up onto the bench top and blocked a low strike from the girl before pushing his blade through her neck. She was gasping for breath with her arms held down. Her saber went out and she nodded.

"Cool. I win." Harry seemed pleased with himself.

"Yeah. Guess I got my work cut out for me." She scratched her shoulder. "You won't be doing that again tomorrow."

"Nah. I'm gonna try and do it a different way tomorrow." He slapped her shoulder as he jumped down and pushed the bench back into place with his power.

"Watch your head jerk."

"Oh, like you wouldn't act like this if you'd won." He stuck his tongue out at her in a playful manner. She was grinning and couldn't stop to fake being mad at him.

"Do I look angry?" she poked his shoulder with her finger and pushed him a little.

"Always," he quipped. He never felt bad about rubbing it in with her.

"Jerk." Her eyes narrowed a little but it was obvious she was still amused.

OooOOooOO

Harry was sitting with Ron and Hermione on a low stone wall that overlooked the grounds from the third story. It was a small open air hallway that connected two wings of the building. It was the afternoon break and they were looking out at the grounds and relaxing as they talked. The boy who lived had taken to carrying his acoustic guitar around with him most of the time. The only time he didn't have it on his shoulder was when he was in Snape's class. All the other teachers ignored it as long as it was left alone and out of the way in the classroom.

"How would I know if a guy was cute?" Ron seemed embarrassed as Hermione stuck her tongue out at him.

The frazzle haired girl was fussing at him. "That's my point. You wouldn't know if he was cute, so don't act so surprised. I didn't say I wanted to make out with him. I just said he doesn't look bad."

Harry was chuckling and rolled his eyes. Ron had a towel tucked around his neck under his robe, Hermione had ignored Harry's advice. None of the other students had noticed.

"Hi Harry!" Pansy Parkinson and Melvin Boggs were standing behind the trio as they all looked back at them.

"Hey. Where's Anna?" Harry only seemed half interested in the answer.

Pansy shrugged. "Not sure. She likes to take off on her own sometimes during breaks."

Melvin and Harry grabbed hands and bumped their shoulders together in greeting. "We've got that open practice later. Margaret is putting up fliers. We've run out."

"Yeah. I'm kind of looking forward to it," commented Harry. "Don't tell her I said that though. It's bad enough as it is."

Melvin was grinning like an idiot. He glanced over at Harry's friends and gave them both a small nod in greeting.

"H-hi." Ron looked a little uncomfortable.

Hermione didn't seem impressed, but was civil. "Harry likes them, they couldn't be that bad," she thought to herself. "Then again, he does stick up for his sister..."

"Awesome." Anna chimed in as she appeared out of nowhere and hefted a new stack of fliers into Pansy, Melvin, and Harry's arms as she walked up to the group from the right. None of them were very large stacks, a few dozen pages for each of them "Hand em about. We've reached our limit on the bulletin boards about the school. They won't let us stick more than a few in the halls."

Harry sighed and looked at the flier. "Tenacious D, open practice, Friday after class. We'll rock your F-ing socks off."

"Stupid decency enchantments." Anna was less than pleased, but found that the word 'fuck' would change itself into 'intercourse' if it was written out on the page when they hung it on the walls.

"What did you expect?" Harry snorted in amusement with the girl's reaction.

"What's Tenacious D?" asked Hermione as she took one of the pages Harry handed to her.

"Yeah." Ron agreed as he scratched the side of his head with his finger and peered at the flier. "Why is this word..." His face went red as he realized what the flier was telling him.

"You haven't told them?" Anna was looking at her brother with wide eyes.

"Told us what?" said Hermione as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the redheaded girl.

"We're the Greatest Band in Rock History." Harry sounded like he was reading it off a cue card. "Tenacious D."

"You said you couldn't play." Ron seemed a bit surprised. "Are you sure you want to play in front of the school?"

"It might be nice?" Hermione didn't sound sure of it, but wanted to support her friend.

"Anna's been teaching me." The mouse haired boy shrugged and tugged at the strap to his guitar.

"Yeah. We're the greatest band who ever lived." Anna nodded.

"Yeah." Melvin seemed a bit miffed at the pair's reaction. He calmed, as it was a normal reaction. Most of the older students he'd seen looking at the fliers seemed to think it was some sort of joke. They were laughing about it. All anyone seemed to know was it was a first year band of some sort. No one had associated any names with the band as of yet.

"You can't be that good, Harry's only been playing for two weeks." Hermione turned her nose up at the dark haired Slytherin boy. "Not that it'll be bad or anything." She blushed as she realized the boy in question was giving her a half cocked frown and pretending to be more annoyed than he was.

"We've played the best song in the world. We rock serious ass." Anna seemed sure of herself as she crossed her arms and nodded her head. "Right, HP?"

Hermione frowned as she seemed to forget about the conversation. "Are...are all of you wearing towels?" Everyone but her was wearing a bath towel around the back of their neck under their robes.

Harry ignored her. "Right."

"Really? What song was that?" asked Ron. "Could you play it now?"

"'Fraid not. We're not allowed to play it for about ten more years. We can cover it after that if we want though." Anna's shoulders slumped a bit. "Harry and I will tell you about it if you want though. It's a cool story!" The little redhead seemed to be prodding her brother as she said it.

Harry shook his head and chuckled a bit as he took his guitar off his back. "All right, you win."

"All right. Play us something then!" Hermione seemed to cheer up. Her eyes went a little wide as the boy started to pluck out a song on the strings with ease.

Ron was beaming as well, not having heard the boy play anything yet. "Wow. That's great Harry."

Anna pointed her finger at the pair and caught their attention after pulling her own instrument off her shoulder. Everyone milling about around them turned to pay attention as the guitar caught their attention. There was a small group surrounding them within a moment. "This is the greatest and best song in the world, Tribute. A long time ago, me and my brother Harry here, we was hitchhiking down, a long and lonesome road. All of a sudden, there shined a shiny demon, in the middle of the road. And he said! 'Play the best song in the world, or I'll eat your souls!' Well me and Harry, we looked at each other, and we each said, 'okay'. And we played the first thing that came to our heads, just so happened to be, the best song in the world, it was the best song in the world!"

After Harry and Anna finished playing Tribute, by the D itself, everyone who had been standing around them clapped and there was a little bit of hooting.

"Wow! That was awesome!" Ron seemed impressed.

"You are pretty good for only two weeks of practice." Hermione gave a small sigh and looked at the redhead. "We'll be there. Right Ron?

"You bet, I wouldn't miss it!" The redheaded boy seemed pleased and impressed. "If it's as good as that, I'm sure we'll have a great time!"

Hermione noticed that the mouse haired boy didn't seem uneasy, or uncomfortable with it for once.

"Heh. You ain't heard nothin yet." Anna gave a small snorting chuckle. "Right D?"

"Right!" Even Harry answered back with a grin on his face. The band members went about their business again leaving Harry with his friends. They only had one class left for the day about forty minutes later. Potions was the last class on Friday, none of the Gryffindor students was looking forward to it much. Anything else was a welcome distraction.

"That's not like you." Hermione smiled at the boy who lived a little. "You've been in a good mood as of late. Were you nervous about your first few weeks?"

"Not really. I'm having a great time here! Hogwarts has been amazing for me!" He seemed happy, almost to the point of being sappy.

"That's great to hear." Ron was pleased.

"Yeah. It is." The girl nodded, she seemed happy for him, but a bit distracted as well.

"It's been great. Thing is, I'm actually looking forward to going home for the first time in my life as well."

"Getting home sick?" asked the girl with an understanding nod.

"No. I'll never miss the place I came from." The boy shrugged a bit and slapped his friends on the shoulders. "I've got to put this away before Snape's class. You coming along, or will I meet you later?" He stood up and put the instrument behind his back again.

OooOOooOO

Classes had ended about a half hour before, and the evening on Friday was free for the students to relax and socialize in the open halls of the school. There were restricted areas, but students had the run of the common areas of the building for the most part.

McGonagall was looking down at Harry and Anna in the hall. The pair had their electric guitars hanging from their shoulders. The group was on the way to band practice when they'd met the teacher. The rest of the group was looking on behind the Potter twins, Melvin was the only one without an instrument hanging from his shoulder, but he had a pair of drumsticks in his hand. "Ah, Harry, Anna. I had heard you had started some sort of band here at Hogwarts." She gave the rest of the group a look over.

The redhead was almost beaming. "Yeah. We're the greatest band in rock history."

"Oh. Well now." McGonagall rolled her eyes a little at the sight of it and put her hand up to her throat. "Might I ask what prompted such a decision?"

The entire group put on a pair of black sunglasses all at once.

Anna and Harry crossed their arms and the boy spoke up. "We're on a mission from, God."

The redhead was just nodding in agreement at first, but spoke up next. "Uh, excuse us Professor, but we got a gig."

Harry gave another nod and left with a small wave as the group turned away.

McGonagall found herself amused with the response and chuckled as she went about her business once again.

OooOOooOO

Anna was standing at the microphone, fiddling about with wires and connecting their instruments. It was late Friday afternoon and they were standing in front of a sizable crowd of students. About fifty had showed up. There was plenty of standing space, but only just so. The room had a small elevated stage on one end, a half circle about ten feet wide. The band was standing around her as she looked around with a rather cocky smirk on her face. There were students representing every house present. Most of them were chatting amongst themselves, and there were quite a few older students looking for a good laugh in the first year kids band. They were isolated in the middle of a long unused hallway on one of the upper floors. Dumbledore had chosen a good place for them. The whole band was still wearing shades, and none of them looked all that nervous as they chatted with each other behind the girl.

Harry noticed Ron and Hermione waving him over from the foot of the stage and smiled as he walked over to them. He was set and ready to go, having just finished the final tuning of his guitar. "Hey."

"It's a big crowd." Hermione looked back into the room with a pensive frown on her face. She didn't want to see him embarrass himself, but he'd done well earlier also.

"We'll be fine." He strummed on the strings and seemed unconcerned.

"Yeah." Ron had been impressed by the earlier show. "Even if it's just that one song it'll be fun. He's got a whole band now."

"Nah. We can do a lot more than that." Harry gave him a good natured chuckle and put his fist up to the redheaded boy's shoulder.

Ron was grinning at him, but Hermione seemed anxious anyway. Her friend's mood was helping though and she nodded. "I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure I'll like it at least."

"I've got a feeling everyone will." Ron's lips turned down a bit as he looked at her out of the corners of his eyes.

"That's the spirit!" Harry gave him another slap on the shoulder. He turned his head and stood up to frown at what he saw.

Draco Malfoy and his two cohorts walked up looking sure of themselves on the other side of the stage. He was looking up at the redhead in front of the microphone. "Putting on a show Potter? I've heard about your little band. I know the Boggs can't play. Your brother has been telling his friends he can't play. That leaves you and Pansy, that old woman who teaches her is a joke. I've heard her speak of it before." He pointed his nose at the blond as he said it and chuckled. "Trying to get laughed out of Hogwarts then?"

The whole band was giving him the eye and had gone silent. Anna's smile somehow got bigger. "Malfoy, let me give you a little sound advice. This is a rock concert. The most awesome thing about Rock is that evil, arrogant, selfish pricks, such as yourself, can put aside their small, deformed penises, and enjoy the dark message of the electric guitar. It doesn't really matter if anyone knows you were here, or how much you enjoyed it after. Forget that you hate everyone else in the room, sit back, and relax. We are Tenacious D, and we will rock your fucking socks off." She jabbed her finger in his face as she spoke and her eyes went wide and wild. She stood up to the microphone and called out to the crowd to get their attention. "I take it you guys are here for some rock then?"

The crowd before them went rather silent. There were a few small half hearted whoops and claps, but it was tepid at best. Everyone was looking at them as if they thought it was funny for the most part.

Malfoy just chuckled and crossed his arms. He was going to enjoy watching her make a fool of herself. His eyes were still full of anger from her words.

The girl strummed the strings creating a melodious chime, a final check on the tuning and sound setup.

"Hmm, what do you guys want to do first?" She looked back at the band.

"Malfoy's annoying me, lets do the anthem." Harry was giving the boy a small frown as he glanced over at the Slytherin group. There were about fifteen first to third year students all clustered together at the edge of the stage. The other students were intermingling, but not with Slytherin. There were a few older Slytherin students in with the larger crowd. They didn't seem that interested in the people around them.

"Right, the Young Death Eater Anthem it is." The redhead and the rest of the band seemed pleased. Anna started playing a simple riff for a moment before the band joined in behind her. The room was dead silent as the crowd watched this. "We're dangerous dudes, we got bad attitudes. Most of our brain cells are gone! We were born to be bad, you better not make us mad or we just might toilet paper your lawn! We got a reputation 'round these parts, we only leave a ten percent tip! Sometimes we don't return our shopping carts! Stay out of our way and don't you give us no lip! 'Cause we're young... dumb and ugly! That's what we are! We're so young... young, dumb and ugly!

We wear black leather in the hottest weather. You can't imagine the smell! We got three-day stubble, our names spell trouble T-R-U-B-E-L! Raisin' hell, bendin' the rules just a little! We're livin' only for thrills! We squeeze our tooth paste tubes from the middle, and wait until the last minute to pay our telephone bills! 'Cause we're young... dumb and ugly! You better believe it! We're young... young, dumb and ugly! I'll tell you again! We're so young... young, dumb and ugly! We're comin' to your town! Yeah, we're young... young, dumb and ugly!"

After ripping off Weird Al a little more, Anna found herself feeling satisfied by that thought, they finished the song and stopped. He didn't exist here, but then, maybe that was how it worked somehow? As far as she knew it was how ideas traveled through the multiverse to begin with. There was a moment of stunned silence as the song ended. "We are Tenacious D, the greatest band in Rock History." Anna spoke to the silence with a wide smile on her face as she raised her hand with her pinky and index finger extended. The look on Draco Malfoy's face was priceless, he'd turned the most interesting shade of pink. His jaw was hanging down and his eyes were wide and angry. Crabbe and Goyle didn't look upset, but were surprised as well.

"Sorry. If you'd stop flapping your lips and wait until after someone screws up to be smug, this wouldn't happen so often." Anna glanced over to him and then back at the crowd. It burst into cheering, for the most part. Most of the sharper Slytherin students looked a little annoyed at the redhead. No one had left though. "Now, on to business. Harry?"

The mouse Haired boy started playing Marylin Manson's 'Beautiful People'. They played for an hour and a half. Anna and Harry were on vocals depending on the song. Harry got any song with a female sexual reference. Anna did 'I love Rock and Roll' ''Bad Reputation' by Joan Jett 'Take it off'' from the Donnas. 'American Psycho', and 'Superbeast' by Rob Zombie, 'Kaboom Kaboom' by Manson, 'Breaking the Law' by Judas Priest. She made a point of singing almost in Draco Malfoy's scowling face when she did 'You've Got Another Thing Coming' by the same band. After that she did 'Getting Away with Murder' by Papa Roach, 'Bring the Pain', and 'Straight to Video' from Mindless Self Indulgence, and 'Click Click Boom' from Saliva. Her final solo song was 'Symphony of Destruction' from Megadeath.

Harry did 'Take Me Out' by Franz Ferdinan, 'Everything I do, I do it for you' from that Costner flick a few years back, 'Magic Carpet Ride' and 'Foxy Lady' from Hedrix, 'Glory of Love' by Peter Citera, 'Pretty Woman' and 'Anything You Want' by Roy Orbison.

Unbeknownst to him, but knowst to us, the redhead behind him was having trouble keeping her chuckles from showing. Harry had no idea what he'd unleashed upon himself when he agreed to do the set. She was forgiving enough to let him do 'You shook me all night long' 'Dirty Deeds' and 'TNT' by AC/DC so the guys in the crowd wouldn't think him to be a total wuss. He didn't seem to care what she gave him to play and just enjoyed the feeling of playing well.

It was unfortunate she couldn't resist the temptation of turning her brother into a total babe magnet. She imagined his reaction would be quite entertaining. After all, he would be getting his pubes soon. "Excellent." She stepped up to the microphone as he finished his set. The crowd was still there, and having a ball. "This one is for 'You Know Who'." The crowd went quiet for a moment. She waved her brother back up to the microphone and stepped back while taking a look around the room. Dumbledore was standing in the back of the room. He seemed pleased that everyone was having a good time, but frowned a tiny bit at some of the language in the music from time to time. Anna smirked and looked back down at the crowd as she started playing 'Step Up' by Drowning Pool. They'd lost a total of about four people in the crowd during the show, and two had come back with about four or five people with them.

By this point the crowd consisted of two kinds of people. Students who were dancing, or trying to, while singing back choruses with the band near the end of the songs, and students standing with their arms crossed, nodding a little or maybe tapping a foot at most. They were trying to look cool, and couldn't dance or sing along. Not all of them were in Slytherin either.

Harry and Anna did a few of duets. 'Bang Your Head', and 'Come On Feel the Noise' by Quiet Riot, and 'Highway to Hell' from AC/DC.

Melvin and Margaret both had solos in quite a few of the songs. Pansy got to show off by doing, 'Great Balls of Fire' by Jerry Lee Lewis. She had a decent voice as well, she did 'Wake Me Up Inside' from Evanescence. Her instrument was more expensive than she had yet realized. It was top of the line, the next years model. She often found herself almost in the role of DJ for the group. It had hundreds of sound settings, and two foot pedal controls to control recording and playback. She could overlap as many sounds as she wanted, as the memory storage was rather large. There was a small touch screen that helped her keep what was going on organized in the top right corner above the keys. There were still a lot of buttons on the sleek, but long instrument she'd yet to use much. The bottom had a shoulder strap and pad for her back, and both pedals were stored inside the keyboard itself.

The whole band got involved with 'Woo Hoo' by Blur, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' from Queen, 'I Wanna Rock' by Quiet Riot and 'Big Balls' by AC/DC. When they played their last Queen tune. 'We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions' Anna paused the show. It was about halfway through and most everyone had pretty much forgotten about any tension before the show. "This song is for Quidditch, well, any sport really. The first part you sing before or during the match. The last part only the winning team gets to sing."

There were a lot of grins, a few bewildered half frowns, and a lot of yelling and hooting. They were going to need a larger room the next week. The redhead was quite pleased, and had a thick notepad full of songs for them to learn. All of it was hers now, the collected rock of an entire planet. Life was awesome sometimes. "Well, I'm afraid we've had enough practice for today. Good night Hogwarts. Be Excellent to each other. We're gonna close this one out with a message for all those who've been called Mudblood since they came here." The choruses for quite a few of the songs were being sung along with by a large portion of the crowd.

"Kick it!" cried Harry. The band played 'Fight for the Right to Party' by the Beasty Boys. By the end of the song the crowd was loud enough that, like any rock band should, they played one last song. 'We're Not Nonna Take It' as done by Joan Jett. At that point, they had run out of songs the band could play. The concert was more a review than anything for them. Anna would be adding new material a bit at a time as the year progressed. They were only eleven, and both she and the rest of the band were sweating and tired.

The crowd had been rocked rather hard and was cheering as loud as they could still. It was quite loud, but died down fast as it wasn't a huge crowd. Malfoy shuffled away in silence with most of the young Slytherin around him following, he glanced back at her with a frown on his face as he left the room. He wasn't as angry as he was before she noticed, but he wasn't about to let her know it either.

Harry unhooked his guitar and shook his hand a little. His friends were looking at him with wide eyes and slacked jaws.

"I thought you said you couldn't play?" Ron wasn't sure what else to say.

"You couldn't have learned to do that in only two weeks, Harry! That song earlier was one thing, this is..." Hermione wasn't sure if she should be amazed or irate with him. They both planted their rears on the stage as their house mate stepped down between them to join them.

"It's a long story." The boy rubbed his scar a little as he plopped down. "My arm's a bit tired." He shook it a little and seemed to relax a little more. He noticed his two housemates looking towards the Slytherin group he was playing with. "They're good people." The crowd in the room was starting to disperse as the band tore down their instruments so they could be carried. Melvin ignored his drums and shoved his drumsticks into his pockets as he walked up to his sister as she unhooked her guitar and chatted with her looking pleased with how things had gone. Pansy had unhooked her keyboard and leaned over his shoulder to look at the pair.

"Friends of yours Harry? We only met a moment earlier." She seemed pleased to see them both talking with him.

"Yeah. This is Ron and Hermione. They're in Gryffindor with me." He smirked a little as the red haired boy blushed a bit and took a step back. "Guys, this is Pansy."

Hermione gave her a halfhearted grin. "Nice to meet you, I guess."

The blond girl grabbed the mouse haired boy by his shoulders and pushed herself back up all the way as she gave them a nod and grinned. "Well, any friend of Harry's..."

Melvin was stepping off the stage with his sister behind her. "Yeah. Later Harry. I'm thinking we'll go back to the dorms and catch a shower before dinner."

"C'mon. We're done here. I don't want to miss dinner." Harry hopped off his seat and the trio of Gryffindor students wandered away side by side.

Getting to the door took longer for all the band members than any of them had expected. The other students in the room were shaking their hands, and thanking them for the show with high praises. It took them ten minutes to reach the exit.

As soon as they both made it outside the room Harry and Melvin ran into a wall of wide eyed girls of all ages. Most of them looked to be no older than fourth years. The older girls seemed much less interested but still pleased.

The two boys froze at the same time and looked on with wide eyes as they were surrounded.

Ron and Hermione were looking around just behind the pair. They seemed to be hiding behind Harry and his drummer. After a moment, the young brunette girl looked at Harry for a moment as something seemed to click. "You know, I think Harry sang all the songs I liked the most."

Ron gave her a confused frown. "Are we gonna die?"

"I'm not sure Ron." Harry seemed very uncomfortable, Melvin was too stunned to move.

"What's going on?" asked Melvin.

"Wow! That was really cool Harry!" cried one of the girls. She looked to be about a third year.

"Yeah! How long have you been playing?"

"Are you going to be famous?"

"What girl were you thinking about when you wrote that?"

"I had no idea you were so...mature!"

"I've never heard anyone so good on drums!"

"Uh oh." Melvin turned to look at his band mate as he realized they weren't just looking at him.

"What should we do?" asked Harry.

"Do either of you have a girlfriend?"

"Harry, I'm scared." Ron had never seen such a hungry looking group of girls. "They're looking at us like vampires!"

"Run for it!" Melvin bolted away with Harry right beside him. Ron and Hermione took off after them both. The two boys split up at the first intersection they came to, and the Gryffindor students followed Harry.

The boy who lived stopped and turned around when he realized he could only hear two sets of footsteps behind him.

The pair was gasping for breath, but had managed to keep up. Harry only looked a little winded, but was sweating a bit.

OooOOooOO

Halloween night, the students of Hogwarts were heading to the Great Hall for the evening meal.

Pansy was standing behind Draco Malfoy. Margaret and Melvin both ignored the scene as the blond girl cracked her knuckles. He was in front of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, running his mouth. The girl between the two boys was in tears, and Ron looked about ready to slug him. Harry's face was a calm frown.

Harry was glaring at the blond boy. "What's the matter Weasley? Upset I made your little girlfriend cry? So poor you can only afford a Mudblood girlfriend?"

She tapped the boy on his shoulder. "What is it Crabbe?" he snarled.

"You call me that again, and I will put my foot up your arse, Malfoy." Pansy was doing a good job of being intimidating. Crabbe and Goyle had both taken a step back. The young cocky boy didn't fear her though.

The boy turned with a surprised frown on his face as he noticed one of his house mates was giving him an angry glare. "What do you care? You used to laugh at the pathetic weaklings yourself. That little know it all no talent tart deserves no better. Nobody likes her but the dirty poor Weasley boy and his freak of a friend."

Hermione rushed away, Harry looked surprised and alarmed as she rushed back through the growing crowd around the altercation. He glanced back at Malfoy, wishing his sister was around to choke the jerk a few manners. He felt bad about thinking that, and Hermione's reaction didn't help much. "You have what you wanted Malfoy. Go and enjoy your victory." Harry noticed Pansy was looking at him as she moved off after the girl. A few Gryffindor girls had moved off as well after her. He grabbed Ron by his arm and moved to follow.

"I think I will." Malfoy turned away with a confident smirk on his face as he moved towards the Great Hall with the flow of students.

OooOOooOO

Pansy was sitting on the sink in the bathroom, listening to Hermione cry in the stall. She'd waited until the other Gryffindor girls had come out. A few had tried to coax the girl out without success and had given up.

"What do you want?" The door pushed open, the little brunette was glaring at her. "Going to report this to your 'mistress'?"

"Sister, and no." She looked at her in a rather bored expression.

Hermione seemed irate. "Sister? You're not Harry's..."

"We're a coven. All the girls in the band. I'm here for Harry. He's outside and can't come in, the Weasley boy too."

The crying girl brushed her frazzled hair out of her face and sniffled a bit more. "What do you care?"

"He's in the band." It was a simple statement and she grinned at the crying girl a little.

"I want to be left alone." Hermione closed the door.

Pansy shrugged at her. "I know. The boys won't leave until you come out though. They feel bad, and they're missing dinner."

"They don't have to." Hermione was grumbling from her stall.

"Look. I don't know you that well. Malfoy is a jerk, he has been since I met him. It just took me a while to see it. Why are you so upset about what he thinks? Most of Slytherin doesn't like him, though a lot of them pretend to because of his family. Wouldn't you rather be eating one of the best meals of the year right now? I've heard about the Great Hall on Halloween, it's supposed to really be something to see."

"So? Go see it." Hermione wasn't crying, and was just being a bit stubborn.

"Can't. I've got to stay here until you feel better. I'd feel bad about just leaving Harry and his friend to stand there all night."

Hermione sniffled, but didn't reply.

Pansy took her towel off her neck and offered it to the girl. "You know, if you had a towel, your eyes would be dry at least."

Hermione took it and rubbed under her eyes before handing it back. "Shut up. A towel isn't the answer to everything you know."

Pansy took it back and seemed to think about it. "No, Anna said it was forty two."

Hermione froze and looked at the girl in confusion. "What?"

Pansy shrugged. "I'm not sure what it means, but she seemed sure of it."

"That girl is just odd." Hermione crossed her arms, she was cross now instead of upset.

OooOOooOO

Margaret and Melvin were sitting at the table loading up their plates with food.

"Where are Pansy and Anna?" asked Margaret as she got herself a baked potato. "It's not like them to be late for a meal."

Professor Quirrel stumbled into the hall. "Troll in the dungeon! Just thought, you might like to know." He fell into a dead faint.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter stood upright and looked down the hall with wide eyes. "Something is up."

"Huh?" Ron was looking hungry and sulking a bit.

"I just saw Snape go by, heading for the third floor. He was in a hurry." Harry could feel a sense of restlessness fall over the whole school. "There is a disturbance in the force."

"Snape? We shouldn't really be here. Maybe we should just leave them. I'm sure your friend Pansy won't mind..." Ron was starting to get a bit nervous about their situation.

The other boy ignored him and walked up to the door, opening it to a crack so he could speak. "Girls. Something is going on. Come on out."

"Uh! Is that the bathroom?" grumbled Ron as he waved his hand in front of his nose.

Harry froze, the air flow was going the wrong way for it to be coming from the room. He could feel a steady constant breeze being pulled into the room from the door. "On second thought, stay in there. " He grabbed Ron's arm and shoved him through the crack before closing the door and twisting the key locked. He could hear a few knocks on the other side.

"Hey! Let me out of here! This isn't funny Harry!" Ron's muffled voice called from the other side.

The boy rubbed at his scar and slid back into the shadows as he heard the dull thump of heavy feet as the twelve foot tall monster loomed through a patch of moonlight in the hall. It was dragging a massive wooden club behind it, and the stench coming off it was horrible.

He reached out with his feelings and focused on the creature. "You should go back the way you came. There is nothing of interest here." He waved his hand and waited. The animal was looking around in confusion and scratching it's skull with one finger.

The thing was stupid, it should have been easy to do.

The giant creature's eyes locked onto the boy and it snarled in an almost pleased looking manner.

Harry gasped as he realized he'd been spotted. The creature hefted it's club and swung it down, chipping a piece of the ceiling away as it crushed the marble statue he had been behind into small stones and dust. He had gone up, and kicked off the wall onto the top of the club.

The monster raised the weapon and swiped at him with it. The boy jumped down and ducked under the back swing. The club crashed into one of the walls, leaving a good sized hole. Harry Potter was standing with his weapon held ready and a calm frown on his face. The beast was looking at the clean cut at the base of it's club's handle. It was trying to figure out how it had broken off.

The monster reached forward to grab him, but the boy shoved his palm forward and gave a grunt of effort. The creature was lifted off it's feet and slammed down on it's back. It was stunned for only a moment and shook it's head as it pulled itself back onto it's trunk like legs. It was very angry at him.

"Shit. I'm not gonna scare it off." He steeled himself and gripped his weapon a little tighter.

The monster grabbed at him with both arms. Harry rushed up it's forearm and onto the creature's back. The thing tried to reach back with it's other hand and catch him as he tried to push off the small of it's back. His weapon curved down and sliced right through the wrist of the beast. He hopped down onto the tiles.

The creature was tough though and whipped it's other arm around shattering the wall and a window as it roared in pain. The boy ducked the strike and jumped up high enough to put his foot on it's shoulder. It tried to grab him with the stump where its hand used to be, but he ignored it as he pushed himself into the air while passing his blade through it's neck. The beast's head rolled away in the hall as he landed on the opposite side of the falling body. His weapon shut down and he looked back at the dead monster as he raised his hand to unlock the bathroom door. With another wave of his arm the door opened and a pale white Ron stumbled out, with Pansy and Hermione just behind him.

"What was all that..." Pansy looked at the dead creature's body and screamed.

"It's a troll." Hermione was looking at it with wide eyes. "A dead troll."

"If I'd been thinking I would have closed myself in there with you." Harry didn't look very happy. "Unpleasant creature."

McGonagall stormed around the corner. Her lips were pressed together so tight they were white. "What on earth were you thinking of? Why aren't you in your dormitory?" Quirrel rushed up behind her. He gasped in horror as he saw the dead creature in the hall and planted himself on his rear with his hand on his heart.

"We're supposed to be in the dorms?" Ron was giving the troll nervous stares as he moved up behind Harry.

"First I've heard of that." Harry looked at him and nodded.

"We've been down here with Hermione." Pansy looked at the woman. "She had an upset stomach. We've been down here a while."

McGonagall's frown lightened a little. "You should have been in the Great Hall."

"We didn't want to just leave her here on her own." Harry was looking at the tiles at her feet and scratched his head.

Quirrel was looking at the animal with his head cocked. "What killed this troll?" His fear was abated as he realized the creature was headless and missing a hand. He could see them lying in the hall once he'd gotten something of a grip on himself.

"Harry locked the rest of us in the bathroom." Ron seemed to be getting less nervous, but only a little. "We didn't mean to!"

"If I had thought about it, I'd have gone in there myself." He'd gotten cocky when he'd sensed how stupid the creature was. Things hadn't gone as planned. He was looking at his wand in his hand without trying to be obvious about it.

McGonagall picked up on it and looked down her nose a bit at him as she pursed her lips a bit tighter. "I see. I do hope you've learned something from this Mr. Potter."

He looked up at her. "As do I. I've never killed anything before." He looked far from happy, but not upset either. He was thinking hard about it.

"Do not think too hard on it. I dare say there aren't many first year students who could take on a fully grown mountain troll. Fifteen points will be awarded to Gryffindor for this, and the quick thinking to move the others out of harm's way. Five points will be awarded to Slytherin as well, I'm always pleasantly surprised to see such behavior from a student of that house. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of it. The feast will be finished in the house common area. You may all return to your dorms."

Harry frowned as he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked with Ron and Hermione towards the dorms. They waved a quick goodbye to Pansy as she moved off in the other direction. "Where's Anna? It's not like her to miss something like this."

"Maybe she didn't know?" Hermione shrugged and looked over at him.

"She's mentioned it before. She's getting herself into more trouble I bet." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and sighed as his shoulders slumped a bit.

"Why worry about it? You just won fifteen house points, and I'm starved." Ron seemed pleased with the way things had gone.

"Right. That was really cool Harry." Hermione couldn't find fault with him in the matter. "You should be more careful though." She stopped talking and looked at him. "Say. How did you kill that troll anyway?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." Harry seemed a bit down about it. "The fewer people who know, the better."

OooOOooOO

Serverus Snape froze in place as he almost jumped around the corner of a hallway in Hogwarts. His face was an angry mask that fell away into surprise before becoming an even more intense but somehow satisfied anger. Anna Potter was leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. Her cloak was pushed back over her shoulders, revealing the unusual robes she'd somehow acquired. Her wand was hanging from her belt as she looked in the opposite direction away from him.

"Potter!" he snarled as he stormed up to her side. "You were told to be in your dorms. You aren't going to talk your way out of this one. What are you doing here?"

"Waiting on Quirrel, and you, of course." She glanced up at him, her gaze was calm and even, and she wasn't surprised or afraid of him at all. "Voldemort has a hand in the school. Quirrel. I can't prove it though. He's hiding something under that turban of his. Something that's only seen when it wants to be. I'm thinking this was just a test of the alarm so to speak. Quirrel hasn't showed. Disappointing."

The man's eyes shifted into a confused rage as he straightened himself up and let his mouth hang a little. "So, you think you're going to get revenge do you?" His voice seemed more interested and cautious.

"No. Revenge is not a valid motive, it's an emotional response. This, this is punishment." The girl's eyes became cold and hard as she looked over at him. He had grabbed her arm, but she was still leaning against the wall next to the door with her arms crossed over her chest as if she wasn't in any trouble.

He released her arm and took a step back. "You're a clever girl, a little too clever."

"I had a past life, I'm much wiser than I appear. Though, I admit this wizarding thing is a little new to me. I remember what he did to my parents, and the loved ones of many others before then. He will suffer for what he has done, I'd like to have a hand in it where I can."

The man's lips went tight as he stared down at her with cold evil eyes. "I see," he said noting there was no anger in her eyes, but somehow they promised pain and suffering to her enemies. Her tone was even and calm, she wasn't intimidated by him in the least. "You're no child then?"

"Unfortunately, I am a child still. I remember him pretty well, but I was born here. I remember my parents, though I didn't know them long. Harry doesn't even know what they looked like. I've got better things to do besides worry about how much you hated my father. I've already got a dangerous enemy, and I don't have time to waste hating someone who isn't. I don't care if you like us, but punishing us for what our parents did to you is a waste of time better spent on other things. Neither one of us knew them long enough to care about your little...grudge. Our lives are more important to us than our grades, and we're not interested in pleasing you, or acting as your toys."

"What do you plan to do about it?" The man raised his chin a bit more.

"Grow stronger, destroy him." She replied. It was obvious that wasn't what he was speaking of and she didn't take the bait. "I know your role in this better than you think. You'll be asked to kill Dumbledore, and you won't be able to refuse."

"I'll..." He looked about ready to drag her into Dumbledore's office as he leaned into her still calm face and jabbed his finger into her face. "I could have you expelled for this."

"I doubt it. I'm easier to keep track of here. Understand something Professor, I am Salazar's Heir. I've no intention of losing my title to the likes of him. My brother will destroy him, not even I could stop him. Quirrel will meet his end at the hands of a Potter, and his master will slink back into the shadows like a scalded dog to collect himself. You've got as much proof of this as I do."

"Stop changing the subject." The angry man's eyebrow was twitching as he grabbed her shoulder and jerked her off the wall to face him.

"No." she replied simply. "I'll not be so easily sidetracked, or dissuaded by the likes of you, or anyone else. You should know, Hogwarts will be plagued by such problems as long as Harry and I are here. It will only get worse with time. You are not my ally, but you're not my enemy either. Stop being such a prick, and we might find some use for each other somewhere along the way. I don't have enough hate to waste any on you."

"You'll be in detention for months, Potter." He almost smiled.

"Fine, more time to discuss such matters with you, Professor. I am not as young as I appear. I was born here, I have parents, and make no mistake, Harry is my brother. Voldemort tried to take my life, and he did try, just as sure as he tried to kill my brother. When he did he woke something inside me. A something much older than the child you see before you. I don't like you, but you'll find trying to treat me like a poorly behaved child less than effective. Even if you do manage to get rid of me, it will just be more time for me to hunt down his friends and his power that remains here and destroy them. I can't kill him, but his followers and toys are far from safe. The weaker he is, the easier it will be to destroy him when he gets back. He will be coming back, by the way." She was speaking as if it was something of a well know fact. She noted the look of shocked anger on his face and looked away. "I'm not so stupid, as to show anyone how strong I really am. Don't make the mistake of thinking I would just be getting myself killed either. I'm very aware of what sort of power I face."

"This arrogance will see you destroyed, Potter." Snape almost looked pleased for a moment.

"I am Sith, my history spans Millenia, across galaxies. The Force is my ally, and you'll find it to be a formidable opponent." Anna loved telling people that. It felt good for reasons she couldn't explain. Just being able to lie to someone like Snape made her feel better, though she couldn't show it. The Darth Vader thing was starting to be more fun that it should be.

"The Force?" Snape sounded interested and kept his eyes locked onto her calm gaze as he hid it behind a mask of anger.

"It isn't Magic you know." She looked over and moved a small vase from one side of the hall onto a small table on the other side. "Magic is but a part of it. It surrounds us, binds the Universe together. In the walls, the carpet we stand on, the trees outside. Life creates it." Her calm calculated stare never wavered as she spoke, her tone was even, and somehow respectful.

"I don't believe you." He narrowed his eyes and looked down his nose at her as he stood tall. His lips turned down again into a hateful frown.

"It shares similar qualities with magic. Not everyone has an aptitude for it, and some are stronger than others." She didn't look like she cared about his attitude.

"I suppose you think yourself all powerful then?" He didn't look impressed.

"Harry is stronger than I am. I have no doubt of that. It's kind of annoying, he's better with magic as well. Makes it harder to keep him on his toes. I'm the smart one though. I'm also faster, and more...flexible, than my brother. I shouldn't be surprised, he's the one with the 'great destiny' and all. Well, he used to be the only one." Her features fell a bit as she thought about it.

"I suppose you'll be wanting to teach me, and avoid your punishment for this...incident?" His mood was getting better, but not in a way that looked good for her.

"I can't stop you from punishing me, Professor. Alas, I'm afraid in my world, you, are the muggle." She gave him a small shrug and never flinched with even the tiniest bit of fear. "I might be of some use to you one day. I know much more than I let on. Let's just say birdwatching is a hobby of mine."

Snape was struggling to keep himself from drawing his wand. Sweat was starting to drip down his nose as his hand shook at his side. He was digging the fingers of his other hand into her shoulder with far more force than he should. She didn't seem to notice and looked at him to await his response. "Get back to your common area, now, Potter." He straightened himself up and kept a wild and mad looking glare at her as she walked away from him and left him standing there. He gave a deep growl before almost stomping off towards his quarters. "So, now what?" She had a way of shoving things he couldn't ignore down his throat to keep him off balance. The dark haired man stopped moving and turned his head to look back at her. "Potter." He growled, not wanting to speak to the girl any further.

She paused and turned to look back at him. Her features hidden in the shadows of the empty hall. "Yes, Professor?"

"Quirrel? Are you certain?" He turned away and looked at the door to the forbidden room.

"As certain as I was of Pettigrew. This one won't be so easy to unmask though. I can feel his master's presence you know. It becomes very strong when Quirrel is near."

The man said nothing and started moving down the hall again. He could punish her, but Dumbledore wouldn't allow them to expel the pair without serious reasons. She'd pretty much have to damn near kill someone. Knowing what he knew now, the reason why was obvious. The girl was dangerous, and she needed to be watched. He found himself wondering if Dumbledore was aware of just how dangerous she was. Of one thing he was more than certain, wizarding was not new to her. Just how much she knew was still a mystery, she was uncertain ground, and he would have to tread with great care to discover more. It wasn't something he could let lie, and what she knew about him could be dangerous. From the way she was speaking, he had more than just a feeling she knew of his ties to the Order and the Death Eaters. It was no longer a game, and he couldn't risk not discovering more. If he played his cards right, she might become useful, if he didn't, she could be very dangerous. It was an unfortunate consequence either way.

As he walked down a long set of stairs that wound into the deep innards of the massive castle he calmed to a stroll with his hands behind his back and his chin almost in his chest. "Should I speak to Dumbledore about this?" The more he thought about it, the worse his mood got. She could be very dangerous, but she might also be very useful. He didn't know enough to figure out how just yet either. If he punished her, he'd have to come up with a reason for it. Dumbledore didn't allow punishment for undisclosed reasons in his school. "It would be best to let things lie for now. I'll speak with her later, the arrogant brat is getting cocky. I need to do something about that."

The absolute worst thing of all, was the fact that she was turning out to be an excellent student. "This one will be difficult for some time." He was muttering to himself as he opened the door to his chambers. The room was dark, and he didn't bother with lights as he settled himself deep into an armchair in the darkness. He had a lot to teach Anna Potter, and he had a very bad feeling she was more than willing to learn. He rubbed at his temple with his fingers as he leaned into his left arm a little and glared at the empty fireplace beside the chair. "Probably the best student I'll ever have. Figure that?" He rolled his eyes before pushing himself up to his feet and walking over to a small cabinet that hung on a nearby wall. He pulled a bottle of golden colored liquid off one of the shelves and poured a glass of it taken from the same shelf for himself before downing it in two gulps. He poured another and returned the bottle to it's place before returning to his seat and slumping back down to nurse his drink for a bit. The girl was a damn Potions genius, and her brother was forcing him to give him credible grades as well.

Their mother had been good at Potions, Slughorn adored her. He'd been better of course, but Lilly Evans's daughter was different. She was a delusional genius. A dangerous and unstable combination. He had to find a way to reign her in and keep her under control. He wasn't sure what Dumbledore would make of the situation, or how much he already knew about it. "At least the boy seems sane enough." He took a deep sip of his drink and seemed to relax a bit more. "Damn, Potters. Salazar's Heir indeed." Word had reached him, it wasn't a rumor. She'd been tested, though he didn't know the details involved, there were families who knew the particulars. It was a well guarded secret. Salazar wasn't a man who took half measures either. It was likely they couldn't speak of it.

The damn brat was poking a hornets' nest with a stick. What got to him the most is that she seemed to know it.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was beating her head against the wall. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid." She paused and looked up at the bricks for a moment with a red spot in the middle of her forehead. Snape had reacted a bit more than she'd expected. She'd been forced to keep running her mouth and let out a lot more information than she'd intended. "Why do I keep making this worse for myself?" She gave a heavy sigh and pushed off the wall.

Somehow, she'd managed to talk her way out of that. He might still punish her later, but she doubted it would be as bad. That wasn't the worst part of what she'd just done. Now, he would never leave her alone. Part of her job was keeping some of the heat off Harry, but that didn't mean she had to like it either. She was thinking just giving him Quirrel's name would be enough to get her out of trouble. Instead, she'd panicked and run her mouth far more than she'd intended. She'd just given Snape a bit of leverage, and he didn't seem like the type who wouldn't realize it. "Shit. Dumbass." She rapped on her skull with her fist a little before turning to continue to her common area.

She paused in her stride for a moment to frown. She'd had trouble keeping her mouth shut at the Dursleys. Being out of the box had given her a case of running mouth. "Shit." She started walking again with a scowl on her face while she was alone. She'd noticed she talked a lot more since she'd become female. It was difficult not to speak more often than she was comfortable with. She'd also noticed that her mind was always on something. She couldn't stop thinking, if she was awake, and not paying rapt attention to something, she was thinking about something. "No wonder girls are crazy." Missing her manhood sullied her mood a little more as her pace became a crawl.

She walked down the hallway with her shoulders slumped a little and her eyes on the floor. After a few moments she found herself nearing the common area. There were a few students wandering about in the hallway just outside the painting that hid Slytherin dorm. Most of them were older, the painting opened before she reached it and a tall dark haired fifth year boy pushed past her with a bit of a grin on his face.

The redhead followed him with her eyes as he rushed up to two older boys and started talking with them both. The conversation wasn't too far away, but it wasn't of any interest. Her features softened a little as she gave a very small short nod and pulled her eyes away from his rear. "Not bad I gu..."

She froze in place as her eyes widened a bit. "Oh...oh no." The girl belted the side of her head with her palm with a little force and shook her head from side to side for a moment. "Please tell me I wasn't just..." Another boy walked by her, this time a tall sixth year boy with blond hair and muscular arms. Her eyes were drawn to them, and she forced them away from his rear as she rushed inside the common area and planted herself against the wall gasping for breath. "No, no, no, no, no. This isn't right, it can't be..."

Pansy and Margaret seemed to notice her. Melvin was facing them both and wasn't aware of his surroundings as he kept his nose in a book.

"This is horrible! I'm not gay!" The redhead put on her best fake smile and walked up to the pair. "I've got to do something about this!" She was muttering to herself without breaking her smile as she moved up behind Melvin and put her hands on the back of the chair he was using. "Hi."

"Are you all right?" asked Pansy in confusion.

Margaret didn't say anything, but looked a bit confused by her weirder than normal grin. She looked quite mad a the moment.

"I'm-I'm fine..." She replied as she struggled to regain her composure for a moment.

"Are you sure?" Pansy waved her hand in front of the redhead's eyes.

It seemed to work and she snapped out of it. "No worries. Just had a bit of a conversation with Snape is all."

"Snape? Are you in detention again?" asked Melvin as he looked up from his book.

"Not sure just yet. Could go either way. You know he hates me." The redhead crossed her arms and looked away. She looked cheerful and vacant again.

The trio was used to the face and moved on.

"Did you see the Troll by any chance?" asked Melvin as he poked his nose into a book.

"Naw, let my brother deal with it. I've got enough to worry about on my own." Anna sat down with them and the evening went on as usual.

"Any word on how that panned out?" asked the redhead. She didn't look like she didn't already know.

"Well, there's a dead troll in the hallway now." Pansy gave a small shrug.

OooOOooOO

The Weasley twins were sitting together in the dorms. The other boys around them ignored them as they snickered together with a case of Chocolate Frogs between them. They'd gotten them earlier in a package they'd assumed was from home. A small note warning them to share with each other was enclosed.

"Remember the last time we ate an entire case?" Fred seemed pleased with the memory.

George was unwrapping one as Fred picked one out. They held the small squirming candies and bit into their respective frog at almost the same time.

George spit the chocolate frog back out onto the cardboard case as the ten other frogs all seemed to look on at the broken and whimpering form. It looked like the confection was badly injured and struggling to crawl away.

"What's wrong with me? I'm not good enough for you? You can devour my one true love in front of me, but I'm not delicious enough?! Eat me! Damn you!" It was crying and beating it's one good left front flipper against the cardboard surface. The cards that came with the frogs were all rolling with laughter as the two boys looked on in horror.

"Oh god! I can't watch this anymore! Sheila, I love you!" Another frog jumped towards Fred's horrified mouth. The twins were close to tears they felt so bad. He couldn't close it in time and bit the frog in half as he tried to jerk his mouth shut. The legs fell back down and twitched a few times. Chocolate syrup was dripping down his chin.

"Noo! Larry!" George was targeted by the next of the suicidal frogs. They were crawling from the box and onto the boy's robes as they started making dives at their mouths, screaming and lamenting their fallen loved ones as they did so.

OooOOooOO

About a week and a half later, Anna was sitting at breakfast with a sort of lazy dead eyed stare out the windows. She wasn't in the best of moods, but it wasn't a bad one either.

"That was the most amazing prank we've ever seen!" George had wide eyes as he looked down at the redhead with his brother beside him. They both seemed rather timid and the girl was looking up at them in surprise, having just noticed their approach.

"It must have taken weeks!" agreed Fred.

"Chocolate Frog forgeries aren't that hard to do, but the voices!" George was holding her left shoulder, while Fred clamped down on her right. "That must have been tough. I mean, that's some serious charm work."

"Pure genius!" Fred nodded in agreement.

"Just one..." started George.

"...question though," finished his brother.

"Yes?" she arched her eyebrow a bit and smirked a little. She was feeling a little smug, and didn't trust them.

"How did you manage to make the ghosts? They've been following us for more than a week!" George and Fred were both leaning down beside her ears and gripping her shoulders. They both turned their eyes down to the ground and shuddered at the little silent doe eyed see through frog spirits before looking back at her again.

"When was the last time you washed your faces?" The girl looked a little disgusted.

"Huh?" was the simultaneous reply. They both backed away a bit.

"It's all potions based. No charms. The voices and ghosts are the result of a small vapor that's released when you bite down on the frogs. Only you can see them. The death throes are just a slight modification of the standard spell used to animate the frogs. As for the ghosts, they'll go away when you wash your faces."

Both boys turned red and started to shuffle away.

"We'll be getting you back for that, just so you know." George gave her a small, but harmless glare.

OooOOooOO

Anna was sitting at the tiny Potions Lab in Slytherin dorms. She was hovering about on a small stool watching whatever it was she was making. Severus Snape was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed watching the girl. She had yet to notice him and was focused on the task at hand. Her face was a huge grin and several books on potions and medicine were scattered about the workspace a safe distance from any open flames she was using. There were a few. It was irritating to find out the girl wasn't lying about enjoying Potions. Her eyes were a mad wild stare, and her smile was a little disturbing as she worked on her concoction.

He was also aware that she wouldn't be learning about some of the tools she was using for some years at Hogwarts. Almost every time he saw her walking through the halls, she was holding a different Potions book from the library in her arms. She had been checking them out on a regular basis throughout the year, often exchanging two or three in a day. He'd never seen her reading them, but there was at least one in her arms almost every time he saw her. "Potter." He walked into the room and made his presence known to her. She didn't look surprised and continued working as she turned her head to look at him.

"Hello, Professor." She didn't look upset by his presence.

"Might I ask what you're making? Seems a bit advanced for a first year student. I should remind you that your options are limited about what you can make here." He narrowed his eyes and awaited an answer.

"Snake Anti-venom." The girl looked at a small bottle with a clear liquid inside. She lifted a cloth of what appeared to be a covered box in the corner, revealing a caged cobra. "He's just the cutest isn't he?" she almost squeaked.

"Quite," replied Snape as he glared down at it. "First years aren't allowed to handle this kind of ingredient, Potter."

"I'm permitted because I'm a Parselmouth. I looked it up and my gift allows me access to this type of ingredient despite it normally being forbidden for first years. He's not dangerous. He's adorable." She bent down and hissed at the creature. It's head moved up and kissed her cheek between the wires on the cage. She popped the latch open and stroked it a few times before pulling her arm back out and closing it back. "I've got a fat mouse for him when we're finished."

Snape growled a little at the display, he wasn't surprised though. "I see. Might I ask what prompted this, particular, experiment?"

"Well, I've gone through every potions book in the school. I noticed something a bit odd." She was beaming with a wild eyed cheer as she talked about it. The girl was rubbing her hands together and trying to keep herself from laughing while she spoke.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Well, I've only got what's in school to go on, but it doesn't seem like anyone's tried to make an anti-venom for certain magical afflictions." She was going to make him ask and enjoy it. "Heh. I'm such a genius."

"What's that?" Growled the man. He was past looking for something to punish her for, but not willing to tolerate her presence for much longer. He could do little besides remove the snake himself and berate her. It was more trouble than it was worth, as she appeared to have gotten what she needed already from the animal.

She continued to work adjusting the flame under a glass ambelic while her pen worked on notes about what she was doing by herself. "Vampires and Werewolves. I've got to learn the basics of Anti-venom before I can try."

"You'll find acquiring ingredients difficult." Snape snorted in amusement. "Vampires turn to dust when they die, and Werewolves revert back to human form."

"Yes. I think that's why no one has bothered with it before. I've seen pictures of blood test on victims before though. There's nothing in the way of an autopsy or thorough examination. Being close to them like that when they're alive is too dangerous."

"Vampires aren't living creatures." Snape was starting to lose interest.

"Aren't they? I wonder? At any rate, the blood of the victims does differ after infection. To put it simply, it's probably in the saliva, or some sort of gland in the mouth, as it requires a bite. Otherwise just getting mauled by one would be enough to change someone. Despite being magical in nature it's a toxin of some kind. Something that acts like a virus."

The man said nothing as he seemed to think about it. "A very wild theory." He didn't seem impressed.

She didn't seem concerned. "Well, I'm not worried about finding ingredients until I get this right. It's not exactly high on my priorities anyway. I'm in no hurry. I just want to know how to do this already if I ever happen to get my hands on a suitable sample to try it out with anyway. I've made six batches and they're still a little off somehow. I think I was overheating the venom a little. I'll probably be at this a while, I've got a few other things I want to tweak before I settle in and make a few batches more to be sure. I'll get it done though. After all, I'm the Greatest Potions Genius in the Universe."

Snape was about to speak up when something so odd happened that he found himself unable to speak.

Two small puppets appeared on her shoulders, both looking like tiny crude versions of her, each in a miniature Hogwarts uniform.

"Anna, you're the greatest!" chimed one of them in a high pitched voice.

"Anna, you're the best!" agreed the other.

"Anna! Anna! Anna!" they both cheered together. "Yeah!"

Snape looked down at her in what appeared like disgust before walking away without another word.

"Back to work then!" she cried as she pointed her finger into the air and sat down on the stool again. It floated a few inches off the ground and moved her about so she could watch as the tools worked themselves. "I'm sure Remus won't mind being my guinea pig."

OooOOooOO

A short time later, Anna Potter was in her bed looking at the ceiling. It had been a few days since the incident on Halloween. She didn't look worried, in fact, she looked a little relieved. What she'd discovered was also a little disturbing.

Her eyes weren't normal anymore. The fact that she could even see her hand in front of her face in the darkest corner of the room was proof enough of that. Certain types of movement attracted her focus and attention now. If she had been sitting up, every time one of the girls in the room moved under her sheets, her focus would latch onto it. She picked up on slow subtle movements a little easier as well. She wasn't looking at them in a sexual way, but rather as a snake looks at something that might taste good with further investigation. The irony in that statement didn't escape her and she sighed a little as she thought to herself. "I still miss my balls. Being a girl is annoying."

She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes as her mood had become soured by her train of thought. She knew just what would perk her up. "Time for a little fun."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep. Sleeping will do that to anyone. She somehow became aware she was in an odd position, and wasn't quite certain what had happened to bring her to this point. She was wearing her bladed gloves, but her wrist were thin and her skin smooth. "Wha?"

She looked down and saw a pair of good sized breasts on her chest. "No way. I'm too athletic." She rolled her eyes and grumbled with a bit of venom in her voice. She was also wearing a rather flimsy looking gown. It was white and looked almost like a nightgown but a bit fancier. All around her was a fancy garden filled with marble archways walls and pottery around a large fountain. Everything white was far too bright and made it difficult to see anything clearly. She glanced around and saw decorative hedgerows and yellow and pink flowers. "Ugh. What's next, a friggin Unicorn?" She had a feeling she was in someone else's dream but something felt off this time.

She felt hands on her from behind and froze for a moment. A pair of arms with blinding white sleeves wrapped around her as she stared at the side of someone's jaw over her shoulder. It was a man and she could see very light stubble on his cheek. He turned her around, but she couldn't see him because his clothes were pure white. She couldn't squint her eyes or shield herself from the light either.

It was starting to suck a whole lot, because she couldn't stop herself from smiling at the figure. "No! Don't do it! I'd rather die!" She tried to stab the dream man in the belly, but her hand felt heavy and she couldn't lift her arm enough.

He planted his lips on hers and her body relaxed. She just melted into his arms and sat there not moving. "Hey, cut it..." He was getting fuzzy and she was feeling very warm. "Noooooooo!" She would have been screaming it out loud if not for his tongue.

The redhead was on her feet on top of her bed, rising like some sort of vampire from the sheets. Her eyes were wide and wild. She was gasping for breath, and sweat was dripping off the end of her nose as she looked around in an alarmed and alert state.

Pansy and Margaret were looking up at her with wide eyes from the floor in front of her. Each looked like they had landed on their rears when she shot upright.

"Y-you were having a nightmare." Pansy put her hands up on the end of the bed frame and pulled herself up a bit closer.

"Finally," grumbled one of the nearby girls.

"Did you have a bad dream, Potter?" sneered another. A chorus of giggles floated about the room for a moment as the redhead relaxed and looked down at her friends.

"Yeah. It kind of sucked. Just before I woke up, he told me to tell you he'll be seeing you when you fall asleep again." Anna glanced over at the unfortunate girl.

"Oooooooh!" chimed several of the girls in the room in mock horror. There were still a few undisturbed by the commotion.

"Tart," muttered the offended girl as she rolled over to go back to sleep again.

"Sociopath," replied the redhead as she did the same. She lifted her head to look at her friends before settling in. "Thanks guys."

The two girls nodded and shuffled back to their own beds. Neither one looked like they would last long once they hit the sheets again.

OooOOooOO

Melvin almost hit his back against the table as he turned from his plate at dinner. He was sitting with Anna, Pansy, and Margaret as always. The Friday afternoon was a standing open practice. More and more students were taking advantage. They were packing in as many as two hundred students by their third practice. There were around twenty girls standing around him from several houses. Pansy and Anna both had smirks on their faces. Margaret looked irate, Melvin's jaw was hanging a bit, his eyes were wide, and the corner of his lip turned up in a rather horrified looking attempt at a smile. "Um, yes?"

"We think you're really awesome!"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Can we get your autograph?"

"I don't have any paper, would you sign my bra?"

The raven haired boy made a small choking sound as he stood up a bit to peer at Harry's table. He only had maybe twenty three girls around him. Harry had about fifty, and most of the seats around him were occupied by girls. "Oh god." He slumped down and turned back to face the girls.

"What? You don't want to sign her bra?" asked the redhead as she took a sip from her cup. Margaret was glaring at her.

"Shut up! What should I do?" He looked angry, but also like he wanted some sort of direction.

"I've got a pen!" chimed Pansy with a grin on her face. She shoved it into his cheek a bit and he grabbed it.

"Thank you so much." He didn't look like he meant it. "Look. I'm not signing any underwear, but I'm hungry. I'll sign anything you can hand me without undressing. How's that?"

The group squeaked with excitement.

Anna arched her eyebrow, she was impressed.

OooOOooOO

"You want him to sign what?" Ron's jaw was open and his face red. Harry's cheeks were a bit flushed and he looked like a dragon had cornered him.

"You're a girl. What should I do?" Harry was leaning in towards Hermione. Ron was the only boy near the group, both males looked worried and were getting dirty looks from some of the older boys.

"I dunno. I'm starting to think I wouldn't mind it if you signed my bra though." Hermione shrugged and gave a small sigh.

"Oh, that'd be a big help." Ron frowned at her, then back at the other boy again. "Maybe you should? I can't eat with all of them staring at us. It's weird."

"That's weird?" Harry's eyes went wide. He looked back at the girls with a nervous smile on his face as he hunched down a bit lower."Look, I'm glad you liked the songs and all..."

"They were amazing!"

"I love you!"

"It made me cry!"

A wide variation of a few similar ideas fluttered about the crowd of girls for a moment.

"Now what?" asked Ron.

"I-I have no idea." Harry was at a complete loss and shrank a bit more under the adoration of a good portion of the school's girls. It was disturbing, most of them weren't interested more than a bit. A few were too interested, a few out of fifty or so was a big number.

"Hey! You're crowding him all right! Let him eat in peace would you?!" Hermione shouted over to the lot of them. "Take off for a while would ya? He'll be here all year."

None of the girls looked that happy with her, but they dispersed in a lazy manner from hovering around the boy.

"Thanks." Harry looked relieved. The girls sitting around them all looked more satisfied than they should, Hermione included.

"Finally, I'm starving. I almost thought they were going to eat you for a moment there." Ron started in on his plate and looked pleased with the girl beside him. "Thanks is right."

The guitarist's head snapped up to stare at the redheaded boy for a moment. "It almost felt that way too, scary huh?" He looked at Hermione. "Please stop that, this is bad enough with just them."

She shrugged and poked at her meal with her fork. "Sorry." She didn't seem disappointed much.

OooOOooOO

It was a lazy evening in the middle of the week. Classes had ended, and students milled about the halls just before the evening meal was scheduled. The Potter twins had about an hour before they were required to return to the Great Hall. They were lying on their backs looking up at the clouds in the early evening sky in the moonlight. They were in the soft grass near an entrance to the school.

"Harry? What are you thinking about?" said Anna with a small sigh.

"Nothing," replied the boy with a shrug.

"Wish I could do that," replied the girl with a faint sigh. "At least it's not boring here."

"I'll say," agreed her brother. He had a grin on his face, she could tell by his tone.

She just stared up and kept watching the stars appear as the sky grew darker. She was still feeling a bit gloomy. She'd expected she might encounter a few 'problems' after being stuck a girl over the next few years. She wasn't expecting her hormones to hit her in the chest like a sledge hammer either.

"What's with you? You're in a rotten mood." Her brother was still watching the stars and shifted his glasses a bit after they slipped when he spoke. "You don't like it here? You've been getting into trouble since we got here."

"No. That's fun. This is...girl stuff I suppose. I'm just feeling weird lately."

"Lately?" he replied in a light jab.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha." she replied in a dry tone. "You've been quiet since Halloween."

"Quiet?! You've got me getting chased around the school by a pack of ravenous, vicious, bloodthirsty, girls." He gave a heavy sigh and squeezed his eyes shut as he thought about it. "There's about fifty of them."

"I'm more interested in seeing how you manage to dodge the more subtle ones." Anna's mood had gone up, but Harry's had gone down a bit.

"Oh, Ha ha." He paused and sat up to look at her. "Wait. What do you mean anyway?"

"You'll see." She was still staring at the stars with a cheerful and satisfied looking smirk on her face. "Just don't let it go to your head. She might break you if you do."

Harry was scowling at her. "Who?"

"I'm not sure." The redhead gave a small shrug.

Harry's frown faded. "How much do you know about that anyway?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a very good secret would it?" she replied as she turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him for a moment.

"Fine. Be that way." He seemed to lose interest and plopped back on the ground as peaceful as before.

She settled in a little more with her eyes becoming a bit lazy. "If I told you, you might get overconfident, and screw it up."

Harry cocked his head a bit as he thought about it. "Oh. I guess I don't really want to know."

OooOOooOO

TBC...


	10. Chapter 10

A matter of force.

Part 10

"We will rock you." or "Episode 2: Attack of the Bunnies."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sitting in the early morning dew. He was near Hagrid's home, on a tree stump with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. Harry's practice wasn't always combat training. On occasion, they would separate for personal training and meditation. Morning work outs allowed them considerable access to the grounds. The fields and the area around the lake were open for personal physical training in the mornings should students desire it. The lake had about ten older students who would take a few laps around it in the mornings.

He didn't mind a bit of work to keep himself fit, but he liked relaxing, being at peace, connecting with the universe. He was in a deep state of meditation, feeling the energy of the world around him move. He could almost hear it's passing and see it around him.

He opened his eyes and looked up at the two creatures standing before him. He'd never seen a centaur before, but two of them were looking on from about ten feet away just outside the forest.

"He speaks to the stars." The lighter of the two creatures had a deep and somewhat surprised tone.

"In a manner." Harry nodded to the creatures and looked over to them. "Hello." The boy seemed pleased to meet them.

The one who spoke up first nodded once. "I am Ronan, this is Bane."

"I'm Harry Potter." They were interesting creatures and kept looking skyward.

"Venus, its light is dim today," said the one who had greeted him.

"Venus, its light is dim today," repeated the other.

The boy blinked and scratched his head. "I guess it is." With a small shrug he went back to his meditation. They seemed uninterested in him already. "Saturn has been pretty active today. A comet passed through one of the rings a few days ago and things are still settling."

"Saturn did appear...active." The second Centaur spoke up. It looked much wilder than it's companion. It had seen the change in the planet a few days ago, but it had faded from his eyes and appeared as before now.

"It should be settled tomorrow." The boy stood up and stretched his back out a little. "Well, I've got class." He turned and started walking back towards the school. He'd found Astronomy much more interesting than he'd thought he would when he'd heard about it on his arrival. It was a rather pleasant surprise on his part.

OooOOooOO

Pansy was looking up at Cho Chang with a small frown on her face. "Huh?" She was leaning against a wall in the hall alone thinking to herself. It wasn't about much, she'd made very different friends than she'd expected. Her old group wouldn't speak to her without insulting her, and how little she'd thought about it had come as a bit of a surprise.

The Asian girl looked a little irate. "She already stole Cedric. Leave George alone."

Pansy cocked her eyebrow and looked confused. "That Weasley boy?" She'd missed what the conversation was supposed to be about. Out of nowhere she had an irate girl speaking to her about something. "What are you on about? I was a little zoned out." She pushed herself onto her feet and faced the girl down.

"I know she's been hanging around with my boyfriend. Cedric doesn't look my way anymore. I wouldn't know who has his attention now. It's no one in my house, I'll tell you that." The dark haired girl turned her nose up a little. It was obvious she thought she knew who it was.

"Cedric Diggory has a crush on Anna?" The blond girl's eyes went a little wide and she smiled a little. "Really? I mean, are you sure?"

This caught the smaller girl off guard. Her frown hardened a little, but her tone died a bit. "Don't change the subject! I'm not gonna let her get her claws into my George! She needs to stay away from him."

"Well, I don't know if there's much to be done. They've started some sort of prank war. I don't think either side is going to back down." Pansy shrugged. "I'm not about to stop her. The last one got me with her." She glared at the wall a little as her jaw hardened.

"What?" Cho looked confused, and unsure of how upset she was.

"They put chocolate toilet seats in the girl's lav. Do you have any idea how hard it is to wipe melted chocolate off your rear with just tissue? I hope she routs them good next round." The Slytherin girl didn't look very angry about it.

"I'm watching her." Cho curled her lip a little. "I'm not giving up without a fight!"

OooOOooOO

In a twisted sort of irony, only a few doors down the hall, Anna was standing with Cedric and Melvin.

"That was a good show this Friday by the way." Cedric frowned down at the girl. His hair was still a little green at the roots. The Weasley brothers had managed to turn his hair into grass. "I've done as you asked by the way. I can't believe they blamed me for you." He seemed a little annoyed, but in good spirits.

"I can't believe you made us use Muggle tools for this." Melvin was stuffing a screw driver and a pair of pliers into his pocket.

"Well, I don't know any enchantments, do you?" She shrugged at him and looked over to Cedric. "Well, good luck with that potion for your hair. I looked up what's in it. Don't."

His thin smile faltered for a moment. "Thanks."

"If you ever need anything installed in the girls room." Melvin looked quite serious.

"I'd do it myself. I can think of an excuse to be in there, you can't." She poked him in the chest with her fingers before grabbing his shirt. "What you do on your own time is your business. Drag me into it, on any level, and I will fry you."

The boy nodded and looked away from her. "Like I'd want to see that anyway."

The Hufflepuff student looked at them and sighed. "I like you and all, but I'm only willing to go so far with stuff like this. I just want to pay them back for what they did to me."

"Well." Anna's face scrunched up a little as her gaze seemed to move off for a moment. She could smell the boy in front of her, not an unpleasant odor, but she found herself liking it much more than she was comfortable with. "Thanks for the help. Don't be a stranger." She shook his hand, but her thoughts were contrary. He hadn't given her a reason to avoid him, and was friendly when she met him. She also didn't want to grow very attached to him, as she wasn't sure how viable or worthwhile saving his skin might be in the future. "Please leave me alone. You're going to die! I think," she thought to herself.

The boy noticed she'd become odd, but that was pretty normal for her. "Well, I'm off." He turned away to go about his own business, looking over his shoulder at them for a moment before turning away to navigate the hall.

"You need anything else?" Melvin gave her a shrug as he looked on. He put on his sunglasses and grinned.

"Just go. You're going to indulge yourself right out of the breeding circle if you keep this up." She narrowed her eyes at him a little and waved her hand at him. "If your sister asks me for help, I'm going to do it."

"I kind of doubt that, but thanks for the warning." He walked away at a lazy pace with his hands in his pockets whistling to himself. Melvin wasn't a complete moron. He'd seen the future, and he was going to be a bit beyond wealthy. There would be plenty of willing girls in his future. Margaret wouldn't ask the redhead for help if it killed her. Rock kicked ass.

"Better be sure." Anna replied as she walked by him towards the dorms.

OooOOooOO

After being interrupted during a lazy stroll between classes, Harry Potter was looking at a rather stunned expression on Draco Malfoy's face. "Do you want to race or something?" They were standing a few dozen feet away from one of the doors that led into the school on the grass. Students passed around them with a bit of clearance, in various states of disinterest in the event.

"What?" sputtered the blond boy as he stared at him. Crabbe and Goyle had lost quite a bit of their intimidation factor on both Ron and Hermione. The pair of Gryffindor was grinning at each other at Harry's response.

"I dunno, anything competitive. You seem interested in starting some sort of rivalry with me. Sounds like it might be a bit of fun. We could race brooms on the Quidditch Pitch, or maybe have a footrace or something."

"I'm not trying to be your friend, Potter." The boy was snarling, and stepped towards him to show how unafraid he was.

"Yes. I'd noticed that. You'd make a pretty good rival really." Harry seemed unconcerned with Malfoy's anger. "You've asked me to duel, but that would get us both in trouble. My sister has Quidditch in her pocket by now. I don't doubt her ability to con her way in." The boy scratched at his scar as he seemed to think. "We could see who can make the biggest explosion in the pond with their wand?"

Malfoy seemed confused and angry at the same time. "What are you babbling about?"

"You always seem so angry when you talk to anyone not in your house. Yet you do it so often." Harry had enough of his attention that the blond ignored the snickers coming from behind the boy he hated most. "You're the one always trying to get me into some sort of competition. You've been trying to goad me into a fight since we met pretty much. What is it you're so interested in proving anyway?"

"I'm better than you, freak. You'll be destroyed, just like your Mudblood mother. Things will be the way they should be. Scum like her won't be welcome here." He jerked his nose towards Hermione and gave an evil grin.

Hermione and Ron were both staring at him with wide eyes and slacked jaws, unable to believe what he was saying to them. Harry didn't seem to have heard him. "I don't see what good it will do you. I mean, Voldemort is already dead. I've just got to hunt down the little pieces of him left over and destroy them. Anna knows more than she lets on about that, but she's not saying anything yet. I hope you make it through all right. Siding with him is more dangerous than you'd think. It will be a long, hard road for you, should you choose it. Though it may not seem so at first." Ron and Hermione weren't sure what to do, it almost looked like Harry was enjoying the conversation. He looked like he was offering advice to the blond boy as a friend.

"Stop grinning like you've got the secret of happiness, fool. I'm not so stupid as to not think you're not angry about the truth." Malfoy shifted away as if he was afraid Harry might touch him.

"I do have the secret to happiness." The boy who lived gave Malfoy a gentle, almost friendly, slap on the shoulder. "Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and listen to the lamentations of their women." The pair behind Harry looked at each other. Ron shrugged, and Hermione seemed preoccupied with being upset at Malfoy. They were both a bit surprised to hear something like that from him.

The Gryffindor trio walked away from him, Crabbe and Goyle stood in silence behind Draco. He was shaking a little as he stood with jaw hanging a bit. He seemed to think about it for a moment and gave a cruel and forced laugh. His eyes were twitching a bit, and his bodyguards forced themselves to laugh with him. Without another word he turned and walked away.

"I want to slug him!" Ron was angry as he glared behind him to look at the young boy's back as he walked away from them. "I can't believe he'd run his mouth like that!"

Hermione was silent and giving Harry an odd, uncomfortable frown. "He could do with some crushing I'd say.'

"I don't like Malfory, but he's not an enemy that I know of. He might learn." Harry gave a small shrug. "You shouldn't give up hope just yet. We're still kids you know."

"I wonder sometimes." The girl shifted her hair and gave a small sigh. "We should have done something, called him a name maybe? Given him a good slug in the gut! Anything."

"Why?" The brunette boy looked over at her in genuine confusion. "We'd still be dealing with it if I had."

Ron frowned at him. "He's such a jerk that it might be worth the trouble?" He was looking at his own balled up fist, but not in an angry way. He seemed to be thinking about it.

"Right!" agreed the girl.

"I know he's unpleasant, but we should give him the opportunity to do otherwise when it won't hurt us. He might decide to try it one day. I wouldn't depend on it though." Harry gave a small nod. "Giving into anger would only have made things worse with him, and gotten us into trouble. Besides, there's something different about him today. I think that's why he's running his mouth more than usual today. He's feeling smug about something."

"What do you mean? He was as rotten as always." Ron frowned at him a bit and seemed to think it over. "You're right though, he's been worse than awful today."

"I really can't say what it is, but there is something different about his attitude. I'm worried it's not an improvement." Harry was frowning a little, the blond had sullied everyone's mood. "Might just be our little bet. I'm going to have to win that match. I doubt his gloating habits are more pleasant than this."

"You could do something to him. As strong as you are, I bet you could have..." Hermione seemed annoyed that he'd done nothing at all.

"That's exactly why I shouldn't." His reply wasn't forceful, but it was firm. He seemed to relax again as he thought about it, and the faintest hints of his smile were returning to his face.

"What good is it then?" Ron didn't seem upset by the answer. Hermione seemed a little flustered as she turned her gaze away from both of them and narrowed her eyes a bit.

"It's good for killing trolls." He looked over at him and shrugged. "Not very useful for doling out discipline I've got no business giving in the first place. I must be more mindful than you realize. There are a lot of eyes on me since I've come here. I'm not just talking about Hogwarts either. This isn't a war zone, despite my sister's best attempts at making it one."

The girl paused for a step or two before rushing up beside him. She still didn't look pleased. "I guess I understand. Sorry. There's some sort of code you have to follow?"

Harry gave her a small nod. He wasn't in the best mood she'd seen him in,, and she could tell he felt a little bad for her and what Malfoy had said. He cheered up as her own mood lifted a little. It was a little weird to see him feel better at the same time as she did. She looked at the floor as hard as she could as she walked with Ron at her side.

"I wouldn't mind seeing you dunk him in the pond or something with that power of yours." The redheaded boy seemed a little wistful as he thought about it.

"I didn't say I would mind, only that I shouldn't." Harry grinned back at both of them. "Come on, we'll be late for Ron's nap."

"We're going to History of Magic, Harry." Hermione lifted her nose a bit.

Within a few moments, the whole mess was almost forgotten by the three of them.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sitting in Dumbledore's office with a warm smile on his face. He looked like he was enjoying himself, and the old man was pleased to see it.

"Thank you for coming, Harry. I hope I'm not taking you away from important and scholarly matters." The old man looked quite serious, though Harry could tell he wasn't.

"It's a pleasure. I like talking with you." The boy gave a small shrug. Dumbledore noted that despite his cheerfulness, he was very calm and relaxed. He seemed quite peaceful and at ease.

The old man's eyebrows arched. It was a pleasant surprise, and more frank than he'd expected. "Well, thank you, Harry. I have a lot of students, and a little trouble from time to time, but I do not often sit and speak with students this way. I should like too, but my position requires I keep, some distance. I'm afraid you are a rather unique student here at Hogwarts. I dare say we've never had students like your sister and yourself."

"The Jedi thing?" Harry shrugged a little and seemed unconcerned with speaking of it.

"Well, yes and no. I'm considering putting your sister in a more advanced Potions class next year already. We've not arrived at the Christmas break, and I feel she might be comfortable in a third year class as it is. No need to hurry with that, she'll be back next year I think. Her aptitude has not gone unnoticed. She troubles me at times, her heart is strong, but there is something lurking beneath those intentions that makes me...curious. Your abilities make you something of a challenge. I'd like to understand more of this 'Force' you speak of."

"Nervous, not curious." Harry thought to himself. He nodded and hung his head a little. "She does worry me a little bit from time to time, but she always comes through in the end." His reply was firm and honest. "I'm keeping an eye on her myself, when I can. I'm not entirely sure, but I think she often considers what she thinks is the most fun way to do something, as opposed to the best way."

"I see. I don't want you to think I have her under suspicion. I'm more curious about what it is she taught you. I wish to have a better understanding of it. When did your training begin?"

The boy looked up at him with the same warm grin. "When we got to the Dursleys. As far back as I can remember."

"Oh? Might I ask how? You were very young." The old man couldn't not believe the boy after what he'd seen. Harry seemed pleased to be speaking of it to him. He'd jumped on the subject with a bit of enthusiasm.

"Do you have a while? Anna told me about her past life. It explains a lot about what a Jedi is. Pretty good story too." The old man could tell Harry wanted to tell it.

"Really?" The old man was glad he was already sitting down and leaned against his forearms on his desk. "Please, go on."

"Well, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."

OooOOooOO

Fred and George Weasley were in the Gryffindor dorms. They were lying on a set of beds that were side by side, each with a small bottle of ointment that they were in the process of applying to their exposed rear. Each had their pants pulled down enough to allow it.

"I thought chocolate toilet seats were pretty cool." Fred seemed close to pleased about it.

"Who could have know she'd top it?" agreed George with his grin widening.

"Sun Crystal toilet seats?"

"Brilliant."

The pair sighed a bit and squirted a bit more of the ointment into their palms at the same time. "You know, we're gonna have to ask her sooner or later. We can't let this stuff go just because we didn't think of it." Fred looked over at his brother.

"It would be better for the business wouldn't it? She's going to be a rock star after all." His brother nodded with a somewhat serious look crossing his face. "To think, we'll be able to profit from this little war."

"Best to keep it going then, isn't it?"

"Right. Now what?"

OooOOooOO

"You had my brother install what in the boy's room?" Margaret didn't look upset by it, she was trying to hide a bit of laughter. They were leaning against the wall outside the common area away from the other students, and talking.

"Yeah. Cedric helped out, I'm sure you two noticed his head yesterday." The redhead rolled her eyes a little.

Pansy was still laughing from when she'd first heard. The mention of the name caught her attention and she spoke up. "Cho Chang says he's got a crush on you. She thinks you're trying to steal George away from her."

Anna frowned a little. "That girl is paranoid." She gave a small sigh and paused. "Wait, George?"

"Well, he did save her life and all." The blond girl shrugged.

"I've seen them together, he always looks nervous." Margaret had the best ear of the group. She kept up with the goings on of the school and could keep up with the social web of school relations and politics. "Word is they've been together a whole week."

Pansy looked interested, Anna did as well, but in a more disgusted manner. "Like a week is an excessive amount of time."

The blond shrugged. "It is, for first years."

"Cedric Diggory does not have a crush on me. I'd know if he did." The redhead looked out of the corner of her eye at them as she inspected her nails. "I'm empathic remember?"

The blond looked a little disappointed. "Really? Does anyone have a crush on any of us?" She perked up as she thought about it.

"Ask Harry." The redhead frowned a bit and turned her head away from them both. Margaret looked just as interested in an answer as Pansy.

The raven haired girl seemed a little miffed. "Harry? Why not just tell us yourself?"

"Yeah." Pansy didn't look upset, but interested in a reason.

"Look. I can do it for me, but only to what I'm paying attention to. Harry can do it with a room full of people. It's automatic with him. If you must know, ask him. I can't promise he'll give you the answer you want either." The redhead wasn't looking at either of them and had her arms crossed as she looked down the hall.

"Oh." The blond girl gave a small shrug. "You do know something though."

"Fine. Nevill Longbottom." She turned to look at Pansy.

"What?" The girl's eyes went wide.

Margaret's lips turned up as her nose rose a bit. "I thought you said you couldn't."

"No. I said I'm not as good at it as my brother is. Nevill thinks Pansy is cute. There may be others, I don't know. It doesn't draw my attention much."

"Gross!" squeaked the blond as she shuddered a little.

"Don't worry. It's not strong. He's just noticed you because of me." Anna patted her shoulder.

"What?" Pansy froze.

"Well, that didn't sound the way I wanted." The redhead blushed. "It was that mess on the Pitch. He was looking back at me because I was nice to him, and noticed you with me. Like I said, it depends on how much I'm paying attention to someone."

Margaret and Pansy both looked a little relieved as the topic moved on.

OooOOooOO

"I see." Dumbledore was sitting back in his chair. Harry had just finished telling him about the Battle of Endor. There were no Ewoks in Anna's Star Wars, it was a planet full of Wookies. It had taken almost two hours for the boy to relate the whole story.

The boy was pleased with himself. "Get fifty blood thirsty girls after me will you..." It was a guilty pleasure, but he needed to tell Dumbledore about Vader. He felt the man deserved to know what he had in his school. Anna did give him a scare from time to time. He could also see that their power was causing a bit of confusion and distress in some.

"Jedi you say?" Dumbledore was looking at the boy with a rather vacant expression. "Hmmmm."

"Well, I am. Anna's a Sith still."

"What?" The old man's lips turned into a small frown.

"Well, she stopped being evil, but she's not a Jedi." The boy nodded.

"Are you, sure, of that, Harry?" The old man was leaning back in his chair and regarding him in a careful manner as he stroked his beard.

"Yeah." The reply was instant and genuine. "If she was, she wouldn't have trained me this way. We've seen a future we both want."

The old man felt a little better, to his surprise. "This is a true story you say?"

"Yeah. It works, so I don't see how it couldn't be." Harry still seemed as relaxed and into the conversation as when he first arrived. "Anna raised me, not the Dursleys. She's older than she looks. She said she woke up when Voldemort tried to kill us. It's probably why she can see the future, but she hasn't mentioned it."

Dumbledore looked very thoughtful. "I see. I must say, I am rather surprised at how forward you are with something like this, Harry."

"You're Headmaster, you have a right to know. I trust my sister, but she needs to be watched. She's very wise, but not often as mindful of consequence for some odd reason." The boy seemed sure of himself.

Dumbledore was sitting back in his chair and looking off into space a little. The man had a lot to think about. He wasn't sure he wanted to speak with her until he'd had a bit to mull over it all. "What do you make of this 'Force'?"

"We are luminous beings, Professor, not this crude matter." The Potter boy pinched his own arm a little. "The Jedi were pretty wise. I've found no fault with any of the teachings I've learned."

"Fascinating. You say it is not magic?" The old man was taking everything in.

"No. It's different. Hogwarts history spans thousands of years. The Jedi spanned across a galaxy, for millenia. It's much older than magic."

"Magic is often described in a similar manner." The Headmaster was stroking his beard and nodded a little. "Old magic." He turned the phrase over in his mind for a moment. It was something he'd considered when thinking about the pair before. Harry's words brought it forward again.

"Magic is only a part of it. I can feel a difference." The boy wasn't arguing his point, but stating something. "Anna's not the only one who can see things. I see things before they happen, but only just before. It makes my reflexes seem almost super human. Sometimes I can see somewhere I'm not, something going on. I can feel the force change when something is amiss. It guides me. My life, is to follow the will of the Force."

That got the old man's attention as he lowered his chin a bit and thought about it. "It controls you?"

"Partially, but it also obeys my commands." The boy gave a thoughtful looking nod.

"Fascinating." The old man was looking at the boy. There were times he could see the eleven year old boy, and there were other times when he seemed much wiser than he should for his age. Whatever it was, the girl had trained him well. "You are quite active. I can think of only a few who have filled their schedules here as quickly as you and your sister."

"I know. I'm enjoying it anyway." He shrugged. "I've got plenty to keep me busy."

The old man gave a small nod. "Speaking of which, I do believe it is nearing the end of the evening. Thank you for this talk, Harry. It was very insightful."

"Sure thing Professor." The boy hopped off his chair and moved towards the entrance.

Dumbledore slumped down in his seat. He'd seen no reason to disbelieve Harry. The boy would be one to watch, but the redhead. He had no idea what to do about her. He knew he was going to have to speak to her, if only to hear her side of things. Past lives were not new to the Wizarding world, but nothing like this had ever occurred before. He couldn't shake the feeling it was either the beginning of something very great, or very terrible. He had no idea which.

OooOOooOO

"Anna, what's this?" Pansy Parkinson, and Margaret Boggs both walked into her domain, her dark throne. The Potions lab at the top of the tower. No one used it in the later evenings but her. Several cages covered in tarps rattled on the table in front of her. She was just finishing up injecting something into the water bottles on the side of the rather large table top cages. They moved a little from time to time, but never in huge jarring motions. It was almost like the cages were twitching and shaking about.

The girl turned to look at them with a mad eyed smile. "Roadies."

"What?" Pansy looked confused.

"Roadies?" Margaret frowned a little. "Do you know how much trouble you'll be in if you're caught brewing up mutants?"

"None. I'm allowed to make up to four personal minions. It's in the rule book. I'm given considerable freedom on the methods I choose to do so as well." The redhead was quite pleased with it. "I've been working on them for a while now, they've grown quite a bit!"

The pair behind her looked rather stunned.

"Are you sure about that?" Pansy looked like she doubted it was true.

"Yeah." Anna grinned at her. "I'm only allowed to try once."

"Maybe it would be best to wait a bit then?" Margaret offered.

The redhead turned to look at her. "It's a little late. Don't worry, after all, I am the Greatest Potion's Genius in the Universe!" Confetti flew from two small poppers as two small puppets appeared on her shoulders.

"Anna, you're the best!" cried the one on the left.

"Anna, you're so awesome!" agreed the one on the right.

Pansy and Margaret stood in slack jawed, dumbstruck, shock at the force of Anna's two puppets.

"Yeeeeeaaaahhhhhh! Anna!" A bit of confetti fluttered about as the dolls tossed it from her shoulders.

"Oh my god!" cried Pansy.

"You know, I have to be here. You could go back to the winning side, if you wanted." Margaret looked at Pansy with her eye twitching a bit.

The blond girl ignored her. "Those are so cute! Did you make them? Wow!"

"Yes, I am pretty awesome." The smallest girl had her chest thrust out and her nose in the air.

"It's going to your head." Margaret was frowning at them both.

"Well, anyway. I'm done here for the night." She stood up and walked out of the room with the girls trailing behind her.

"Are you sure about that rule?" Margaret pressed as she walked out the door after the redhead.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." The girl seemed to brush almost everything aside.

OooOOooOO

It was around eleven o'clock. Almost the whole school was packed into the Quidditch stands. Harry's friends had made a large banner with the words 'Potter for President' written across it in large letters. There was also a large Gryffindor lion painted on it. Harry had yet to see it, as he was still in the locker room with the rest of the team.

Oliver Wood cleared his throat as they finished changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes. "Okay men."

"And women," added Chaser Angelina Johnson.

"Actually, when speaking to a mixed group like this, masculine pronouns are correct." Harry pushed his glasses up his nose and shrank back as everyone looked at him. His broom was behind his back and he put his eyes to the ground. "Sorry."

"This is it!" continued Wood.

"The big one!" said Fred Weasley.

"The one we've all been waiting for," added George.

"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred leaned in towards Harry a bit. "We were on the team last year."

"Shut up you two. This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win, I know it." He was glaring at them all, Harry especially, as if to say, "Or else."

"Right. Shall we then?" The youngest member of the team clapped his hands together, his broom still hidden behind him. He followed the rest of his team out the lockers and onto the field.

Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams with her broom in her hand.

Harry walked out onto the Quidditch Field with a wide grin on his face. All the houses were stomping their feet and clapping as the teams walked out onto the field. He could Anna singing from the stands just above the entrance. She had her guitar and a small amplifier. "We will, we will, rock you!" cried most of the crowd in the stands. Every house was into it. The two teams looked rather awed at the display.

Hooch was flustered by the noise and yelled out instructions to the two team captains. Harry noticed her attention on the Slytherin team's captain more than Wood. His name was Marcus Flint, and he wasn't a small boy. He noticed the sign his friends had made, and the noise his sister had kicked up and smiled a bit more.

The young Seeker mounted his broomstick and rose into the air with the rest of the team. Some of the starts were a little shaky, but they seemed to forget about the noise. He pushed his glasses up his nose. Oliver was beaming with confidence, the rest of the team was a ball of nerves. No one had even noticed he wasn't on the Nimbus. It was the best school broom he could find. Flitwick had helped him gain access. He'd showed up for a practice, and was feeling smug, and a little afraid, from the stands.

Slytherin's Seeker, a large older boy like most of his team, glared at him as they circled over the other players as they moved into position to start. His name was Terece Higgs Harry wasn't paying much attention to him and looked around at the stands. Snape was sitting a few seats above and behind Quirrel, and he was glaring down at the boy. He'd noticed his broom. A dark smirk formed on the teacher's lips. Quirrel seemed to be giving the man nervous glances and was almost ignoring the match.

McGonagall was on her feet wondering what the hell he was doing. She had Lee Jordan's shoulders in an uncomfortable grip, but the boy said nothing. It was obvious he'd be hearing about it after the match. He hoped she'd understand.

"I haven't said anything yet, Professor!" Lee relaxed a bit as she released his shoulders.

"Apologies, Jordan. I was distracted." She glanced down at him and then back towards the field again.

"Woah! He wasn't joking! That's a school broom! Is he mad?" Jordan seemed to notice what the woman was looking at.

Most of the children already knew about Harry's broom. Malfoy had been running his mouth as predicted.

Hooch blew her whistle and the match started.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor, what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too..."

"Jordan!"

"Sorry, Professor."

The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall. The woman seemed to be having trouble paying him much attention.

The match started and Harry dove down ten feet and made a sharp upward turn that the other Seeker couldn't duplicate. Finding the Snitch wasn't difficult, catching it could be a bit of a chore. There were other wizards on broomsticks buzzing about their own business in the match. The other Seeker was on his tail. Harry turned again by turning the broom around a hundred and eighty degrees on it's nose. He shot past the speedy Slytherin Seeker, leaving him looking over his shoulder with a rather slacked jaw. He almost rammed one of his own teammates and was forced to dive and pursue the boy who was already on the other side of the field, flying through his other teammates like a humming bird. Gryffindor scored a goal during this and the young boy did a few loops in the middle of the match, missing no less than two attempted fouls by Slytherin in the process.

The boy rubbed at one of the lenses on his glasses and looked back over his shoulder. The Snitch had just been released and it was moving closer to him.

Harry smirked, he'd outmaneuvered the larger boy and left him on the other side of the field away from it. Terence had a faster broom, and seemed more concerned with getting close to him than finding the Snitch. Duping him had been easy, giving him a clear shot at the ball. He reached out with it inches from his fingers, but seemed to almost fall of his broom as he hung by his hands and legs from the stick like a sloth just as two Slytherin Chasers collided over his broom where he had been. The pair had both been braced for impact and remained on their brooms. It had really hurt though, and the paused to nurse their wounds and give each other dirty glares as they finished fighting their brooms out of a spin and into control.

"Amazing! Potter dodges a foul by hanging from his own broomstick! I've never seen anything like it. Quite a showing from the first year Seeker." Jordan had noticed what had happened.

"Oh my!" McGonagall looked like she was about to fall over.

The young wizard glanced over his shoulder and spun the broom upright as he pulled into a climb to avoid another attempted foul, He twisted his broom into a roll to avoid what only looked like an errant Beater swing as he shot past a Slytherin Beater and over the thick of the action. The Slytherin Beaters both smacked the Bludgers up with him, where he was the only target. "Oops." His face was a calm smirk as he stood up on his broom and shot down shifting the weight of his shoulders to dodge the two balls as they swooped in to catch him from opposite directions. Both curved downward and he jumped off his broom to his right as they both shot by where he had been standing at high speed.

"Potter...fell? Oh no! This is..." Jordan was on his feet with McGonagall gripping his shoulder again.

There was a loud gasp within the crowd, but Harry's broom curved in and he took hold and remounted with the grass touching the tips of his shoes. He shot across the pitch and curved into a climb again before tuning back into the thick of the match again. Slytherin was aiming at him more than playing their game, and he had three tails closing up from behind him fast.

"Amazing! Potter...wait. That's not possible...He's caught himself with his own broomstick after jumping off of it." Jordan was rather dumbstruck and had yet to sit down. McGonagall had released him, but he hadn't noticed much in the first place.

The Potter boy glanced over his shoulder and got a cocky grin on his face as he dove towards the pitch again, twisting through other players as he went. The other brooms were faster, but they couldn't turn like the young boy could. A large Slytherin boy almost got hit in the face by an unaware Fred Weasley as he swung at one of the Bludgers, but slammed into his back and bounced away after ducking under the swing causing them both to spin away from each other in a wild manner for a moment.

The whistle blew and the game was paused. Fred was given a free shot at the goal and made his shot and play resumed again.

Harry's three new friends were getting very angry as they moved to tail him again. They had to return to starting positions before the penalty shot. Harry knew where the Snitch was, but the faster brooms made trying to go right to it dangerous. It was fortunate that he had the team Seeker's full attention. He was leading the pack behind him.

The one on the Slytherin Seeker's right shot forward ahead of his team mates as they all continued to gain on Harry. The young boy was fluttering through the match like a butterfly, using the other players to keep the advantage they had in speed and power in check. Angelina blasted by between him and his closest tail, when she'd gone by Harry was gone.

He'd gone into free fall again and regained his control about ten feet over the pitch. He was getting too close to the golden ball and needed to lead the trio away from it. They followed as expected and were shooting behind him along the wall on the opposite end of the field from the Snitch. It was flitting about above the match. He moved towards the middle of the field and looked up for a moment. Without warning he jumped off his broom and skipped high up into the air while catching his rising broom after bouncing up off the ends of, Oliver's, George's, and then Adrian Pucey's, a Slytherin Chasers, passing broomsticks. The riders from both teams were given a jolt by his passing and most gave him a rather annoyed glance that quickly turned into surprise. He hopped onto his broom above the rest of the players as he curved towards the Snitch. None of his tails had realized what had happened fast enough to see him get close to it.

Lee Jordan was stunned into silence. "..."

Harry should have had more than enough time to catch up to the Snitch, but the Beaters had managed to get both Bludgers in close proximity to him again. He hopped up to his feet to avoid getting his nose broken and a large bruise on his rib cage. One passed in front of him, the other between the space between his legs. He sat down again and growled as he noticed the Slytherin Seeker had gotten a bead on the Snitch. He was just over the ground, chasing it across the field towards him. He was about sixty feet in the air. "Well, I can't lose. Oh well."

The Bludgers were the final decision maker for him as they collided and bounced away from each other where his head used to be as he fell away from his broom. It followed just behind him and dove towards the ground. The Snitch was about a foot above the ground, with the Slytherin boy right behind it moving at high speed. Harry was coming down about ten feet away from the path the Snitch was taking. There was no way he was going to catch himself with his broom to make the catch. He would have to bleed speed off of his mount and move out of range to catch himself. His eyes became focused as he looked at the ground and steeled himself.

There was a lot of screaming going on and the entire school was on its feet as he landed in a squatting position on his hands and knees. He reached up to catch his broomstick and stood up. He reached out and plucked the Snitch from the air in a motion that almost looked accidental. He took a moment to regard it and looked around the field. The ball had made a ninety degree turn and passed right in front of the Potter boy. The Slytherin student had built up far too much speed, and had to make a wide turn. He was so surprised at what he'd seen when he'd gotten around that he tumbled from his broom and rolled across the grass for a few feet. He stood up in a hurried and shaky manner in slack jawed confusion. Harry's glasses lifted themselves off the ground and put themselves back onto his face as he paused with a wide grin on his face as he looked at the other Seeker and shrugged. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." The crowd was dead silent.

The referee stood with her jaw hanging down as she stared at the calm and cheerful boy as he walked up to her with the Snitch in his hand. "The game is over now, right?"

Madam Hootch was unsure what to say. "I-is that a school broom?"

"Yes Ma'am. Next time I'll be on a Nimbus Two Thousand." He was quite pleased. "That was harder than I'd thought it'd be. This is so cool!" He handed her the Snitch. He paused and looked around, as if he'd just realized everyone was looking at him and no one was speaking. "What? Did I break some sort of rule or something?" He seemed a bit pensive and nervous, but most of it was just that he was uncomfortable with the wide eyed stares and silence.

His sister saved him from the stunned silence as she started to play the last part of the song. After the first few words, the song started petering down into Gryffindor's crowd growing in strength until the whole house was into it.

There was still a lot of stunned silence and even more excited muttering from the other houses. When the song was over, almost everyone was on their feet and cheering.

"This is impossible..." The announcer was going back over the game with a lost look in his eyes. "He's using a school broomstick folks." He looked back to find McGonagall had left him on his own. "That was a twenty five meter drop easy!"

"Are you out of your mind Potter?" McGonagall was stomping onto the field with a hard frown on her face.

"No, Professor." He looked quite calm and didn't seem to be mouthing off at all. "I can jump to the top of that goal post. I'd rather not, but if it'll help." He seemed very aware of the attention he was getting. His whole team was around him, looking on with complete and joyful awe at their newest teammate.

"Why are you using a school broom?" The woman's temper had abated, but she was still a little bit more than cross.

"I promised Malfoy. I want to play against my sister next year, and Snape won't do it unless he's sure there's no other way. I had something to prove. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do in a match with the Nimbus. This was fun." He seemed pleased with the way things turned out.

"They might as well just give us the cup now." Wood sounded like he was going to start crying again.

"Yeah. This is so awesome!" agreed George. Fred was next to him, with the rest of the team gathering around, all of them staring and slack jawed.

"See! I told you!" Wood was ecstatic. "Potter, don't forget, it's better to play defensive at first. Slytherin can still beat us if we win every match too soon and they start padding the score." His face became very commanding. "The rest of you should remember that. We'll need every point we can get. If Harry's right, his sister will be playing for them after this."

"Man, I hope so. I wanna see that for myself." Harry looked as excited as he was before the match at the thought.

OooOOooOO

"You know who your team is, speak with them about the practice schedule. You had better produce." Snape shoved an older looking racing broom into her chest. The old Seeker had lost his position.

She was standing in front of his desk just after Potions had ended and accepted the broom. The redhead had an evil looking smirk on her face. Her eyes were wide and wild looking. She wasn't looking at anything in particular and held the broom at her side.

"Get out of my sight, Potter." He stood up and turned to the shelf behind him and started pulling a few ingredients down for later use in the class. He was only doing it to look busy as she left. As expected, when he turned around she was gone. He placed the bottles on his desk in front of him and plopped himself down in his chair. He would be needing them out anyway in a short time. He had another class to teach. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the shelf. The smile she'd had wasn't something that made him feel bad. It was not one of joy or pleasure. Her eyes had gone hard and a fire had been lit somewhere inside her. He had a feeling he'd just made a good decision for his house despite his personal prejudice.

She walked out of the room without a word and strolled for a while. "Slytherin has dominated this game here for some time now. I intend to continue the trend." She was glaring forward and didn't care one way or the other about how Snape felt. She'd get a little practice in and play against her brother the next year. That would be something to experience. "I wonder if I can work it out so we can have our wands? That would be cool!" If nothing else, it was something to do while practicing for Quidditch at home. What she knew of Sirius told her that she shouldn't have much trouble talking him into it. He might even encourage it.

OooOOooOO

"Harry, are you a God?" One of the girls sitting near him pipped up, now it was all of them, even more older students were looking over at him from a bit further down the table. He was growing more interesting to the opposite sex than he was comfortable with. It was a smaller irritation though, and he was more accustomed to the attention, and did his best to ignore it. He looked up from his plate at the girl in question. A blond third year girl who was looking at him with dreamy looking eyes.

He blinked in surprise at the question and nodded once. "Yes."

Hermione's drink flew across the table onto whoever was on the other side. She was hacking and trying to get her breath back for a bit after that. The students across from her were disgusted, but forgiving as she took a long moment to recover and apologized through her coughs.

A piece of bread Ron had been munching on hit his plate. His head whipped around to stare at his friend. "Are you kidding?"

Harry grabbed his shoulder and leaned in close to the boy's ear. "Ron, trust me. When someone asks you if you're a God, you say, yes."

The redhead seemed to calm down a bit and nodded. "Oh."

The boy who lived was distracted by that moment, and didn't notice the stares of the girls all around him get a little more intense as their jaws dropped a little.

OooOOooOO

"Anna, I just had to tell you. That advice you gave me years ago about when people ask if you're a god? Well, it was the worst advice you've ever given me." He looked a bit ruffled, his collar was missing the top few buttons, his hair was messed up, his glasses askew, and the bottom back of his robes had been ripped and shredded.

She had a wide grin on her face. "Oh? Was it now? We'll see."

"I think Hermione is keeping the piece of robe she snagged." He started to turn away, but his arms snapped up and snagged her shoulders. He narrowed his eyes and put her nose an inch away from his. "How long have you been planning this? You set me up!" His eyes went wide as he backed away from her. "I don't believe this."

"Stop it. In a few years you'll be thanking me for it. I'll be having a hand in keeping your head nailed to the ground as well. Don't let it go to your head." She didn't seem worried about his shock.

"You little..." he grumbled. "It's the whole damn house now! Even a lot of the older ones!" He looked mortified at the thought of it.

"Yes, now. The rumor will spread." She poked him in the chest and his face fell into a frown as he focused his attention on her.

He blushed and turned his head away from her with his arms crossed. "Thanks. Anna, I have to lock the bathroom now."

"Yeah. Me too. Can't trust the Weasley boys." She shrugged at him. "You're popular, in great shape, active, and really adorable. You've got mom's eyes, kind of exotic I guess. What the hell are you complaining about?"

"I'm twelve, some of these girls have almost graduated. I get more notes than I can read. Just touching a pile of letters with my name on it scares me, Anna." The boy seemed perplexed. He was poking his index fingers together and looking aside as he spoke. "What do I do now?"

"You're stronger than you think. Do you have any idea how many guys dream of what you've got now? Don't screw it up." She was frowning a little as she poked him in the chest a little. "I can't believe you're complaining about this!"

"I'm not sure I'm ready for it. It is a powerful, dark, force." He turned his head back towards the table again.

"Yeah. Well, you need to learn to deal. It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll. This is one of those steps. Best get it over and done with." She played a little air guitar for a moment.

"Great." He didn't seem pleased with her answer, but accepted it. "I didn't think 'getting beat up, broken bones' was gonna happen in quite the same way."

"Don't worry so much. You'll do well in that respect." She nodded and looked far too confident.

He'd gone white as a sheet. "You have visions of that?"

She gave him a disgusted looking frown. "Cock push ups are really to help you, hold out, on stage. They do have a few nice side benefits though." She started back towards her table leaving her brother standing with a confused frown on his face. "Don't get in over your head, take your time, do as you like. I'm not going to hold your hand or shove you about in this. It's something you've got to navigate on your own. I might offer advice, but there's not much I can do about it now. Stick to the rules, you are a God, if someone asks."

The boy stuck his tongue out at her a little and scrunched up his face. "I'll get you for this one day."

"Yes, please do." She seemed pleased as she left him.

Melven rushed up to his side with a huge grin on his face and a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. "This is so awesome! Harry, I've seen more cleavage than Gildroy Lockheart could possibly have seen in his life. How many bra's have you signed?"

"None." Harry was giving the boy an odd stare and seemed less than attentive as he mulled over his own problems.

"It's awesome. Try it." The other boy was almost skipping.

"I think I'll pass for now. I'm just not that interested yet." Harry almost grumbled his response.

"Oh, that's cool, I guess. Happens when it happens I guess." Melvin shrugged. "You'll get into it. None of that floating pen crap either when you do it. Trust me on that one."

"I'm sure." He didn't look like he thought it was a good thing.

"Something like that." Melvin moved off with his hands in his pockets and a cheerful grin on his face as Harry shuffled back towards his table at a lazy pace..

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was looking up at Draco Malfoy. She was sitting in the common area of Slytherin, and her friends were up in the dorms. She was seated in an arm chair with an advanced Potions book on her lap. She gave him a look over and frowned a little. "Draco?"

The boy was standing with his arms crossed and glaring at her. He was also alone, which was unusual. "Who the hell are you, anyway? There's something wrong with you, and your brother."

"I'm the Heir of Slytherin, he's the Boy Who Lived. Quite a pair I'd say." She shrugged "Why do you ask?"

"You'll be destroyed." He was snarling at her.

"And if I am, you'll live your life as a lap dog just like your father. Did you want something, or did you just wish to insult me?" She was calm and seeming to get bored with the conversation. "If that was it, you've succeeded and you can leave if you'd like."

"Is that what you make of me then? Even if you're not afraid. I know I must make you angry." The faintest hint of a smirk formed on his lips as his eyes hardened a little.

Anna took a moment, he was anticipating something, and she didn't think it was her answer. "Well, no, not really. I think you're a jerk. You're self centered, arrogant, selfish, malicious, vindictive, and you speak down to everyone you meet. This superiority thing has given you a rather nasty personality. You're an above average catch aside from that though. Not poor, somewhat attractive, active, relatively intelligent, and you've got a few decent skills. It goes to your head though, and you get angry and jealous when you lose. You really are terrible about that."

"What would you..." started the blond boy as he began to uncross his arms and look arrogant.

"I'm empathic. You can't hide your feelings from me, Malfoy. My brother is much better at it than I am as well, don't think you're fooling him with that stupid grin you fake when you're feeling wounded." She had opened her book to appear less interested. He should have left by that point, but was sticking around a bit more than normal. She could feel a passing but powerful rage overcome him, his eyes were wide and he was breathing out his nose at her. "Don't ask if you don't want to hear the answer. You're a prick, it's your parents fault. I really can't hate you that much about it just yet." She glanced up at his rather shocked expression and smiled a little. "If you'd stop using people as entertainment, it'd be a big help. No one really likes a bully. They just pretend to so he leaves them alone. Also, stop pretending to be great at everything already. You're a first year, and no one is that stupid. If you haven't got anything nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all."

"Anything else?" he didn't look pleased with her, but hadn't left.

"Be excellent to each other. Oh, and get yourself a towel. You'll be needing one if you want to compete with my brother on any level."

Malfoy whirled around on his heels and stomped away from her with a wild anger in his eyes.

"I wonder what that was about?" Anna was looking down at her book with her face, but her eyes were on his back as he left. "Interesting development." She had little hope of salvaging Draco. His parents would ensure his course was steady and sure, and he was willing enough to cooperate. She didn't think he was abused, so much as spoiled, and encouraged in some of his rude behaviors by the evil twits. The boy wasn't afraid of her for some reason, and he'd taken enough interest to speak with her more than he had to. He didn't like her, the redhead always left him angry. The huge grudge he'd formed with her was still overpowering his thought process, not that she minded that much. It was something to meditate on later. Something was up with him, and like her brother, she wasn't sure how much she liked it.

OooOOooOO

Melvin walked up to Harry and Ron with his hands in his pockets, Hermione was chatting with a few nearby girls a short distance from the pair. The raven haired boy was wearing a pair of shades with a cocky grin on his face. He was enjoying the attention he was getting. "What's up? Anything interesting on this front?"

Harry smirked at him. "You're having a bit of fun then? Glad to hear it, you could barely stand us when we met."

"Well, I can now drown my sorrows in women. Drumming has given me a rather nice chest as well." He'd gotten a little bigger, and it was obvious he knew it was just something the girls were telling him. "Though, I admit it's not a bad thing to be in better shape and all, cock push ups still suck."

"Right." Ron rolled his eyes a bit and looked away.

Harry did much the same, but for different reasons. "Do you think about anything but girls anymore? And, yes, cock push ups do suck."

"Y-yer kidding right?" Ron had a sort of horrified awe on his face

"No, he's not, and not for quite some time now. I've been looking things up, and there's a vent shaft for the steam to escape in the girls showers. I know where the entrance is for Ravenclaw's dorms. I'm gonna be going now. Enjoy your...um, studying, I guess."

"What?" Ron's eyes went wide.

"Melvin. Don't." Harry's head was shaking from side to side in a slow and deliberate manner.

"Why?" he asked with a shrug.

"You realize what will happen if you're caught?" The boy who lived sighed.

"No. I'm not worried though." He seemed quite pleased with himself as he hurried off.

Harry looked on for a moment before he glanced at Ron. "Damn it. I'm gonna try and talk some sense into him before he gets himself killed." He started to jog in the general direction his band mate had gone.

"I'll come along!" Ron was right behind them.

Melvin was all for having company on his expedition into uncharted waters. He let them catch up and started walking with them both glaring at him. "You know, I could probably talk a few girls into doing it for me. Have ringside seats and everything. Just wouldn't be the same somehow." He seemed to think about it and shrugged. He was standing in front of a small grating and fell to his hands and knees to pull it away. "Come on. You know you want too." He pushed himself inside and into the darkness.

"Melvin, come out of here!" Harry followed him in and hissed whispered protests.

Ron looked into the hole and licked his lips. He wasn't sure what to do, but decided he didn't want to get left behind.

OooOOooOO

Anna was standing next to a somewhat surprised looking boy with brown hair and downcast blue eyes. He was about two years older and much taller than she was. He looked active, and it sort of clashed with his personality. He didn't look very pleased to see her, until she spoke up and said 'hello' as she passed him in the hall. Pansy and Margaret both looked at each other and shrugged before looking on in surprise.

He had touched her shoulder to get her attention. "Hey. I'm new here. The other students don't seem to like you much. Who are you?"

The girl blinked. He was a Slytherin student, she'd seen him before in Snape's class. It was about the only place she'd seen him at all. He was a handsome and burly young man, but seemed quiet and reserved. When she'd seen him, he'd been alone and uninterested in what was going on around him. "You don't know who I am?"

"Finding things out can be difficult for me." He didn't want to speak about whatever it was.

The redhead was confused on what she was getting from him. He seemed nervous and glad to be speaking with her. There wasn't a very strong positive emotion though. "I'm Anna Potter. I'm Salazar's Heir, all tested up and everything. I'm also the greatest guitar player of all time." She stuck her hand out and shook his. It threw him off a little, but he didn't pull away.

"One of the founding Wizards? I'm a transfer student from Durmstrag. I'll only be here for the year, I'm staying with my father for a time." He seemed to be thinking she was telling some sort of joke he wasn't getting. In a way she was, but this was more than usual. "It's why you only see me in Potions. Snape can teach me, I'm really just being tutored by him between classes. I'm there for most of the day. I'm enjoying it, he's quite lax. I'll have a time of it catching up when I get back though." He looked quite serious as it said it, but wasn't looking at the redhead in front of him out of embarrassment.

"Great. Got a name?" The girl was wondering what had brought the sudden outburst from him.

The boy seemed a bit more flushed as he realized he hadn't. "Clause, Gurnstein. Sorry."

"I suppose it's nice to meet you. Might I ask what you wanted?" She seemed patient, and reserved.

He perked up a bit. "What part of Germany are you from?"

The girl blinked and seemed to freeze in place in confusion. "I'm British."

"What's going on?" asked Pansy as she looked at Margaret.

"Maybe he asked her out? I don't know, should we even be standing here? They don't seem to mind." The raven haired girl seemed to be calm and focused on the pair in front of her. She was interested in what was going on right next to her more than Pansy at the moment. "I had no idea. Lucky girl."

The older boy seemed surprised at the redhead's answer. "Really? Who taught you then? I couldn't tell. It sounds like your from the same place I am."

Anna eyes went wide and her cheeks flushed. "I um, don't speak German." She looked back at her friends, who were both whispering to each other as they shuffled away from them. "Where are they going?"

"We'll be off now!" called Pansy as she waved her hand at her.

"Good luck!" Margaret had a reserved looking smirk on her rather satisfied looking face.

"Good luck?" Anna looked back at the confused boy looking confused herself before turning to look at her friends back away towards the hall, grinning like idiots. The redhead had a disgusted looking frown on her face as she watched her friends bail out and seemed to realize how the situation looked. "Crap." After a moment she looked surprised, and seemed to be thinking rather hard. "Wow. I'm pretty sure this is a mixture of awesome and suck."

"What?" The boy wasn't sure what to do, but didn't want to leave until he understood something the strange girl said. It wasn't her diction, she spoke like someone who lived near him.

"I didn't know I could speak German. I'm willing to bet if you stick me next to someone from the right place in China, I could talk your ear off in Mandarin. Also, I think my friends are thinking you asked me out or something. I'm gonna have to look into that. I wonder if Harry knows? It's not like him to hold out on something like that though."

"Really? Th-thats..." His eyes went a little wide.

The girl seemed cheerful again and seemed to brush what she'd been thinking of off. "Par for the course really. This Sith thing is cooler than I'd thought. Anyway. I suppose I could lend a bit of help."

"I hope you can straighten things out with your friends. I'm pleased to find someone who can understand me. My English is horrible. I'm afraid you're rather young though, and I don't want to seem...well..." He seemed to not notice the rather odd reference as he thought about another problem.

"There might not be much we can do about it, other than keeping talking to each other to a minimum. Even that might not work. I'll leave that up to you. I'm not interested in that kind of rumor either, for pretty much the same reasons." Her eye twitched for a moment. She felt like she hadn't wanted to say that, and found herself drawn to his eyes whenever she tried to look at his face. She was almost glaring at his chest, and it wasn't helping. She was thinking of excuses. "His eyes are really light blue, it's unusual, draws they eyes because...um...damn. This is starting to suck! Stupid hormones! Calm down!"

He seemed to think she was irritated with her friends and gave a small nod. "Good luck with that." He turned away and she almost collapsed on the floor. Her eyes were rather bloodshot and she had her hand on her chest. "Wow. This is gonna be much harder than I thought. I need to start really looking hard for that cure. I'm not sure I can't take a year of this. Jeez, if not for being a guy in my past life, I would have been such a tramp. What kind of hormone factory have I become?" She looked horrified.

After a moment she seemed to realize she was in the hall still, but alone. She turned towards the dorms and started walking a little faster than normal away from the scene.

A short distance later she came upon the boy in the hall again. He seemed to be thinking about something that had just hit him and had stalled. They were both moving in the same direction, and she caught up to him and slipped into the shadows unnoticed.

"Potter?" He muttered. He seemed surprised as he looked over his shoulder. "The boy who lived...his sister?" He looked like he wanted to turn back for a moment, but strolled on after a moment of thought. "I suppose they would be first years about now wouldn't they? Huh. Imagine that. What does Sith mean? It must be an English word."

She wasn't sure what to make of it. He was making it far too easy, and he was thinking out loud while walking down the hallway. He was surprised, and interested in who she was. If her brother was around, he could tell her how he felt in detail. It had been a real pain to deal with Harry for a time, until she'd figured out how to subdue it. She had no desire to stop it completely. It helped her keep an eye on him, just as much as he could with her. She relaxed and thought about it for a time. "How much do they know about me?" Durmstrag's reputation hadn't escaped her notice. She would be foolish not to treat it with great care, no matter what her stupid hormones told her. He was far too dangerous to let lie without a little investigation. It would also be prudent to be careful what she said around him. She was aware that she and her brother weren't the only Occlumens in the world. Part of being able to do that was being able to hide the fact that you were. He might have stopped to ensure they would catch up.

A light smile formed on her face. "Paranoia, or spy games? I wonder which afflicts me?" It wasn't going to look good to the rumor mill, but she was going to have to keep an eye on him, and what kind of attention he was paying her. She doubted he knew it, but he'd just placed limiting factors on what she could do around him. She was going to have to get to know him a little, whether she liked it or not. Leaving him to his own devices and avoiding him could be much more dangerous in the future.

"I'm gonna have to talk to Harry about this. I'm not sure how much we want them to know about what we can do." She was sitting in the shadows, thinking to herself behind a statue. Her eye started twitching a little as the realization gave her the time to think about how this was going to look to her friends. "Shit. I hate this." She was blushing and growling about it under her breath. Introducing them wouldn't be hard. She was hoping he'd pretty much ignore her if he didn't need her to clarify something.

OooOOooOO

Harry wasn't really sure how he'd managed it. He was in a pile with two other boys in the middle of the girls shower in Ravenclaw's dorm. It was filled to capacity. Melvin was sitting on top of them with a wide grin on his face. He had his sunglasses on and was looking into a crowd of stunned, nude, mostly older, girls. Harry and Ron were on the bottom of the pile with their eyes squeezed shut. "Man, this was so worth it," said Melvin.

"Ron!" muttered Harry in a pained sounding voice.

"Yeah?" grumbled the boy. He sounded terrified.

"Do you have your towel?"

"Uh huh."

Melvin hit the floor on his hands and knees. Harry and Ron stood up with their towels over their heads. The felt footsteps from someone very large in front of them and heard Melvin mutter "Uh oh."

"We were trying to stop him." Harry pointed at Melvin and pulled Ron out the door by his arm.

They exited the common area in a rather large hurry without removing their towels as they went. Everyone who saw them run by in the dorms was a little confused, but brushed the event aside as the oddities of first or second year students. Harry had Ron by the arm and helped him navigate without tripping over anything or running into the other students in the Ravenclaw dorms.

Within a few moments Harry and Ron sat panting for breath a good distance down the hall. They both had their towels in their hands as they leaned against the wall.

"I kind of feel sorry for him." Ron looked back over his shoulder. "You were right Harry. I sure am glad I had my towel. I'll never leave it behind again!"

"Amazing isn't it?" The boy who lived seemed pleased. "Don't worry about him. They can't kill him, he'll be fine. Too bad he didn't think to use his towel."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was sitting in the dorm on her bed. Her arms were crossed, her eyes were bloodshot, her upper lip was twitching. Pansy had gotten her keyboard out and was singing a slightly out of tune duet of 'Fever' with Margaret on the blond girl's bed. They were getting quite into it and having a good time. She wasn't in the best of moods, her chest was getting a little sore, it started just after her period. It came and went, and was just strong enough to be irritating. Her friends weren't helping.

There were about seven other girls in the room, preening themselves and looking away from the redhead with wicked looking smirks on their faces.

Anna's friends finished their song and rushed over to her bedside.

"We want details." Pansy looked excessively pleased.

Margaret was doing her very best to pretend she didn't care much, from right beside Pansy.

"Potter has herself a boyfriend?" A brunette girl combing her hair back into a ponytail on the right side of the room looked rather eager to stick the embarrassed redhead in the ribs while she was down.

"She's been soft on Longbottom." It was another jab from a different girl. Anna's head jerked a bit to the right.

"Like them big and stupid, Potter?" A raven haired girl who admired Draco Malfoy from afar chimed in.

"No, but Draco does. He's got two of them." Anna was quite pleased as the girl's features fell.

"Longbottom? Are you crazy?" Pansy looked quite pleased as she turned to look at the rest of the room as she grabbed the redhead's shoulders and shook her a little. "Anna speaks German."

Anna's pleasure faded in an instant as she froze in place.

Every girl in the room was looking at her with a hanging jaw. "You stay away from him!" shrieked one of the girls in the back as she hopped off her bed.

Anna's mood had just gone up. It was too late to stop the rumor at this point. Might as well enjoy it for a moment. She buffed her fingers on her robe and leaned back on her arm as she inspected them. "I'm the only other person in this house who can speak his language. I assume you don't think he doesn't wish to speak with anyone for an entire year?" She was grinning back at them all and looking rather pleased with herself. "I really couldn't be so rude."

"You tramp!" cried another.

"You keep your claws out of him! You'll destroy his reputation!" agreed another alarmed sounding girl.

The girls all looked horrified. Pansy and Margaret were both looking almost as smug as the redhead.

"Or you'll what?" Anna's grin became quite sinister. She looked down at her friends. "We do need to speak about him. Later, in private." She'd already forgiven them for annoying her and was feeling pretty good about it. Irritating the rest of the girls in the dorm definitely helped her feel better.

OooOOooOO

"I can't believe you just left me!" Hermione was irate when Harry and Ron found her again. She wasn't very angry, but it was clear she wasn't pleased with them.

Harry sighed as he strolled along behind her through the common room with his hands in his pockets. "Believe me, you didn't want to come for this one."

"Boy, you said it." Ron's eyes were wide as he nodded.

"What happened?" She sat down between them in one of the chairs after getting tired of Harry's pacing just behind her.

"We were trying to stop Melvin from being stupid." Harry rubbed at his eyes under his glasses.

"Did it work?" asked the girl as she frowned at him.

"No." The both of them replied at the same time.

OooOOooOO

One afternoon, a short time later, Harry was at Quidditch practice, and Ron and Hermione were walking side by side through the halls of Hogwarts. They were talking about small matters in the world around them, and pretty much just passing time while they returned to the common area for the rest of the evening. Hermione would make her way to the library, and Ron would hang around in the dorms until dinner.

"It's silly Ron! I don't care if it was Harry who said it." The girl looked annoyed with the redhead beside her.

"How isn't it useful?" the boy asked her. He looked confident he was right about it. "Name one thing you could possibly be doing where a towel wouldn't be useful should something go wrong? I've been thinking about it for weeks! I haven't come up with anything!"

The girl was glaring at the floor in frustration. It was like the only reason she couldn't think of one was because she wanted to so bad. "I don't get it."

"That doesn't mean it isn't true." Anna, Pansy, and Margaret were leaning against the wall, each with a towel of their own wrapped over their shoulders just under their robes. They looked like they were waiting on someone, but the truth of the matter was they didn't want to be in the dorms with the other girls.

"Explain it to me then! I bet this whole thing was your idea!" The frazzled girl stormed right up to her face, glad to have a place to unload her frustrations for a moment. "It's stupid!"

"It's only stupid, if it doesn't work." Anna smiled at her. Pansy and Margaret didn't look very worried, but a little surprised at the Gryffindor girl's reaction to noticing her. Anna seemed to like her for some reason despite how hostile she usually was towards her. They both thought it was a bit weird, but didn't bother interfering.

"It doesn't!" snapped the Hermione as her eyes went a bit bloodshot.

"Really? How exactly doesn't it work then?" Anna was quite forward when she was teasing and put her nose right up to the frazzle haired girl's face.

Hermione stepped back and racked her brain as hard as she could. She frowned as she realized the girl was screwing with her head. The dark haired girl at her side seemed rather bored and ignored the matter. The blond looked amused. "You seem like a very nasty girl." Hermione balled her fist up and glared at her. "You're not though. It's rather odd. Sooner or later, you're going to have to give yourself up and do something good when someone else can see you." She jabbed her finger into her chest a little.

"Oh! I love moments like those! I like to wave at them as they pass by!" Anna replied as she mocked waving at something that was passing by.

Pansy chuckled a little as Ron tried to keep himself from laughing with limited success behind his companion's back.

"I still don't like you." The frazzle haired girl jabbed her finger into the redhead's chest and turned away.

"Later then, I guess." Ron wasn't as scared of her as he used to be. He didn't want to be around her alone, but wasn't worried she might react with violence.

OooOOooOO

"Potter, what did you do to these Rabbits?" Professor Severus Snape was not pleased. Sitting at his feet were four horrific and deformed Rabbits. They all had huge mouths, dumb glazed eyes, opposable thumbs, and a rather wired look about them. Each was about two feet tall counting their ears. There were a few snickering students behind him in the shadows outside the room.

"What? It's well within the guidelines. I made them more intelligent, made nearly everything edible for them, gave them opposable thumbs, an upright posture, and bigger mouths." She walked over and picked up the Hogwarts rule book. "It says right here, I'm allowed to make up to four personal minions."

"In Transfiguration, as a sixth year, you would have been required to write a paper on the subject." Snape was livid, but didn't raise his voice beyond a harsh whisper. "You are not required to perform this task in your schooling."

"Well, I needed roadies. It doesn't say that I can't have them in here. In fact, it directly says that I'm allowed too." She held up the Hogwarts rule book and gave him a small shrug. The girl glanced at the rabbits and sighed. "They're test subjects, my own personal guinea pigs. Basically Potion analyzers and test subjects. It's why I made them so tough."

"So tell me, Potter. Since when is your transfiguration good enough to allow this?" He was giving her a very hard glare and his frown deepened. "I'm not certain you should even be here."

"Transfigure? I did it with Potions, and live rabbits. Had to add a few extensions, use my wand for a couple of low level binding charges, control temperature, and make sure they got the right dosage at the right time. Look at them! They're so adorable!" She was looking down at her creations with a sunny and pleased smile on her face.

"WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" cried the four creatures as they all gave wild eyed stares and waved their arms at Snape.

He was repulsed, but not enough to back away from them. "I'll be speaking with Dumbledore on the matter, Potter. Tell me how it is you plan to feed these, things?"

"These things are walking trash compactors. They can eat anything really," she gave him a small shrug. "I want them to be useful, they're trash cans that never fill up. Quite ravenous eaters as well."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I want a list of potions, techniques, and ingredients for everything you used to do this, Potter."

"I always record my work, Professor. How else can I get my name on it?" A few pages of notes, and instructions floated off the table and into her hand. "I want to make sure that everyone knows that Little Anna, is the Greatest Potions Geni..."

"If you do that to me again, I will have you in detention for months. You have been warned, Potter." The man leveled his stare at her and loomed in as ominous a manner as he could manage, and that was quite ominous.

She looked a little disappointed, but nodded. "Here are my notes." She handed them over and gave a small shrug.

He snatched them away and growled as he looked at them. "You've been here three months, and you can already do this with Potions? I will be testing this, experiment, Potter. It had better work. Is there anything else?"

The girl shrugged. "Bunnies are excellent dancers."

The man growled as he turned away.

"WAAAAHHHH!" cried one of the excitable creatures as it rushed out of his way.

"WAAAAAHHH!" cried the one it ran face first into as it sat up and belted the other downed bunny over the head with a small stool. Displacing one of the other creatures in doing so. It hit the ground face first and hopped high enough to grab a beaker off the counter, the glass smashed and clattered across the ground off the offending bunny's skull.

"Eat that and fix it." Anna gave it a small irate glare.

It put it's finger on it's chin as it looked up at her and back at the ground. The creature gave a small whimper before screaming and diving face first at the ground with it's open mouth. The creature sat up and chewed on the glass for a moment. It opened it's mouth and pulled the glass out whole and unbroken. With another small hop it put it back. The creatures seemed to quiet down, but still looked like they'd had far too much coffee and plenty of sleep. One of them hit his back on the floor and started snoring despite looking the same as the others a moment before.

It was close enough to her seat and she tapped it on the forehead to wake it up. "Any time you make a mess like that fighting, you'd better fix it." She narrowed her eyes at them a little more. "That goes for all of you. We can't have you leaving a mess."

"WAAAAAHHHH!" they all cried in triumph. The one she'd woken up plopped it's head back on the floor and started snoring again.

She sat back and pointed her finger at her chin in thought. "Hmmm. Larry, Curley, Moe, and Shemp." She reached under the table and came up with a small plunger. She tossed it over at them and smiled a little. They were dense as stumps, prone to small fits of rather harmless violence, and mindless eating machines. They wouldn't eat Hogwarts, or anyone in it, but any errant trash, or leftover scraps, grass, paper, metal, wood, rocks, tree bark. They couldn't kill anything, but they were evil, and would all follow any command she gave them. They would make excellent roadies and back up dancers. They were also damn near invulnerable. It wasn't a potion she would be taking herself. She'd needed to make certain changes to do it. Almost every thing they did, they would do like a scitzophrenic who had just snapped. It was quite amusing. If they were awake, they were wired.

The creatures started shoving the plunger onto each other and fight about it. The sleeping bunny at the bottom of the pile didn't seem to notice what was going on as the others rushed about and over it.

OooOOooOO

"You said you wanted to talk to...what the hell are those?" Harry was frowning at the four creatures huddled around the redhead. They were at the back of he Great Hall again. It was a bit different, as a third year Slytherin boy was looking uncomfortable right next to her. He was looking back at the house table and frowning. A lot of girls were looking back at them with very angry glares. Pansy and Margaret seemed to be basking in it at their seats. Melvin was looking down as many shirts as he could while they were all distracted.

"Bunnies." The girl shrugged.

"Those are not rabbits." The boy glanced at the older boy and looked back at his sister.

"We need roadies. We get the Great Hall on Friday afternoons remember? Wouldn't it be nice to have someone to move all that stuff for us before hand? You know, set everything up, check all the connections, you know." She was looking away.

"What about all that stuff about doing things for yourself? I thought you said no minions?"

"No. I said no disciples. Minions are different, I made them myself." She gave him as mall shrug.

"That sounds familiar." The boy narrowed his eyes at her.

"Can we have this discussion later? You're scaring the person I wanted you to meet. These aren't clone troops Harry. Look at them, they're dense as stumps, and they can't kill people." The girl shifted her eyes away from him, he didn't look convinced. She sighed and tossed her hands up. "There are only four of them Harry. They're more like, incredibly useful pets."

The boy looked down at the creatures. "I'll buy that one for now. Ugh. It's kind of creepy Anna. How long did it take you to make these?"

"I've been doing it as a side project since we went into the future. It took about two weeks. I just had to dose them regularly with different things. They're kind of magic short outs. I put so many different changes in, they shorted out and stabilized in just the right place."

"That's really weird. Why would you do that?" The boy pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I had an urge. Sue me." She shrugged at him. She was learning about spells that caused physical changes, but he didn't need to know. "Anyway." She grabbed his shoulder. "This is Clause. Everyone over there thinks he's my boyfriend. He's not."

"So?" Harry didn't give a spit about her personal problems, and hope it worked out to be just as irritating for her.

"I feel so stupid." Clause wasn't pleased to be there. The rumor had gone beyond control, and the other students were looking at him in a different manner now, some more than others.

"Sorry. I don't like it either." Anna glared back at her house table for a moment.

"Whatever. Tell me what his is about?" The older boy gave a small sigh. Harry Potter wasn't what he'd expected. The boy seemed irate with his sister, and wasn't paying him much attention.

"Yeah. What do you want, Anna?" The younger boy had not yet noticed he was being very rude.

"Nothing now. You speak German, Harry." The redhead shrugged a little. "Thanks, Clause. Sorry. I couldn't stop them in time, and it's beyond my control now." She looked annoyed enough to sate him and he nodded.

"So, you're Harry Potter then?" The boy stuck out his hand.

The younger boy was still looking at his sister with wide eyes as he took the boy's hand. "What do you mean?"

"Harry, do you realize what this means?!" The girl puffed out her chest and pointed at the air as she said it.

Clause looked a bit surprised, and stayed quiet.

"No? I'm not sure what you're on about. I do not speak German." The younger boy was rubbing at his nose with his eyes squeezed shut.

"No, Clause doesn't speak English. Harry, we can rock in any language! We'll be world famous before we graduate!" The redhead gripped his shoulders and shook him a little as a mad glee overtook her.

"Oh, boy." The boy looked very tired when he said it. "I'm going back to my dinner. Anna, every time I see you here it gets weirder. Please stop. Take a break or something, catch your breath" He shuffled away and left them. He looked at the confused German boy. "Nice to meet you, sorry about my sister."

Anna ignored his comment. "Thanks. I wasn't sure if he could do it or not."

The boy looked rather dumbstruck. "Rock in any language?"

"Yeah. I'm in a band here at Hogwarts. I guess I understand you not hearing about us. Snape doesn't care for my family much. He wouldn't mention we're Tenacious D, the greatest band in Rock History! Ask anyone...err, sorry. Even people who don't like us will admit we rock ass."

Clause seemed to lose interest. "I'm not into foreign music."

The girl looked at him and blinked. "I don't think you understand. We're the greatest band in the world. Not going to be, we are, the greatest band in the world." She had a rather evil looking gleam in her eye as she stated this to him. She looked quite bold, and sure of herself. "We'll rock your ass off, right now!" She glared down at the four deformed rabbits at their feet. "Go set up." She grabbed his robe and forced him to follow her.

He was blushing and looking rather stunned as she shoved him into the seat next to her. "Hey. Emergency meeting after dinner in the practice hall."

Margaret frowned at the boy for a moment. "Showing off for your new friend?"

"Yeah. I'm planning on taking us global. I speak a few languages. Putting out the word early won't hurt."

"Really? Which ones?" Pansy looked pleased and fascinated.

"All of them I think." The redhead was already eating.

The girl blinked and looked confused, Margaret rolled her eyes a bit and looked away from her towards the third year.

The older boy seemed uncomfortable with his position. The other girls around him were all looking at the redhead like they wanted to pull her hair out of her scalp with tweezers. They didn't seem angry at him though, and were giving him shy smiles. He had no idea what to do, and the strange redhead was the only person he could speak with at the table. He was feeling anxious about receiving the enchanted ring Professor Dumbledore was working on for him. He also realized he might need her help at some point before then. He'd been told he would receive it when they returned from the Christmas break. He'd be attending classes with the rest of the students in his age group after that.

They all ate together in relative silence after that. Pansy and Margaret were both giving the redhead an odd stare as they ate. The older boy was trying his best not to look at anyone.

After about fifteen minutes of uncomfortable silence the redhead stood up and snagged the older boy. As she walked by, she bent down to grab Mevlin's leg, it was poking out from under the table near the end. She dragged him out on his chest and continued walking towards the doors. When she reached them she stopped and dropped his leg. "One moment." She looked back and Pansy and Margaret. "Don't let Melvin leave."

Both girls cracked their knuckles and frowned down at the disappointed looking boy. "Nuts." He pushed himself onto his rear and folded his legs.

OooOOooOO

"Harry." The redhead was looming over his shoulder. The meal was pretty much over, and most of the students were finishing up and chatting with each other.

"Huh?" The boy didn't look like he wanted to speak up.

"We've got to rock, right now," said his sister with a serious frown on his face.

"Right now?" he cocked his eyebrow.

"Yeah. Right now," said his sister with a single nod.

There was a heavy sigh as the boy hung his head. "Fine."

"Awesome!" Ron was on his feet in an instant.

"We've got studying to do." Hermione fussed, despite the fact that she was standing as well.

There were other students standing up to follow as well. A few of the students seemed to be catching on to what was going on as more were attracted to the scene.

Anna walked up to the group with about twenty five students from various houses trailing behind her, with a few more stragglers moving up.

Clause looked a little dumbstruck. "This is your band?"

"Well, not all of them." She looked back over at her shoulder and smiled. "I just had to get Harry."

"Hello again." The boy seemed much less irate. He had a calm, and pleasant smile on his face this time.

Hermione and Ron both looked at him.

"Y-you speak German?" stammered the girl.

"Really?" Ron looked like he didn't believe it.

"Yeah." The boy who lived brushed his hair out of his face. He was letting it grow out a bit again and it was almost down to his shoulders again.

Dumbledore was standing outside the door when they opened it with a smile on his face. "Might I ask what this gathering is about?"

"It's an emergency!" Anna looked up at him with wide eyes and a stunned expression on her face.

"Really?" The old man stroked his beard and chuckled.

"This boy needs to be rocked right now!" She grabbed Clause by his shoulders and pulled him forward a little. "It's horrible, he's had no one to speak since he got here but Professor Snape! He's in desperate need!"

Harry had his face in his hand behind her. Everyone else in the crowd was entertained at least. The rest of the band was blushing and looking away, though not too much. They had grown somewhat accustomed to the redhead's enthusiasm on the subject.

"I suppose, I should not refuse then. However, students must remain in the Great Hall, and return to the common area before curfew in the future." He was a little surprised to notice Clause standing at the center of the group. "I should also remind, that tonight's curfew has not changed. Students should still be in their common areas by the appropriate time."

"What's going on?" The German boy asked the redhead. He looked a little overwhelmed with what was happening. "Are we in trouble?" No one around him looked worried.

"No. We just got permission to rock your ass off." Clause looked over at Harry as the boy slapped his shoulder and walked out of the hall.

"What does that mean?" He seemed confused and a little nervous.

"Don't worry about it. You'll like this, I promise." The redhead seemed pleased with herself.

The crowd around them had gotten larger, and rather excited as they moved through the hall in the same direction. The practice room was only a few doors down from the Great Hall. It was pretty much a smaller ball room down the hall.

Anna was surrounded by the band as she walked and spoke to them. "Remember that instrumental stuff I wrote? The real hard riffs?"

"Yeah? Don't feel like singing tonight?" Harry seemed pleased with the idea.

"Nah. I'm doing it in German." The redhead seemed pleased with herself.

OooOOooOO

It was a rather short show, they only had about a half hour to play. The crowd settled down after the show and moved towards the exits. A few students came up to give a few words of thanks to the band, but after about five minutes the hall was almost empty. After saying a polite goodbye to Clause, Anna let him go on his way. He had a smile on his face, and was pleased with the show he'd gotten. Anna's bunnies had set up before the show, and acted as back up dancers. They did an amazing job of it as well, all of them were quite skilled.

Harry grinned at the redhead. Clause had liked the show more than he'd let on. It had gotten to him a little that she'd done it in German on some level. "Thinking about...?"

"Shut up!" Anna whirled around to glare at all three of them. "I'm not interested in him. He's too dangerous."

They all looked surprised.

"Dangerous? He's adorable!" cried Margaret in shock. She quieted down fast and scratched at her temple as she looked away as the redhead narrowed her eyes at her. She didn't really look angry though, just irritated.

"Yeah!" Pansy was aghast.

"Seems like an okay guy to me." Melvin didn't care one way or the other.

"Dangerous?" Harry was frowning at her a little.

"We aren't the only Occlumens in the world Harry. Durmstrag has a reputation, and connections with the Death Eaters that it doesn't hide well." The redhead wasn't looking at any of them and had her arms crossed over her chest as she looked into the empty hall. "I like him, I've got no reason to suspect him of anything wrong. I'm not letting him get that close though. It's too risky. I can't avoid him, I need to know what he's doing, just in case. Sending spies isn't beneath our enemy. I doubt he'll try anything even if he is. We need to be careful what we let slip around him. Especially you Harry. What he sees can be just as important. I'm not saying he's an enemy, just that you should be mindful about what you say around him."

"Look who's talking." The boy gave her a small frown. "I think I get what you mean. I'm not sure I like your attitude about it."

"I just want to be careful. I'm hoping to make an ally." The girl seemed a bit miffed. "He doesn't have to be a spy, to let something slip to our enemies."

"That's so...romantic." Pansy's eyes went wide as she thought about it.

"She's right, being forbidden fruit will only make things worse." Margaret nodded as she looked at her fingernails while trying to seem aloof. "You should just give up and admit he's a babe."

"Really?" Melvin seemed interested in that bit of information.

"You couldn't fake it." Margaret frowned at him and looked at him with a hard glare to try and dissuade him.

Anna could feel a vein in her forehead pulsing. "I'm afraid I'm not interested in dating him. Look, maybe after we kill the horrible evil wizard, graduate school, and..."

"Oh stop it!" Margaret pushed her nose up to her. "We may not be psychic, but we're girls too."

"Yeah. He's a total babe, we know you noticed. I wish I could get away with staring into his eyes like that," agreed Pansy.

The redhead was shaking, and her eye was twitching. "I...I hate you both for this..." It was obvious she wasn't that angry with them. "Damn, stupid...blue eyed...estrogen magnet..." It was sending what she wanted to think were unpleasant shivers up and down her spine thinking about it.

"What's going on?" Melvin leaned into Harry's shoulder.

"I'm not sure, but the Force is telling me it's best to stand here quietly and wait for it to pass." He wasn't touching it with a pole.

OooOOooOO

The foreign exchange student was sitting in the common area by himself. Anna had pretty much let him go after her little concert. The room had become packed, it was loud, it was in German, it was Rammstein, but he didn't know it. It was awesome. "That girl, I can see why he tried to kill them early." She was strange, he wasn't attracted to her, but she was fun so far. "I've got one heck of a story for when I get back already. I suppose I'm fortunate to find myself here now."

OooOOooOO

AN: Because this story needed bunnies. Rock on!

Next time: Matter of Force Christmas Special!


	11. Chapter 11

A matter of force.

Part 11

A stirring in the darkness.

OooOOooOO

Christmas was getting closer. December had just arrived and a light coat of snow covered the ground at Hogwarts. Anna Potter was sitting in the lab at the top of the dorms in Slytherin's quarters. The evening meal was over, and it was growing late. The room was dark, and her new pets were huddled in the corner sleeping as she worked by a single candle on the desk. In front of her was a large jar with something resembling a human arm floating inside. It looked rather incomplete and was little more than bone covered with strips of muscle suspended in a green fluid. She covered it with a cloth as she finished putting away a few more materials.

The girl paused as she turned around and looked towards the window behind her. In the darkness beyond her candle's reach someone was slinking about. A man was hidden in the far corner with his eyes locked onto her. He moved towards her in silence, thinking himself cloaked in darkness as he tried to move behind her.

She turned and followed him with her eyes and he shifted in the opposite direction, a faint hint of irritation appearing in his features. It became surprise as she moved with him again.

"Can I help you?" The girl had her wand in her hand, but he didn't notice it hidden behind her palm. She gave him a cheerful grin and stepped forward a bit. His clothes were dirty and worn.

"You are Anna Potter?" His voice was harsh and there was something off about his eyes. They seemed to shine in the candle light more than they should.

"What are you doing here?" Her tone was firm and unafraid. The room was full of a new odor, damp earth seemed to fill the girl's senses. "Speak quickly, before I lose patience."

"I am here with a warning. If you continue, you will be destroyed." The man seemed very self aware as he realized the little girl could see him, he wouldn't look up at her. "It's already too late, but it will be worse for you if you continue."

"I've heard that line before." She clenched her weapon a little tighter and gave him a cordial smile.

"I am not so foolish or powerful to attack you here, child." He didn't seem pleased to be speaking with her and kept his eyes towards the floor. "My master is not so limited. He will see you destroyed."

"You should leave, you don't..." The girl's face fell into a small frown. "You're no Death Eater." There was something very wrong with the man in front of her.

His eyes flicked up to glare at her. He had yet to step from the darkness, but she could see him well enough. "It is already too late. You will be destroyed. Make it easy on your family, your brother, and give yourself to me now."

She scowled at him and took a step back as she hissed her realization aloud. "Vampire."

"Yes." He seemed to think she was horrified into frozen shock.

The girl waved her hand, and tossed four large, unused syringes onto the ground at his feet. "Have a seat, and draw out your venom with these."

The creature did as he was instructed as he planted his rear on a stool near the window. It was an automatic response and he didn't seem bothered as he jabbed three of the needles into the roof of his mouth and filled them with a green fluid of some sort.

The girl watched with a wide grin on her face. His mind was extremely weak and easy to control. The monster was conditioned to that kind of treatment, and it only made things easier for her. "Your master wishes to destroy me? Might I ask why?"

The vampire was licking the roof of his mouth. "I thirst."

"Answer the question and stay in your seat." She waved her hand and paced around on the opposite side of the room near the door.

He looked over at her and didn't seem bothered by her tone. "It is already too late. You have angered him."

"Well, I've 'angered' a lot of people. Specifics would be nice." The girl seemed much more relaxed. The creature in front of her was no real threat.

"What you seek is forbidden." He slid the needles back across the floor to her feet. "My master cannot allow you to survive. That you have even attempted is an offense to him."

The girl glanced down at them and then back towards him. "How did he find out?"

"I do not know." The monster didn't seem bothered by the conversation. "Come with me. It will be better. I will be quick and gentle." It didn't seem aware that it's attempts at persuasion were more unnerving than comforting.

"Leave. You're not welcome here." The girl waved her hand again. "Find another meal, away from this place. Don't come back here again. Forget about what you gave me."

The creature looked frustrated, but nodded as he stood up and moved back towards the window again. He hopped over the sill and into the night.

"Son of a bitch." She snatched the needles from the ground and looked at the fluid. "How did word of this get out? I only told Snape. He must have leaked it out. Now what?" The redhead growled as she walked out of the room towards the first year dorm. The man who led Slytherin didn't seem like the type with loose lips, he also hadn't informed her of the dangers her little experiment with vampirism would entail. She didn't trust him much, but something like this was confusing. His recent behavior didn't support it either.

"I only told him. Not even Harry knows. Where the hell is the leak?" It was a frustrating puzzle. Her eyes turned towards the doorway and she walked out of the room looking at the hallway around her as she walked by. There were a lot of dark corners, and she spent almost all her time in the room focused on other things. She wanted to blame Snape, but she couldn't settle on him for some reason.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sitting with his friends on either side of him. There was a small group of mostly female students standing around them as the boy played 'Ring of Fire', by Johnny Cash for the group. He'd discovered a few weeks before that if he played something it seemed to pacify them for a time. The group around them dispersed much faster than it would have otherwise when he finished leaving them alone in the small snow filled court yard. Harry's wand was stuck in the snow behind them giving them enough warmth to keep the Gryffindor students comfortable outside.

The trio remained rather silent as Severus Snape rushed the stragglers away as everyone seemed to notice he was standing there. His arms were behind his back as he stood glaring at the Gryffindor students seated on the edge of a low wall in one of the courtyards in the castle. "Showing off Potter?"

"Yes, sir. That's what guitars are for." The boy seemed to be on the verge of cheerfulness.

The answer caught the man off guard. "Is that so?" He didn't show it and seemed to lose interest, he didn't move away though.

"Yes, sir. You shouldn't bother learning otherwise." The boy looked at his instrument and shrugged a little. "It's the only way to be any good at it."

The man had found nothing to punish the group for and walked away without another word.

Harry's cheerful smile fell away a bit and he looked serious as he spoke up to his friends. "Best be on guard. He's looking to land us in trouble if he can. We'll have to be extra careful when he's around. He's been checking up on what the three of us have been up too. I've noticed he takes particular interest in the three of us, not just in class." The boy turned to look in the direction the man had gone. "This is the fourth time I've noticed him watching us today."

Hermione frowned a bit. "If there's anyone here who might try to bring back 'You Know Who', I'd put my money on him."

"Right, it's easy to tell he hates you more than anyone else, and he doesn't like anyone but Malfoy and your sister. Weird that." The redhead seemed to think about that for a moment.

"He doesn't like Anna as much as you think, but he does like her more than me for some reason. He's no threat to my life, but something is going on. Someone is trying to get what that big dog is guarding. Anna's been hinting at it for a while now." The boy hung his head a little. Snape did make sense with what he knew. His sister had told him otherwise, and his gut was agreeing with her.

"I'll bet it's Snape." Hermione didn't want to speak about the girl. She crossed her arms and stuck her nose up a bit.

"No. I'm pretty sure it's not him." The boy put his head back as he closed his eyes and seemed to think about it.

"How can you be so sure? You said you saw him heading for that door." The Weasley boy seemed to just remember it. "I'll bet he's working for the other side at least."

The boy pushed his glasses up his nose a little as he hung his head as if stretching the back of his neck and nodded. "Maybe he is. I'm not sure about him. If he is a spy, he's not going to blow his cover over this. I don't know much about him other than he doesn't like me. There's someone else."

"Who?" Ron seemed a little worried about what he was hearing. His hand was gripping his towel next to his shoulder a little.

"Are you sure? Snape makes sense. We might do better if we knew what was in there? Why does this person want whatever it is?" Hermione seemed to zone out as she started thinking and gripped the tops of her knees.

The boy who lived rubbed at his scar as all three of them became very thoughtful looking. "I see your point. Anna's been nosing around this as well I think." Harry got a bit frustrated at the thought of it. He had a feeling his sister knew exactly what was going on, the who, how, and why.

"Why don't we ask her?" Ron looked at the others.

Hermione didn't like the idea and the redhead shied back from the look she gave him for bringing it up a little. She didn't say anything though and looked towards Harry for a response.

"Because she wouldn't say anything. I have to do this for myself. I'm pretty sure she knows what's going on." Harry stood up and popped his back. He looked down at them. "I've got a lead already. Hermione is right. Finding out what this 'Philosopher's Stone' does might give us a clue on who is trying to steal it and why."

The girl seemed surprised as she looked up at him and blinked. "What? We're coming with you then! We've got a bit of time between classes still." She grabbed Ron before he could protest and pulled him to his feet.

"What? Hey!" The redhead seemed a bit irate, but didn't want to be out of the loop either.

She grabbed the Potter boy's arm to keep him from moving ahead and started walking with him. Ron was beside her giving her an irritated looking frown. "What did you call it? Philosopher's Stone, was it?"

"Yeah. It's very small. I didn't get a look at it. It was wrapped up when I saw it. It would fit in the palm of your hand. Voldemort wants it, but he's supposedly dead. That means we're looking for someone who works for him." Harry nodded.

"You saw what that dog thing is guarding?" Ron seemed impressed.

The girl's eyes went wide and she gasped. "It was at Gringotts wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Anna predicted the robbery just after we left. That's when she told me what it was. I think that's when she started making Hagrid nervous." The mouse haired boy nodded and seemed impressed with her deduction as they walked into one of the hallways from outside.

"Didn't she say Voldemort was responsible for that?" Ron added with a little wavering in his voice.

Hermione and Harry both looked at the redhead in mild surprise.

"Everyone acts like you shouldn't say his name." Hermione felt a bit silly after she gave the redhead a light chiding and looked away towards the ground.

"Why not? If anything goes wrong I've got my towel, right?" Ron didn't seem as brave as he'd have liked as he said it.

Harry nodded. "Ron is right. Though, that doesn't mean you should go looking for trouble either. It isn't going to save you if you're just being stupid."

"Enough with the towels!" Hermione grew irate for a brief moment. "It does seem a bit silly, about Voldemort I mean."

Harry nodded. "He's supposed to be dead. I don't see how he could be doing this if he is. Even if he's not really dead he doesn't want people to know he's still around yet. There's got to be someone here helping him somehow."

OooOOooOO

Anna was sitting with Clause in the Slytherin dorms. They weren't tucked into a corner looking suspicious, but were lounging in two side by side in armchairs along one of the walls. The boy hadn't spoken much beyond asking her to clarify a few terms, or help him with something he was having trouble reading. "How did you manage to read English without learning to speak it anyway?" She was helping him out with an assignment and found he could read the language better than he could speak it.

"My grandmother used to like to make me copy an English to German dictionary as punishment. I spent a lot of time there when I was younger. It was her way of keeping me quiet and out of the way." The boy rubbed his hands together as he looked at them with a smile on his face. "I can speak some if I need too. It just takes a while to say something."

"Sorry." The redhead had a book in her lap and was flipping through the pages. She didn't appear to be paying it much attention though. She was getting jealous glares from a lot of girls in the room and enjoying the satisfaction if irritating the lot of them at once. "I can relate to that a little. We weren't to be noticed in our home as well."

"Things are better for you now then?" He had a smirk on his face as he said it, but hadn't looked over at her.

"You could say that." She was being very diplomatic with him and he seemed to notice.

He shook his head and smirked as he looked back down at his book. "You're an odd girl."

"Yes. I really can't do much about it I'm afraid. Grand destiny and all that. It's not as much fun as it sounds at times." Her mind flashed back to the deathtrap tomb and her recent visitor.

"I suppose not?" He seemed a little confused by her answer. "I've heard about your family. I don't mean to pry, but is it true? It's really only a rumor, there's a lot that's been left unexplained about what really happened. It was strange, even in wizarding circles abroad."

"Yes. It's true. I still remember it." She shifted her gaze at him. He seemed to understand that she didn't want to discuss it in detail. "What about you and your family? What do they think of the Death Eaters? I've heard Durmstrag has connections to them on some level."

The boy shrugged. "Some. Voldemort was supposed to be a great and powerful wizard. We don't start that kind of study until our fifth year. I'm still learning about early wizarding History. I would have been learning about the founders of this school this year. I guess they thought just coming here would be enough, I haven't read much of it in my lessons here."

The redhead noted he didn't state his personal affiliations and nodded. He didn't press her for further information and she returned the favor. "I suppose we are still young. I'm afraid my brother and I don't have the luxury of choosing a side. Still, I have to admit the subject interest me." She held up the book she was reading. It was called 'The Black Hand' and was written by a prominent former Death Eater from Germany who had graduated from Durmstrag. There were translated copies in the school, but Anna had managed to find a copy in German.

The School itself was located somewhere in Norway or Sweden, no one who didn't attend was sure. Like Hogwarts it was unplottable. Most of the students were from Eastern European countries, with the majority of the Western European wizards going to schools in Italy and France. Anna was aware that Clause spoke Swedish as well as Nyorsk, but his native tongue was German and his accent suggested he was from the Northern part of the country near Hamburg. Muggle born students were not admitted there, but it had no official position on the subject beyond non admittance. They were simply expected to attend elsewhere.

"I guess so." He seemed a little surprised and his cheeks flushed a little. "It's strict there, but not that strict. I had to read that as a second year."

"I was planning on asking you about that sort of thing actually." She shrugged, one of the reasons she had been sitting so close to him was so that she could read the book. She'd discovered a limitation in her ability to understand languages she hadn't learned. Someone had to be near who could understand the language. She couldn't read or speak any language she hadn't learned without someone who could speak it nearby. She was learning quite a bit of German on her own that way, but it was still going to take a few months of regular speaking before she could rely on being anywhere near fluent. "I'm kind of glad I found it while you were attending. You don't mind do you? I'm not looking to demonize the place or anything. I'd like to know what it's really like compared to this. I'd like to finish it first though." She'd found the book to be little more than racist rants and angry touting. The girl stood up in a lazy manner and popped her back as she tucked the large hardcover under her arm. She had to go to Quidditch practice and just holding it would be enough to quiz him on the subject. She didn't want to over do it either.

"Sure. I guess." He sank back into his seat. "I mentioned you in a letter to friends. You're becoming the subject of great interest. Not just because of your brother from what I've heard. The press says it's upsetting a lot of circles around here as well."

"I know. It does kind of suck, but we can both handle it." She gave a small casual shrug. "Press? What kind of questions?"

"I'm not entirely sure how to put it." He seemed a bit surprised by her interest in the subject. "What kind of girl you are, that sort of thing."

"I knew coming into this there would be curious parties." She seemed to brush it off.

The boy was relieved she hadn't asked him what he'd replied. She was strange, few liked her, and everyone close to her seemed to either love her, or fear her.

"Well, I've got Quidditch practice. Later Clause." The girl pushed herself to her feet off her seat and stretched a little before moving away.

The boy's eyebrows arched and he chuckled a little. "Quidditch practice?"

"I'm the team Seeker." She narrowed her eyes at him and sounded a little annoyed. It seemed like he thought she was telling an odd sort of joke. She didn't seem angry as she walked up the stairs to get ready and gave him a small wave.

He looked around the room and found no one was looking at him. He realized all at once that the girl was serious. "Seeker? A first year Seeker?" The girls around his age in the room were giving the doorway angry glares. The older ones didn't seem to care one way or the other. The common room wasn't full either. Most of the people in the house seemed to hate the redhead, the other girls more than the boys. It often seemed like everyone was watching her though.

Clause remained seated in silence. He wasn't sure what to make of her. Everyone but her three friends seemed to loath her. Anyone in the room would be more than glad to stab her in the back from what he'd seen of them. Most of the older students wouldn't even speak to her. She was not acting like someone in her position usually would. "I'm not so sure I'm looking forward to that ring anymore." He'd just realized it, but in the eyes of the rest of the house, he might not have a choice about picking his side at Hogwarts.

OooOOooOO

It was afternoon, about an hour after classes had ended. The sun was still shining overhead, but it was getting closer to the horizon.

Anna Potter was looking at a large group of boys who each outweighed her by fifty pounds or more. They were glaring at her with their jaws clenched tight. Just in front of her, Marcus Flint, the team captain walked up and looked her up and down. She was grinning, but not in a nice way. "Well, hello boys."

"I see you've managed to figure out your uniform." Flint wasn't happy to see her. She was an unwelcome presence on his field. The rest of his team was clear about backing him on it as well. There was one other girl on the field and she was hanging back and looked just as irate as the rest of them. She was a bit larger than Anna, but smaller than the rest of the team.

"Yes. It looks as though I'll have a wonderful time with this group." She seemed to enjoy the hostility that was thick in the air around her.

"Mount your brooms. We're starting." He turned away from her and spat out his orders to the rest of the team.

The redhead looked back at them and smiled as they continued to give her hateful glances as they followed their instructions and took up positions around her as they lifted off.

OooOOooOO

The Slytherin Quidditch team all glared up at the redhead. She was floating over their heads playing air guitar as she sang down at them. They were covered in sweat, gasping for breath, and nursing their collision bruises. Flint had devised a work out that involved her catching the Snitch she was using like a guitar pick while dodging the rest of the team. It hadn't worked out as planned. No one was injured, but they all felt a knot form in their stomach as she taunted them from overhead. None of them had even touched her.

"...Head like a Hole! Black as your soul! I'd rather die, than give you control! Bow down before the one you serve, you're going to get what you deserve..." The girl was sweaty as well, but she had more than enough breath to be loud and obnoxious with Nine Inch Nails. She was banging her head while swinging her pony tail and a bit of sweat about as she stood on her broomstick and raised her fist into the air with her index and pinky fingers pointed out. She came down after her song was done just outside the crowd of older and irate students. "Now, are there any more questions?"

One of the Chasers stood up and started ripping off his pads. "I've had enough. I quit. I'd rather not play at all!" He jabbed his finger up at her. "Half blood bitch!" He spit onto the grass and stormed away towards the lockers.

No one else followed him and all eyes turned towards Flint.

"Anyone else?" he called out over the crowd. The group hung their heads and gave the redhead angry glares. "It doesn't matter. We haven't got enough players on our team anyway."

"Please. Like it's a hard position to fill?" The redhead seemed unimpressed and it got her another collective stare down.

"You're not wanted here. You shouldn't be here. Leave and don't come back." Flint pulled himself upright and clenched his fist as he bared his teeth and growled at her.

The first year girl didn't react at all to the anger she was getting. "What makes you think I can? Do you really think that after all the trouble I went through to get here, that I would give it up so easily? He can be replaced."

Flint's eyes went wild. "By who?"

"Anthony was an important..." started a fourth year boy near to Flint.

"Not from what I saw in the last match. He was a warm body to fill a hole in your numbers. All he did was fly around the field and look busy in your last match. He didn't even try for the Quaffle for the whole match. He didn't even bother chasing my brother. He was here because of his family. This was a status symbol for him. I'm an empath and I know none of you wanted him here to begin with. Not as badly as you don't want me here, but let's be honest here. Most of you are relieved he walked off and you're hoping he doesn't come back after you've gotten rid of me. That's not going to happen, but he was a useless waste of a player, and he didn't contribute to the team at all." Anna was partially quoting things she'd heard from Melvin about the boy. Out of the members of her group, he was the most tolerated by the males in Slytherin. Margaret wasn't very good for sports related information, and other such male dominated topics.

The group was giving her a blank stare.

"We needed him!" snarled Flint. "We can't play if there aren't..."

The redhead rolled her eyes and waved her hand at him. "Fine. Draco Malfoy then. He hates me, so you'll get along famously. He's good on a broom as well, work with him into the ground for a while, and we might actually have a shot at the cup by outscoring Gryffindor."

"Are you crazy?" Flint was screaming at her and stomped towards her a little. He didn't get too close and she didn't seem bothered by it.

"You think you can put your friends onto the team just like that?" snapped another member of the team from the middle of the group. The rest seemed to agree.

"Friend? You are aware of who his father is?" She seemed a bit taken by that statement. "He hates my guts. I'll tell you this though, you put him on the team, and he'll be your top scorer by this time next year. He's got natural talent for broom riding. Outside myself and my brother, I'd say he'll be the best rider in the school given a year or two. Of course, he's still got no chance of beating me, or my brother."

"What would you know of it?" Flint had calmed and was looking at the grass with a frown on his face. "Why should we listen to you? You were singing and dancing after the last match!"

"Because I'm not the one who has to catch my breath. What's the worst that could happen? You'll end up with another useless lump on a broom?" She looked at him with a calm and confident smile on her face. "I can out fly anyone here. I've got a good eye for it. Do you want to make me feel miserable, or do you want to win? You can't have it both ways. You don't want me to sing when my brother beats you? Give me a reason not too. I can't leave, and you can't be rid of me."

Flint's eyes flicked up into a direct stare into her own. "Can't I?"

She shrugged at him. "You can try. I'm not leaving. Despite what you might be thinking, it will only make things harder for me, and I'm sure you don't want Gryffindor and Harry Potter's name on the cup for the next seven years."

The crowd was silent, angry, but silent.

"Practice is over. I'm taking the matter of Malfoy to Snape. If you're wrong, I'll let him deal with you." Marcus seemed amused by the thought in a dark way. "Better be sure Potter."

"It's already too late if I'm not." She smiled up at him and didn't seem worried as everyone else shuffled off the field towards the changing rooms.

OooOOooOO

Anna was sitting with Dumbledore a few days later. Not much had changed in her little world, and there was still two weeks before the break. She was in his office on an early evening in the middle of the week.

The old man smiled at her and put a stack of parchments on his desk that she realized were tests she'd taken in classes after noticing her most recent potions quiz on the top of the pile. "Ah. Miss Potter. I trust I am not interrupting your busy schedule. Marcus Flint requested you not be present at Draco Malfoy's induction to the team. An odd request."

The redhead didn't seem concerned and shrugged. "I guess. Maria isn't attending either. I'm guessing it's some sort of male bonding ritual or something. It probably involves shaving cream and arse whippings." She hoped they were beating the tar out of him, she could use his pride and vanity trick him into staying on the team if they were a little too rough. His skills made him useful, even if she didn't like him. She didn't care if he liked her, but it could keep him civil until things took a turn for the worst in a few years. She doubted she had the ability to do much to stop a lot of what was going to happen. She knew better than to rely on the bureaucracy for help, that included Dumbledore, though she did put a bit more faith in him than most.

"Yes. I'm sure you might have noticed, but your last Potions Exam was quite lengthy. I am to understand you completed your test first as well. Quite impressive. I am to understand you've taken to Potions?"

She beamed at him and pointed her finger into the air as she jumped to her feet and puffed out her chest. "I'm the greatest Potions Genius in the Universe!"

"Oh?" The man seemed a bit taken by that statement and frowned a little.

Two small puppets appeared on her shoulders, cheering for her in an exuberant manner. "Hooray! Anna!" They both tossed bits of confetti about around her shoulders.

Dumbledore looked a bit unsure of how to respond to that.

"I thought that last test was a bit much." She seemed to think about it for a moment and sat back down in front of the desk. It didn't look much like she'd put a lot of thought into it before.

"Ahem. I see." Dumbledore seemed amused as he realized it was some sort odd joke. "Well, you're as proficient as any of last year's third year students. We'll be placing you in a fourth year class next year. I'm afraid that is going to effect the price and amount of schooling supplies you'll need before the start of the term next year. I'll be composing a letter to Mr. Black containing the details."

The girl seemed surprised again. "Oh." It was obvious she wasn't sure what to make of the situation yet.

"At any rate. You won't be needing to attend Professor Snape's class for the rest of the year. Though, you will still need to turn in your evening ventures. I would like to add, that I do encourage your continued devotion to the subject. You should continue to report to class until after the holiday. I've set up other arrangements to fit what I feel are your unique needs as a student."

The girl blinked, uncertain if it was a good or bad thing. That meant her brother had to brave the man's class alone.

The door to the office opened and a woman's face, obscured by two thick lenses over her eyes, poked it's way into the room. "I'm just in time, aren't I?" She seemed pleased with herself. Dumbledore's face fell a little. He'd wanted a few more moments of time to have a few words with the redhead about some of the woman's...quirks.

She was covered in beads, shawls, and had a thin slender body with long arms and legs.

"Professor Trelawney?" Muttered the girl with a somewhat dumbstruck expression on her face. She looked up at the old man in confusion.

"You've met then?" Dumbledore seemed pleased, the girl might already know then.

The woman squeaked with joy. "Not on this plane!" She seemed very excited.

"Where did you get her? Did you pull her out of a caravan?" The girl's eyebrow was twitching as she backed away with a frown on her face. "She's been right exactly once." The girl narrowed her eyes at him a little and spoke in a hushed tone as she leaned in towards him.

"Ah, so you are aware of her gifts?" The old man seemed pleased.

The little redhead seemed to catch on and relaxed her shoulders as her head fell a little. "Right. I guess so."

"I'm so pleased to meet you on this plane. I'd like to test the extent of your gifts if I might?" The thin woman seemed pleased to meet the redhead who was looking frustrated and sullen as she glared at the floor. With a small shrug she let the woman pull her over a small round table at the center of the room with seats on either side.

The tall thin witch pulled a crystal ball out of her shawl and put it on the table between them as dramatically as she could. The woman sat down across from the girl and closed her eyes as she hovered her hands over the crystal sphere. "Now, I want you to cleanse your mind and focus your spirit. Try to reach the state where the voices come to you." She closed her eyes and moaned in a dramatic fashion.

It was easy enough to do. The redhead decided she'd play along for the moment, but didn't seem to be taking the woman seriously.

"Now, show me what your mind's eye sees!" It was pretty obvious Trelawney wasn't expecting anything to happen at that point.

Anna got a crooked looking grin on her face as she put her hand out over the ball. It might be fun to give this Yahoo a dream or two, nothing harmful, or nightmare like. Feeding her a few predictions could be fun though. The Vader dream she'd used on Melvin had been fun. She amused herself with such thoughts for a time in silence, meditating to herself as she was instructed and moved energies about without really paying attention to what was going on around her.

She opened her eyes and looked around with a smile on her face. She seemed to realize she'd overdone her 'meditation trance' a little. She'd zoned out and gotten her mind stuck on cool light saber fights for a bit. When she looked around she realized that the woman was standing against the wall staring at her with wide eyes and gasping for breath as she pushed herself into the stone over a few low bookshelves.

"Uh oh." Anna seemed to realize that both the adults had lost a bit of color.

She glanced over to see Dumbledore watching in silence. He was standing in front of his desk and had to shake himself back into a small smile when she looked up at him. "I see."

"What just happened?" The girl pulled her hand up against her chest and looked a little worried and embarrassed.

"Th...the man in black..." Trelawney muttered as she pulled several of the medallions hanging around her neck up to her throat with both hands full of charms.

"Oops." The redhead seemed to grasp the situation. Once again, her fooling around while bored had screwed her over. "I suppose I should have known better." Her eyes moved off to the side a little, away from the adults as she seemed to pout about it for a moment.

"So, it is true then?" The old man walked back around his desk sat down in his chair and folded his hands together on top of his desk.

The woman pulled herself off the wall once she realized the girl wasn't creating the horrible images within her crystal. She moved away from it, making it obvious she wasn't going to touch it again if she could help it. "What was that?"

The girl shrugged and looked at the floor. "A difficult subject." She felt a little cornered by the pair of adults and didn't like her position. Silence was the best option at the moment. "Don't ask me to do that again. The past is buried, and it's best it stays that way. I don't like him." Her mind was screaming various curses towards the part of her brain that thought zoning out that way was a good idea. Once again she'd made something she only wanted to be a vague rumor a bit more real than she'd intended. Darth Vader wasn't a real past life, but now both adults, one of whom had considerable influence, had every reason to believe he was.

"I shall inform Sirius of the books he needs to get for you before the holiday." The headmaster ushered her out the door gently as he seemed to realize she'd become very nervous.

The woman gave her a small smile. She was still flustered from her experience. "I look forward to seeing you after the break." She was trying to look genuine, but her voice broke and squeaked a little.

The redhead made her way down the stairs and left them alone. She was glad to be free and rushed away without running.

Trelawney looked at the Headmaster. "I wasn't expecting that. There was so much anger." She rubbed at her arms and turned to look at the old man. He was watching her reaction and nodded. Her state seemed to be more the result of some sort of emotional backlash than her personal feelings.

He looked over at her and leaned back in his chair looking thoughtful. "Anger?"

"That man, he was very angry. Only in death was there peace." She shuddered. "I fear she will not return from the holiday. She'll die before then." The woman nodded and a few tears fell down her cheeks. "Who was that? I've a feeling you know something." She looked like she was a bit cold.

Dumbledore knew better than to try and argue. He doubted the situation was so dire at the moment. "I don't think there is much to worry about." He patted her shoulder as she blew her nose into a handkerchief and met him at the door. "I'm afraid it is of little more than academic value. Something from a past life I believe. It bears watching, but shouldn't concern too much. I don't feel it presents the students or faculty any danger." He did feel he was being honest about it, but Harry was right. She needed to be watched.

"I hope you're right. I think I can help her. She struggles with darkness, and her own poor fortune. I think she knows she's going to die!" She moved by him and honked her nose a few more times as she left his office. "It's a shame, she's so gifted! I might be able to help her cope with her gift."

Dumbledore sank back into his chair. He couldn't really find it in himself to be angry at the young girl. Still, every time he met with her ended in surprise. This time it had given him a small headache. He pulled a small glass jar from his desk drawer and swallowed one of the pills it contained before replacing it. "I've a feeling I may need to stock up for a few years at least." He was hoping Trelawney would help the young Potter girl, perhaps not in as direct a way as the woman was imagining though.

OooOOooOO

"Well, I see the team gave you a warm welcome Malfoy." He had a few small bruises and wasn't moving about very well as Anna entered the common area in the dorms and noticed him scowling at her.

Marcus Flint swaggered up to the redhead and chuckled as he played with an apple by tossing it in the air and catching it a bit. "What's the matter Potter? Upset we hurt your little boyfriend?"

"No. He had it coming. I'm only a bit disappointed you didn't let me watch." The girl was a bit surprised at the reaction. "I do recall I explained this in detail before. I chose him because he's the best available option for the job. I don't see how much I like or dislike him matters. You are going to have to work him for a while first." She turned her eyes towards Malfoy and frowned. "I also suggest taking advantage of your holiday, and getting a bit of training in for most of your trip home. If you force me to catch the Snitch too soon by sucking, I'm not going to pretend to be pleasant company. You won't like that."

"You think I'm afraid of you?" He sneered at her, the top of his lip had a small scab over it. The school Nurse had given him a few potions after his 'tumble at his first practice' and sent him back to the common area. Such injuries were very common, especially in Slytherin. Every new member of the team took a tumble it seemed. The woman had mentioned his was one of the worst she'd seen. She had walked away muttering about wondering when the Potter girl was going to show up when she shuffled away after sending him off.

She shrugged and looked neither surprised nor alarmed at his display. "I know you are. Should I explain why again, or have you remembered?"

"I've a feeling you're in for a world of trouble very soon Potter." The boy was giving her his most hate filled glare as he sat and growled at her. He couldn't do more than give her unpleasant looks as he was still suffering from his injuries, and was too much of a wuss to risk hurting himself to do something besides run his mouth.

Malfoy was one of Freddy's favorite toys. His influence in the dorms was growing as well. He'd managed to creep his way into the third year dorms by that point. Finding particular phobias was something of a game to him.

It wasn't a subject often spoken of. Most of the time the students didn't wake up, but all seemed to remember the dream the next day. Nervousness to the point of a panic attack through most of a morning was a symptom of someone she'd targeted. It wasn't something she did every night, but when she struck she'd hit three or four students in an evening. The number of potential victims was growing, and it was easier to seem random when choosing her targets. Just the rumor of Freddy and being around enough of the screaming when a few of the victims became alert from a restless sleep had put a little fear into many of the students.

"Yes. I'm aware of that." She smiled at Draco and Flint and they looked at each other as she continued on her way leaving them alone.

Malfoy wasn't happy. There was a bit of a tradition with Slytherin's quidditch team. All the boys ended up a little banged up after their first practice, but he knew he'd gotten it worse because they had somehow associated her to him.

"Don't look at me that way. I'm still not completely convinced." Flint turned away but didn't walk off and spoke up again. "I also suggest you follow her advice. You will need it." Crabbe and Goyle returned to their leader's side after the coast had cleared. The smaller boy sank into his seat a bit more, seeming to hide between them.

"I'll be glad when she's gone." Draco snarled as he spoke. "We won't have to worry about her anymore soon enough. A pity, seems the team might need a new Seeker if that happens."

OooOOooOO

Harry was lying across the lid of his packed trunk. The library had proven of little use. At least the non restricted area at any rate. The last few weeks had gone by with little change, and the next morning he would be going somewhere other than Vernon and Petunia's home. No Dudders, no mounds of presents, no watching them stuff themselves, and lay bloated in their own mess staring at the television for hours while he and his sister took care of the mess. Naturally, he had a rather wide grin.

"I'll be glad when you come back. You've left me with no one but my brothers. Trust me, I'm looking forward to it, but it will get old fast." Ron sat down on his bed looking a little sullen. "Don't stay gone too long."

"Brief, but exciting." Harry shrugged. "I'm looking forward to it. Don't worry Ron, I'm sure you'll be fine. After all, this is Hogwarts. I'm sure there will be something of interest going on."

"I doubt it. I've heard its rather dull to spend the holiday here. All my friends have gone home. Like I said, I'm not bad off. I've got my brothers, I'm sure I'll be fine. I hope." He was giving himself a little hope that Fred and George would be kept a little at bay because of Percy.

"Well, I'm afraid I can be of little help. Try to stay out of trouble." Harry stretched his arms and couldn't get rid of his grin if he'd wanted.

"You'll probably sleep like a rock. If I was you, I'd be up all night. I hope you like it there." The redhead seemed to cheer up a little as he said it. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

"I'd be fine if it was Military School. The Dursleys were horrible people." The boy sat up and scratched the side of his head.

"Was it really that bad?" Ron looked a bit disgusted.

"I could almost feel them getting fatter, and they don't like wizards. Not a very nice place. Best to avoid them from now on I think. Though, I'm betting Anna will take any chance she gets to screw with them. I don't think she's so bad off as to go looking for them or anything."

The boy looked even more horrified. "That's awful, Harry!"

"Wasn't that bad considering. We figured out how to make them mostly ignore us all the time, rather than only when they wanted to blame and punish us for something, or do some sort of work for them." The mouse haired boy seemed rather casual about the subject.

"Well, I'd be angry." Ron shuddered. "I don't feel so bad now. Well, not for myself anyway."

Harry was in such a good mood he was even having trouble being annoyed at thought of the Dursleys. "Don't worry about it. I've never felt better really. I'll certainly never forget this place, or who I met while I was here."

"It's a bit scarier than I expected, but that's not as bad as I thought it would be." Ron nodded. "I'm glad I came. Even if I do flunk out one day."

"Come on Ron. Hermione would beat you to death with her History of Magic book before she let that happen to you." The mouse haired boy slapped his companion on the shoulder and chuckled.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Ron looked worried again.

His friend chuckled a bit at his reaction. "You'll be fine Ron. Just don't lose your towel."

"Are you kidding? I've had Mum mail me a back up, just in case." Ron looked as though the idea horrified him.

Harry patted his shoulder and shoved his packed trunk under his bed.

"Where did your sister get pocket space paint?" Ron was looking at where his friend was putting his luggage. "Trunks like that are really expensive, but you said she made it? It's supposed to be a very complex enchantment with several rare ingredients."

"She said it had to do with making her 'bunnies'. I'd rather not learn the details of that. They freak me out a little. They're a bit weird."

"I don't know. The House Elves don't seem to like them either. I've seen them, but not close up. They look nervous and fast. I'm almost afraid one of them will jump at me if I get too close." Ron nodded in agreement. "I've heard they're actually not bad though."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was packing her things to leave the evening before the Holiday break. She was shoving her clothes into a small suitcase with an extending handle. She stopped and moved things about in her drawer in a bit of confusion. Something was missing and it took a moment to realize what it was. Her bras were gone. "What the hell?"

There were a few other girls doing the same thing. A few had stopped packing and looked around the room with frustrated expressions. They all seemed to catch each other's eyes, including the redhead.

"Yours too then?" One of the raven haired girl's near the bed walked up and peered into her dresser drawer.

"What's going on?" Pansy hadn't started her packing yet. She was sitting on her own bed talking to Margaret a few feet away. Seeing another member of the dorm approach the redhead was not a normal occurrence. Both girls were looking around the room and everyone seemed to notice the growing number of irate girls in the room.

Anna narrowed her eyes and looked towards the dorm door. "Everyone check your things. Someone's been stealing bras."

Everyone in the room turned to look at her at the same time. As a result, no one noticed the bra slingshot and the two white projectiles that left a few feathers in their wake as they sailed past at high velocity. The evening's plan to take over the store room would fail, as it failed to take into account the window on the opposite wall of the room, or the risk of pain and injury involved with moving through a window at high speed.

"Who would do something like this anyway?" The redhead didn't take long to find a name. "Melvin." She was wise enough to not mutter it out loud, but she had time to interrogate him about it later. He would be coming with her.

"She's right. Mine are gone too!" and various other statements grew into anger within the room. The redhead felt like she was standing in the middle of an angry swarm. Her surroundings had just become a large emotional spike of unbridled justified rage. The part of her that remembered being a boy got a little nervous about it, but she pushed it aside.

"Is it really worth investigating at this point? I'd just as soon take my loss, and stock back up when I get home. We can take precautions when we return to make sure it doesn't happen again. I'm sure it won't be difficult to talk to the staff, or even older students about defensive enchantments." The redhead looked around the room and seemed to relax a bit more. She didn't seem worried, or even all that offended any longer.

"Are you kidding? I'm going to tell the Prefects!" One of the girls near the door rushed away. Most of the other girls in the room seemed to agree, they all buzzed around the door waiting to harp at the first thing that walked through it.

Pansy and Margaret both seemed a little surprised as they sat down around her.

"Really?" Margaret was feeling a little violated and it showed.

Pansy was frowning and looking over her shoulder as one of the prefects walked into the room and simply waited for the group to stop talking at him all at once. He crossed his arms and seemed to zone out as they all fussed at him at once.

Anna noted that Margaret had also been victimized. It was a mark in her brother's favor. "Look at them. You really want to be a party to that? What's it going to accomplish?"

"It might catch whoever did this." Pansy grumbled as she laid out on her back across the foot of the bed.

"Yes, they'll calm down enough to explain it in a moment." Margaret shrugged.

The redhead sat on the edge of her bed and leaned back. "I might be more inclined to agree, if I was staying here more than the evening. I'd rather not waste my energy on it when there's more pressing matters. Margaret and I have never been where we're going before."

The blond cocked her head without getting up. "I guess I can see what you mean then. It isn't like you not to get upset about something like this. Remember the time you electrocuted Victor Wells?"

"He did grab my chest." He had grabbed her in the hall, and his intent was less than pleasant. It had hurt quite a bit, but not quite as much as it had hurt him. His hand had remained quite red for a few hours after.

"Yes, or that unfortunate tumble Brian Strauss took down the steps." Margaret leaned into her shoulder a bit. "He's been doing that to a few other girls he doesn't get along with."

"Who said I had anything to do with it?" Anna looked away. The boy had grabbed her rear with both hands and pushed his crotch into her rear. Also, with malicious intent. The boys wouldn't touch her any longer, but it had taken a few weeks before all the boys realized it wasn't a very good idea. They weren't coming on to her, it was all deliberate attempts to piss her off.

"Anna, he flew off your back with his feet dragging the carpet with him. The stairwell was ten feet away. Everyone knows you did it." Pansy gave her a small wink.

She looked away from them and crossed her arms. "Well, I'm still not saying anything about it either way. So what?"

"Nothing, just seems odd you're not up in arms about this." The blond shrugged and was looking at her hands with her fingers spread out a bit as she stretched on the bed.

"Like I said, I've got other things to worry about." Anna smirked a little. She wasn't that upset about it to begin with. If it kept happening, she could discover who did it with little trouble. Any number of marking potions could be used to discover the culprit. The Weasley twins also came to mind. She knew Melvin well enough to know he wasn't smart enough, and probably didn't have the stomach to steal his own sister's underwear just to cover his tracks. She was still going to talk to him about it. He might know something, but she doubted he was the culprit. He seemed to avoid being a huge pervert in the Slytherin dorms.

Margaret looked at Anna and leaned into her a bit again. She looked a bit pensive and was wringing her hands a little with her cheeks flushed. "You don't think...my brother..."

"Doubt it. He seems to be following my 'don't shit where you eat' advice. I've been warning him off from time to time. I don't think he'd be smart enough to take yours to cover his tracks either. Still, it is possible. Best keep quiet until we're sure. If it's true, we'll just let them have him for a while."

The girl seemed to think about it and nodded. She looked a bit relieved. "Wonderful idea."

"It might even be a little fun to watch." Pansy seemed pleased with it as well.

Anna didn't say anything, but she wasn't so sure about it. She imagined her former life left her a bit more sympathetic, even if she found out he deserved it.

OooOOooOO

Margaret and Melvin were standing at the station looking at Harry and Anna.

Sirius Black was standing over them looking at the whole group. He leaned in to the redhead and sighed as he put his hand on her shoulder. "Does it ever stop?"

"No. It gets gradually worse and worse. I doubt I'll be bringing home anyone else though." The redhead shrugged and looked quite pleased to see him.

"I don't want you to stop writing, but I'm afraid I look forward to your brother's letters more than yours. I'm almost afraid to read something you've sent me." The man didn't seem the slightest bit upset and looked quite tongue in cheek as he spoke.

"I tried to warn you. It's only gotten worse with her since we arrived at Hogwarts. She's gone completely mad." Harry was almost on cloud nine and was having trouble keeping his grin subdued. Anything would be better than the Dursleys.

"Well, I am a member of the Black family. I'm aware of who you are, though, the particulars remain a mystery. A death trap you say?" He looked at Anna and arched his eyebrow as he knelt down between them and put his hands on their shoulders to have a look at them. "Well, I will try to be a good host. You are welcome in my home." He gave a small sigh and stood up. He now had a hefty load of responsibility, but the group was a more than welcome change compared to the solitude of Azkaban.

"Yeah. Thanks." Melvin didn't look upset or nervous, but it was obvious he wasn't feeling very open. Margaret was trying her best to be pleasant, a little too hard.

"I look forward to it." She bowed her head a little in a short nod.

"I think we'll be fine once we get to know each other." The man was trying to sound positive, and it seemed to work a little. "Don't let the name fool you. I'm not very strict."

Together they walked through the snowy streets, all toting a bit of luggage with them. Sirius kept the pace to a crawl, as they were only taking a twenty minute walk from the station to reach his home.

OooOOooOO

The home was a lot cleaner and warmer looking than the redhead expected as she walked into her guardian's home. She was expecting to need to help out a bit with cleaning the place up a little, but there didn't seem to be anything that needed to be done. He had a house elf, but from what she knew Kreacher didn't take care of the home very well and avoided Sirius.

"Salazar's Heir?" Sirius walked into the home feeling pleased with himself just behind everyone else. Melvin and Margaret had joined in the conversation, and were much more relaxed by the time the reached the home. He had been expecting it to take a bit longer before they relaxed as much as they had. The group seemed to be good friends already, and being together had helped the Boggs feel comfortable.

"Yeah." The redhead didn't seem overly concerned or proud of the subject. "Are you quizzing me about what I wrote to make sure I'm not lying?" She made herself look cute on an almost comic level as she said it. The girl had her hands clutched together and swung them a little.

The older man blushed as he failed to cover up being caught off guard. "What makes you say that?"

"Must you do that to everyone?" Harry frowned at her and put his face into his hand. He was looking about the home before her words had torn him away from the fire lit living room. There was a tree, with quite a load of boxes under it off in the corner on the wall with the fireplace. It was lit up, and the walls and the stair rail in the corner of the room all had Holly sprigs and pine branches twisted into festive garland.

"I bet he was." Melvin shrugged.

"Yes, but it would have been more polite to ignore it." Margaret gave the redhead a slight frown as she peered at her out of the corner of her eyes.

Sirius burst into laughter. "All right. You've caught me. It is a bit hard to swallow. I don't want Aurors knocking on my door wondering about these two either. Please forgive me if it seems like I jest about that." He looked at the Boggs twins and gave a small nod.

"That won't happen." Melvin gave a small nod back. "She's telling the truth. She wouldn't have passed otherwise."

Margaret nodded. "We'd rather not speak of it. Our parents are dangerous, they won't try and hurt Anna, but they will kill us. Salazar was not a man for half measures, if what she said was not true, we would be enemies. It is the duty of our line and we take it very seriously."

The man planted his rear on the back of a chair. A few old looking electric lights hung on the walls around the room with rather dim bulbs, giving the room a cozy and warm appearance. He crossed his arms and frowned at the redhead as he gave her an appraising stare. "Can you see the future?"

"Yes." She continued to remain cheerful.

"Really? It's a rare gift. It's also notorious for being cryptic and unclear." The man seemed to be looking the whole group over and was only half paying attention as they all looked about the room huddled together. Anna was the only one even looking at him.

What he said got Harry's attention. "Not with her at times. She can annoy me for hours sometimes by telling me what's going to happen next all day. The day we went to pick up our things for Hogwarts was awful!"

Sirius chuckled a bit at that, it seemed like he was having trouble accepting that line of thought. "Can she now?"

"She was right about Nevill Longbottom on the pitch." Margaret nodded and walked up to the redhead's side. "I don't recall any of her predictions not coming true. Though, she may have had a hand in a few of them."

"Yeah. A couple." The redhead grinned in a somewhat sheepish manner.

Melvin shrugged as Sirius looked towards him. "She's got something. I don't know about any predictions really, but I know there's something there. Whatever it is, it's real strong. Both of them."

"Well, I suppose I have been well briefed then. Come along, I'll show you to your rooms." He walked over to the stairs and waved for them to follow. "You can put your things away. It's a bit early. We can visit the Alley. I understand there's a few things you said you needed?"

Harry nodded and moved up beside him. "We need replacement strings for our instruments."

"I need to let the bunnies out of my trunk soon." Anna was looking back at her luggage. "I'm not sure I want to leave them in the void of pocket space too long."

"Bunnies?" Sirius looked at her with a somewhat odd expression.

"Oh, that's right. Your little minions. I remember thinking it odd I didn't see them earlier, but I guess I sort of forgot." Margaret seemed pleased to remember them.

Harry on the other hand didn't look very pleased. "Those things are just weird."

"Everyone at the dorms loves them. They're trash cans that pick up for you. Brilliant idea really. If you want anything they eat back, you just ask them. Comes back out good as new. They can even fix anything that will fit into their mouths just by eating what's broken and spitting it back out." Margaret had grown to like them. She had been pensive at first, but even the older students permitted them to do their business in the dorm rooms. They could be hand fed almost anything a Hogwarts student might wish to throw away. The fact that they would fight over any offering only made it more entertaining for the somewhat vindictive students. The bunnies would go to murderous lengths to stop each other from getting a wadded up piece of paper first. They would always come out of it rattled, but unscathed.

"What are bunnies?" Sirius looked confused and a bit worried.

"If you gave a house elf way too much caffeine, and then smacked him around for about ten minutes, before giving him a bat and sending him on his way, you'd get a bunny." Melvin seemed pleased to be relating that information. "Man they're a gas."

Sirius looked confused at the description and waved them to follow. "I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later." He opened the door to the first room. "This is where Melvin and Harry will sleep. You'll get your own rooms over the summer. I'm afraid I've got a bit more cleaning to do first though. I wouldn't be staying here if not for you to be honest. There are still a few infested rooms. Stay out of the other rooms on this floor please, it's not work for a first year student. I haven't been through them all yet. You'll be fine in these first few rooms. He took two steps to the next door. "The girls sleep here."

Both rooms were large, and both had two good sized beds on each wall, with a large dresser, and a tall wooden closet next to it. The rooms had nothing on the walls, and seemed comfortable, but almost plain. It was almost like walking into a very nice hotel room.

"The bathroom is the next door down. It is also safe for children." He stepped back as they all took their things into their respective rooms. "Come down when you're ready to go. We might as well get the shopping done." He turned to walk away only to confront four squat white minions all looking up at him at his feet.

"WAAAHHHHHHHH!" They were all waving odd objects about, a plunger, a pair of barbecue tongs, a plastic coat hanger, and a spatula.

"MERLIN!" the man almost jumped out of his skin.

The creatures simply remained where they were, staring at him in a nervous twitching silence.

"I'm not so sure I can handle this." His eyes were a little wide and he backed away from them a bit.

The waved their arms wildly about, and chased each other around in a small circle while giving their hyper cry as they did so.

"I guess these are...bunnies." He calmed a bit and relaxed as they rushed down the stairs and out of sight. Nothing crashed, and things got quiet as soon as they were gone. He shook his head and gave a small chuckle. "I'll bet Dumbledore is probably having a bit of a chuckle over this. Me, of all people, with a house full of children."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter walked into a store filled with crystals. He looked around a bit and then over his shoulder as Margaret and Anna walked in followed by Sirius and Melvin. The redhead looked around at bushels and bushels of all sorts of crystals. There were labels, many stating what sort of spells the crystals in the particular batch filled the need for.

Anna noticed her brother peering through a small section of light emitting crystals. There were about six different kinds amongst the smaller samples. The large crystals in the store were up on shelves along the walls and on top of the rows of bins in the center of each isle. The store was made from rough looking timber and had a rustic feel about the interior. The scent of pine cedar filled the air inside at an almost overpowering level. By the time she reached him he looked thoughtful.

"Have you found it yet?" She was grinning at him.

"What are we doing?" Margaret moved up beside them with her brother just behind them. Melvin thought the place was stuffy and looked like he was hoping it wouldn't take very long.

"Yes. I'm curious about your need for light emitting crystals myself. I see no reason to object, but it seems an odd interest for a first year. One that seems to have little need of a night light at that." Sirius was leaning over them looking into the baskets. "I'll admit it's an interesting thing of study for an eleven year old. I'm afraid the answer is less than impressive. They're just a simple way of converting the heat energy from your body into light energy."

"Our wands use light bulbs." Harry shrugged and looked up at him while pushing his glasses back onto his face again. "They'll burn out eventually. We're looking for something a bit more permanent."

"Did you just say your wand has a light bulb?" Sirius seemed confused.

"You haven't seen that yet?" Melvin's eyes went wide. "They have the most awesome wands I've ever seen." He turned around towards Harry and reached out to shake his shoulder.

"Let's have a look then." The man seemed interested.

The spectacled boy shrugged and ignited his wand to about four inches long while holding it straight up.

"Where did you get that?" Sirius was both surprised and impressed.

"Anna showed me how to do it." He handed it to his guardian. "Here, go ahead and try it."

"Are you sure? It looked a little dangerous." The older man peered at the wand as if trying to figure out how it worked. "It looks like one of those muggle lights. I haven't seen one in a long time." He didn't seem very worried about what might happen.

"Just push the switch on the side." Anna was holding a violet crystal in her grip as she turned towards the conversation.

"Found one already?" Harry seemed a little surprised.

"Use the force doof. There's only one right one in there." She rolled her eyes as he looked back at Sirius. One of the smaller crystal shards floated out of the same bin Anna's had come from and into his hand.

"Ah, I see," the boy looked pleased. Each of the siblings had two crystals in their hands, one was a light emitting crystal and the other was a simple colored crystal that would replace the cheap plastic lenses they currently used. Jewel tumblers and gem cutters were common alchemy tools and Sirius had them in the lab in his home she could use to polish and trim the crystals to suit their needs.

Sirius had discovered the small device was a muggle light, but with a cheap colored lens in front of the beam. He scratched his head and peered at it. He didn't look like he wanted to point it at his face as he inspected it. "How did you get it..."

"It only works for the two of us." The redhead gave him a small shrug. "It's not something I can easily explain."

The man gave a rather impressed sounding grunt as he turned the light off and handed it back. "Interesting."

OooOOooOO

Sirius looked a bit flustered as he walked behind a rather large group of children into a crowded shop on Diagon Alley. It sold musical instruments of all sorts, with magic accessories. Normally, the store was rather vacant, but a long table near the store's entrance had a long line that crowded around the entrance.

There were a lot of girls in the crowd between the ages of sixteen to ten. Most of them were standing with at least one parent. Some of the mothers looked pleased, most of the fathers were annoyed and wanted to be elsewhere. There were a few mixed in who were taking it in stride though. There was more than one Hogwarts student in line, but no one familiar to the Slytherin students with Sirius.

"Hey. Line starts back there." One of the annoyed looking patrons growled as the group pushed by and into the store.

"We don't want autographs." The little redhead frowned at him and moved away with the rest of her group towards the store area. The crowd filled up the entrance and went right up to the counter at the right of the register. The merchandise area was clear of fans and open for business.

"Harry? Are you here for the signing? I didn't know you liked the Mad Magicians." Angelina Jonson caught his attention as he walked by the line and into the store.

"Who?" Anna poked her nose over his shoulder and frowned at her.

She looked a bit put off, but answered. "The band, sitting up there."

"Never heard of them." Both twins responded at the same time. Harry seemed interested in hearing more. Anna was looking up at the front of the table almost leaning on his back.

It was a group of four pretty boys in leather sleeveless vests and tight leather pants. They had spiky hair, one of each common hair color, earrings, and just enough piercings to appear non threatening. "Uh." The girl's face fell.

"They're awesome! Their song, 'Mad Witch Love' is number one on WWN." The girl seemed to be excited to meet what, in her mind, was prime, grade A, manhood. Four of them, which was the only thing keeping her attention off the mouse haired boy in front of her, and barely so.

"The line starts back there." One of the girls behind Angelina commented as she pointed towards the rear. She was about a year younger and looked rather smug.

"Why would I want those no talent ass clown's autograph?" The redhead sneered at her. "We're here to supply our own band. Much better than those dorks."

"Ha!" cried the younger girl. There were a few frowns from other nearby girls who had overheard as well.

"They're not dorks, but she's right, they are better." Angelina gave a small sigh and nodded once towards the red haired girl. It was a begrudging statement for her to make while surrounded by other fans. Having her brother standing right next to her made saying it a little easier. "I still like them though. I want an autograph."

"What you want is a kiss, but I'll forgive you anyway." The redhead pinched her cheek and walked towards Sirius and the Boggs twins. Angelina looked both annoyed and flustered. Melvin needed a few spare sticks, and everyone else needed strings. Pansy was the only one missing from the group. Harry gave his teammate a small shrug to show he didn't care either way and followed his sister.

Sirius was leaning against the counter next to the owner, watching the kids mill about in the store. They had gathered what they needed from the look of things as they made a lazy pace back towards him.

"Quite a bunch." The old man was watching the line with a smile on his face. He'd made a few more sales than normal that day. "Not stopping for an autograph?"

"Why would we want their autograph? Once we broadcast on the WWN, those dorks will be begging us to play with them." The redhead didn't sound mean or spiteful as she said it. She was also looking into magic recording devices while they were out. It was a different store, a few doors away from them.

The old man chuckled as Sirius blushed. Their chaperon was a little relieved to hear it though. He felt bad for some of the fathers in line.

"Anna, that's the group most girls our age listen to the most. Please, stop. You're making them angry, and I don't mean the band." Margaret had been looking towards the table as well.

Anna shrugged at her. "I heard. We ran into Angelina, from Gryffindor. We're Tenacious D, they're just some cheesy goth rock boy band. They'll be gone next year."

One of the boy band had heard her and slammed his palms down on the table as he jumped up and whirled around. He stomped over to shout at her while pointing his finger at her face. "Hey! We're the next Heavy Metal!" The one sitting closest to the loud member turned to frown at her and rolled his eyes. It was obvious the rest of the band was used to that sort of behavior from him. The one who had walked up to the kids had blond hair, and looked to be the shortest temper in the group. The girl didn't sound like she was from around the area, and they were close enough by the register that the men signing autographs could hear them despite the fans chattering.

Sirius looked about ready to bow up at the young man, but relaxed as the redhead seemed to handle it herself.

"HP!" Anna looked like she was about to jump over and punch the unfortunate man in the face. The boy had already pulled two guitars off the wall. Margaret sighed and rolled her eyes as she picked a bass guitar off the wall, and Melvin moved over to a drum set that was set up nearby. There was a different model set up a half dozen feet to the right.

"If you break it..." started the old man who owned the store in an almost kind tone. Sirius didn't seem worried, they knew their way around instruments well enough it seemed, and he doubted he'd be out any more than the supplies they had come for.

The Potter's uncle perked up a little as he realized what was going on. It wasn't that he was unaware, but something had just dawned on him. "I haven't heard them play yet." The old man's eyes went a little wide as he looked over at him.

Anna shrugged. "Think if it as testing the goods out. Enchanted strings are expensive." She and Harry both had two sets of strings sitting on the counter by their Godfather that wouldn't break or need tuning for at least ten years.

The whole store was watching them set up. The boy band was giving each other chuckles. "Think you can play one of our songs then?" called the young man on the far end of the table. He had a goatee and black hair.

Harry gave a small snort and the little redhead chuckled. "Your song?" The girl started playing a heavy riff. The band picked up behind her. "You can't kill the metal. The metal will live on. Punk Rock, tried to kill the metal, but they failed, as they were smite to the ground!..."

The whole place had wide eyes as Anna and Tenacious D, played 'The Metal' in the music store.

The blond man snorted when the song was over. "Not bad kid. You're still not..."

"We are the greatest band in world!" The short twelve year old redhead cried in a half crazed tone as she gave the other group a wide eyed glare.

"Today," added Harry.

Melvin laughed a bit about it.

"Tenacious D." Anna looked annoyed at them for ruining the moment.

"Sure, whatever." The brunet man seemed amused by the blond man's irritation.

"Yeah. Well, see you when you get to the top kid." The blond seemed satisfied with his victory.

Sirius was giving the man a small frown and shifted his weight upright a bit more.

Anna strummed on her guitar. "Wait! Wait! You Motherfucker! We challenge you to a rock off!" The fact that there was a running, live radio broadcast going hadn't escaped her. The rest of her band hadn't seemed to notice, as they were on the opposite side of the table, along the wall and blocked from view by the line. "Give us one chance to rock your socks off!" The whole group turned to look at her and she gave them a wild, evil grin as she pointed at them. "Or are you afraid of a little girl?"

"We're famous kid. You don't know..." The redhead in the middle of the table spoke up. He seemed calm less interested in the distraction than his band mates.

"I've got a hundred in gold, that says I'm better than you." She didn't seem worried about being rude to them as she cut him off and tossed a bag of coins on the counter.

"Hey!" Her guardian's head whipped around to glare at her. "No gambling."

She shuffled over to his side and frowned at him as she narrowed her eyes and hissed at him in a whisper. "See that table over there?" She glanced towards the radio table. They had cut their broadcast to go live almost as soon as the kids started playing the first time.

The man's eyes narrowed and a sly looking grin formed on his face. "Worth the money then is it?"

"Yeah. Give in." She was doing her best to look adorable. The redhead did a fair job of it.

He sighed and nodded. "Fine. I don't want you making bets."

"Just taking advantage of the moment." She didn't seem like she was thinking much about the money, or his warning.

A rather squat looking wizard with a balding head with slicked back hair stepped in between them. "If you can beat em, I'll buy your instruments. Keep the gold. It'd look bad if we took it."

"If we win, we play as tonight's closing act, for as long as we want. You don't wanna play after us. Trust me." Anna amended with a small chuckle as she pulled her pick across the strings and rolled her eyes a little.

The rest of her band was looking at her with wide eyes. Melvin's drumsticks clattered to the ground around his seat. He got an odd grin on his face as he looked over at the huge crowd of young girls and parents. Rock and roll was awesome. The Mad Magicians concert would be a total babe fest. It was the only crowd they attracted. Well, hot girls, and weird effeminate dudes. He could deal with it. He'd heard the boy band before, a lot of girls at Hogwarts liked them, and he knew they had no shot of beating 'The D'.

Sirius was on his feet and looking at her. He gave a small frown and seemed to think about it. His eyes settled on the large group of irate looking twelve to fourteen year old girls that was forming. Anna had a few parents on her side already, but they were a distinct minority. She looked back at him and he realized the band manager was doing the same. He gave a small sigh and hung his head a little before nodding. It didn't look like she was going to win over the crowd.

"Deal. You can play as long as you want, if you can beat 'em." The band members were looking up at him with wide eyes. He turned and leaned in to them. "Shut up and do it. One stupid song should be enough. You've got the crowd remember? We'll let her do a song regardless, do that Metal thing again or something at the show tonight and send her on her way. Send her home happy. Net us some good PR, and sell more tickets. Be nice, we're live." He gave a false looking smile that told them he didn't care much what they thought of the matter and turned away.

They all looked at each other and grinned before looking back at the crowd. The line had dispersed inside and filled the front of the store with onlookers.

"I'll hold you to that." Anna was very pleased with the new development. The most she had been hoping for was a few songs at the end.

"I think I'm beginning to see what Dumbledore was on about." Sirius had a grin on his face as he looked at the Potter twins. He was leaning with the owner against the counter. He noticed the WWN was getting into broadcasting the event. "I've heard good things about the group. I'm not sure I trust Dumbledore's taste in music though."

"Kid's got guts." The owner nodded and seemed pleased. It was a lot less boring than he'd thought it'd be. There were a few parents in the crowd of a similar mind. The other band had started collecting instruments in the same manner.

"We'll go first!" announced the black haired member of the boy band. He was the lead vocalist. They moved over to another drum set, a little to the right of Melvin, and hooked up their instruments in front of it. The brunet moved behind the drums, with the redhead on bass guitar.

Anna almost winced in pain as they started playing. It wasn't that they were bad, it was the fact that they were an obvious attempt to ensnare girls her age. The song was called 'Mad Witch Love'. Most of the younger girls were screaming and jumping around, a few of the older women thought it was nice. There were also a few boys who were a little too into it, and a lot of annoyed fathers, and a few brothers who hadn't escaped to other nearby stores. There was lots of crooning, and the riff was rather soft.

"All right, Yank, let's see what you've got then." The blond gave a small snort as he pushed his guitar to his side with a satisfied looking grin on his face.

The little redhead glared at them and started playing. "Who are you calling a Yank?" She put a bit of British accent into her voice and looked quite stuffy as she said it.

The younger band played AC/DC's 'Stiff Upper Lip'. When they were finished, most of what had once been annoyed looking fathers and brothers had impressed looks on their faces. There were a few girls who seemed impressed as well, but most of them looked angry. "That all you got?" The redhead snapped at the rival band.

The boy band was looking rather stunned. "Right! We'll do the new one!"

"Desperate already?" Anna was looking at her nails. "The D will crush you, if you continue."

The song ended and the redhead gave a small nod. It was a little better than she'd expected. She leaned in towards the band. "Suggestions?"

Margaret sighed and looked away. Melvin had an evil looking grin on his face and held his drumsticks ready.

Harry started playing Aerosmith's 'Sweet Emotion'.

The wizard band was looking a bit nervous, and trying hard to hide it. They got their confidence back as the girl's all squealed and quite a few started singing along with the next sappy ballad song. The crowd seemed conflicted and the contest had ended up a stalemate so far.

The D responded with more AC/DC, 'Problem Child'. Sirius Black found himself shifting around in discomfort a little. He was very impressed, and had enjoyed the song, but something about it was making him feel uneasy.

The Mad Magicians kept to their formula and played yet another sappy ballad song that all the young girls in the room could sing along with. They looked assured of their victory, but the children were good enough that they were still a bit too close to call.

Anna huddled up with the rest of her band around the drum set. "All right. We need those squealing tarts to win this. There aren't enough normal people here. Harry, you're up."

"Aw man." He hung his head and nodded.

Anna slapped his shoulder and looked a bit sympathetic. "Sorry. I've been letting you get away with avoiding it. We've got to show them we can do what they do better than they can."

Margaret's lip turned up a little. "Squealing tarts?"

She glared over her shoulders at the crowd of mostly young girls around the same age as herself and the band. "All I see is a cloud of estrogen. We can worry about rocking after we win."

"Hey. I'm all for it!" Melvin was pleased. "Harry may be the leading man, but the girls like me more when we do those songs too!"

"When did you become such an idiot? It wasn't not doing the songs that made them like you less, toad." His sister glared at him and stomped her foot down on his toes. "Pervert. I heard about what happened to you before the holiday. The peeping I can vaguely understand, but why on earth you had a cauldron of noodles..."

"Ow! Hey!" He seemed to calm a little. "I was trying to transfigure a mirror so I could see around the corner, but I was hungry..." The dark haired boy's cheeks flushed a little. The situation had only gotten worse after that.

"Don't worry Harry. You'll be getting your pubes soon too!" Anna slapped him on his shoulder again and jerked her thumb back towards the crowd. "It's not so bad. You're gonna do 'Pretty Woman'. I wish Pansy was here. 'Glory of Love' or 'Everything I do' would flatten them, but neither one sounds right without the piano."

The boy rubbed at his scar a little as he glared at her. "Fine." He felt better almost as soon as he'd agreed. Girls did seem to like it after all, even if it was a bit more than he was comfortable with. He didn't want to admit it, but he wanted to win.

It didn't take long for most of the girls were screaming just as loud as they did for the band they'd come to see. As the boy who lived played the will of the collective hormones broke. It was rather sudden, as while fierce, it was also very brittle. Halfway through the song they were enthralled at how adorable he was at various levels.

"Why do I get the feeling I just blew the rest of my night coming here?" Sirius didn't look that upset about it as he kept leaning next to the owner. He didn't even notice the grin that had formed on his face.

The older band responded with an impressive tune and the younger group all looked a little surprised. "That one is off our next album." The blond man seemed confident. The rest of his band was looking at him in surprise. The redhead and brunet glanced over at their manager.

Anna noticed the manager frowning at them while they played. He looked annoyed at the blond man, and glanced over his shoulder at the broadcasting table. The DJs had gone silent and everyone was focused on the contest. It was a good song, and had more style than she'd expected. It was a pure rock song, not a love ballad.

"Impressive, most impressive." Anna seemed thoughtful. The dorks in front of her shouldn't have rocked so hard. She'd have been nicer if she'd known, a little.

"Unfortunately, we're the greatest band who ever lived." Harry was almost beaming as he said it.

The girl seemed a little surprised, but pleased with him. "Right. Hey, Uncle Sirius, I wrote you a song too!"

"I want lead." Harry leaned into his sister's shoulder.

The man looked surprised, pleased, and interested as he perked up a little after she said it. "Huh? Really now."

"Fine" She was having fun, and he knew the song. The boy started playing Ozzy Ozborne's 'Bark at the Moon' and the rest of the band jumped in with him. It was obvious during the opening chords that it was the final blow on the Mad Magicians. The group hung their collective heads and slumped their shoulders. They were all staring at the ground with wide eyes, none of them looked that upset about it, but it was embarrassing. Both Potter children had discovered that the force lent itself well to guitar. However they had never really done what they did when they reached the guitar solo portion of the song. They were both playing it, but with a rather dazed expression that had settled on their eyes as the Force took over. Neither one seemed to be paying attention to anything around them. The crowd had gone silent and even their own band had stopped playing.

The pair went on for about five minutes. When they stopped you could have heard a pin drop.

"That was pretty cool." Harry was pleased with himself. "I think." He realized he couldn't remember much about what he was doing, and had no idea how it had sounded.

Anna was looking at the crowd in a somewhat stunned state that was hidden behind an almost evil smirk. It was dead silent, everyone was looking at the band, even the other band. She noticed the drummers drumsticks were on the floor. If she'd bothered to look back she'd have seen the rest of her band was in much the same condition. The worst thing about it was that she had no idea how it had come about. She'd just lost about five minutes, though she wasn't sure how much time had gone by. Her fearless grin was still plastered on her face, and was about ready to fall away.

"Th...that was amazing." Her head turned to see Sirius looking at the two of them with wide eyes and a stunned look of awe. He took a staggering step away from the counter. The old man who owned the place looked just as shocked as everyone else.

A roar much louder than the crowd before her should have been able to generate erupted in front of her. It only took a moment before her expression wasn't a mask any longer. "Well. I guess we win then, huh?"

The manager had a slacked jaw. He looked over at the radio broadcast table and seemed to realize that the whole mess had been broadcast over the WWN. He couldn't back down from the deal, and he wasn't really that unhappy about it. He could make millions, give the brat an image overhaul, put a couple of boys with her brother, get rid of the rest of the band. The Mad Magicians were almost through anyway, they had maybe a year or two of life left in them at most. The young group in front of him had ten good years easy.

Anna was following his train of thought as she moved towards Sirius by the register. "I see." She'd been thinking of taking advantage of his service, and had no problem checking up on the subject with her power.

Harry had a large group in front of him shoving pens at him along with Melvin and Margaret.

"I wish Pansy was here." Margaret snatched her brother's pen away from him and shoved a disappointed looking girl's notepad into his hands instead of where he'd been going with them.

"Hey." He didn't look pleased. "That would have been cool."

"Behave. There are parents in the crowd," she hissed and stomped his foot again.

"Keep this up and you'll carry me out of here." He handed the autograph book back to the girl and frowned.

Anna walked over to the counter and put the guitar on the counter top. "You might want to put these instruments away for a while. They'll be worth more in a little bit." She turned around and got a small start as she realized that the whole band was signing autographs, and there was a growing crowd with things to sign and pens behind her. "Oh. Hi. Did I rock you too hard? I'm sorry."

The group of men from the band moved over to the youth group and looked rather humbled. "Who are you?" asked the blond.

Harry smiled up at them and grinned. "We're on a mission from, God." He turned away to sign a few more autographs.

"We told you, we're Tenacious D. We're the greatest band in Rock History. Well, most of it. Our keyboardist is with her family for the holiday." The girl seemed pleased with herself as she signed an older boy's hat for him. "I'm gonna have to try and pick her up tonight. I hope she can make it, we rock much harder with all of us." If she couldn't make it, Anna was thinking of ways to kidnap her. She hoped her parents were weak willed enough to control if needed, and wondered how upset her brother would get if it came down to it. She didn't want to upset them and negotiation was her best option. With any luck, Pansy would take care of it on her own once she was told of it.

The brunet member of the boy band had gotten an autograph book from a fan with their signatures on it. They were still doing signings as well, though the line had become more of an almost impatient mob by that point. The line was settling back in, and Tenacious D was noticing their line was getting rather long as well. They had formed one of their own. The two guitarist behind the shorter girl looked a little pensive. The black haired boy was the only one who looked to be enjoying it as much as the little redhead.

"Potter? You're the Potter twins?!" Every member of the older band turned to look at their brunet member, and then back at the children again.

"Yeah. Pretty cool huh? Destroyers of evil, and we rock ass. It's awesome." Anna could feel her brother become annoyed. His hair was growing out, so his scar was no longer visible.

"Destroyers?" Margaret asked as she arched her eyebrows and turned her eyes towards the redhead. She had the faintest hints of a smirk on her face.

"Heh." Anna scratched her head and grinned at her.

The manager walked up to his band and gave a small shrug. "Well, I'm sorry guys, but this is the only time you'll ever have em as an under card. If you play with them again, I've got a feeling you'll be the under card." He slapped the lead singer on the shoulder and only got a rather numb nod from him in reply. The man didn't notice it as he walked away again.

Anna walked up to him, signing as she went with her line shifting with her. "You guys aren't bad or anything. You can still save your band."

"Huh?" The blond looked a lot more interested in what she had to say than the others, and that was saying a lot.

"Stop pandering to this demographic crap. That guy is gonna sink your career. I won't be signing with him. He's one of those formula jerks. You've got a big enough fan base, you can stop playing drivel and rock like you know you want too." She looked at the guitar player and drummer. "Some of you are holding back, so you can sell your fan base. In two years, those girls will have moved on to the next set of poor saps like you. They'll probably denounce you in embarrassment. You've got a name and a reputation now. It's time to move up to someone who will give you a bit more freedom. That one's making a killing off of you, and he'll toss you aside like trash when he's finished without batting an eye. Do what's best for yourselves and return the favor. Being loyal is nice and all, but he won't return the favor."

The whole band was looking down at her with somewhat slacked jaws. None of them looked angry, but they were a little dumbstruck at the advice.

"Tell, me something. You've got more songs like that unreleased tune? Stuff you haven't been using because of him, and his 'demographic' crap?" She looked more like she was chatting to the fans to anyone looking on. The male group had their attention on her and odd looks had crossed their features. Some looked more pleased about it than others.

The blond guitarist spoke up. "Yeah. A bit." It looked and sounded like he had more than a little in mind.

The others were looking at him, some of them were worried about where the conversation was going. It was obvious it was something that had been discussed within the band at some point.

"Tonight, do your top three, and don't play anything but the stuff you've been holding back after that. You do rock much harder than I expected. Wouldn't it be nice to have fans old enough to enjoy?" She turned her eyes towards Melvin. He'd gotten away from his sister by putting Harry between them, and was signing a sixteen year old girl's cleavage.

"Why should we listen to you?" the redhead seemed less impressed than his band mates. The black haired man stroked his beard and looked a bit more irate with her than the others. The brunet and blond didn't care much for the older balding man already from the look of things.

"Because, I'm a natural Legilimens. He's already thinking about splitting me and my brother up and dumping the rest of the band. Thinks he'll be making millions soon. Vampire. I wouldn't sign with him if he could sell out Wembley with me." She looked irate with him. "Trust me on this. He's holding you back, and he'll toss you aside like a used tissue when he's finished. It'll be too late for you by then. He's starting to plan my wardrobe changes already. Ugh, things like what to play and how to dress should be up to the band. Screw everyone else, this is rock. Think about it. I'll bet a few things will start adding up if you do."

That got a definite reaction from the group in front of her. They were all looking at the balding man in various states of anger. He had made them wealthy so there wasn't too much heat in it.

"It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll. I'll be seeing you." She shuffled back a bit closer to her Uncle and friends.

Sirius had taken notice of the conversation, but didn't seem worried. He moved up to her side and put his hand on her shoulder as she put a pack of 'never tune' strings on the counter. "What was that about?"

"Nothing. Don't listen to him." She nodded towards the bald man. "We're better off without him, no matter how he makes it sound. I'm not working for him. So don't sign anything."

Sirius shrugged. "Okay." The man seemed rather slick, and he was hoping it would be a short meeting. He would have to speak to him at some point, and had a feeling he was going to try and pitch him. "You wrote that song for me?" He arched his eyebrow a bit and felt his cheeks flush.

The girl shrugged. "Sure. Fits, don't ya think? I'm not sure Remus will like it though." She seemed to think about it. "I was thinking a bit of him as well."

Her Uncle gave her a small frown. "I suppose not. It was a good song, by the way. I wasn't expecting this to take up the whole evening."

"Sorry. Gotta take advantage of the opportune moment and all." She didn't seem very sorry, but the man found himself not minding much.

The girl's guardian frowned a little as the squat manager approached with a grin on his face. The bald man extended his hand and spoke up. "Hi. I guess you've got plans this evening?"

OooOOooOO

Ron Weasley smiled at his brothers in the Griffindor common room. He'd gotten a package from Harry, with a note on the side telling him he needn't worry about waiting to open his presents.

He was a lone with Fred and George. Percy was taking care of some of his duties as Head Boy of the house. The Head Boy and Head Girl always remained behind over the holiday break and helped the faculty keep an eye on the students that remained at the school. It was a lazy time for everyone, but there did need to be some level of supervision.

"What have you got there Ron?" George leaned in over his brother with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Yeah. A present?" Fred was curious as well. It was a round box about a foot and a half wide.

"Harry sent me something for Christmas. Nice of him." Ron looked pleased and was enjoying being the focus of attention in the room as he opened the package. He lifted the lid and blinked in a bit of surprise. Inside the box was a hat. He pulled it out and gave it a look over. It was a brown fedora with a tag hanging from the side on a string. Ron looked at it and read it aloud. "Guaranteed to fit anyone, and stay in place in any weather." It was enchanted. "Hey. It's one of those hats that you have to take on or off yourself." He seemed pleased as he put it onto his head and found it to be a perfect fit. "I'll never outgrow it either. Odd style though." He'd never seen such a hat before. The first year boy had heard about hats like it, but it was an expense beyond his family.

Fred and George were both looking at him with their hands on their chins, appraising him. They both blinked in surprise. "That's a..."

"...good look for you."

"Really? You think it suits me?" Ron looked up at them to make sure they weren't poking fun at him. His attention wavered as he looked down into the box and noticed another note. He lifted it up and read it aloud. "Ron. Anna wouldn't let me send you this hat without it. I've got no idea why. Enjoy, but be careful with it." It was at that point he noticed something else in the box. He reached inside and pulled out a leather whip that was coiled up on the bottom. "A whip?" He was confused, but accepted it.

"That girl is so odd." Fred looked perplexed.

"She sent us T-shirts." George smiled at his brother and held up a black T-shirt. It had a demon bent over with it's rear forward printed on the front. 'The words Tenacious D' were written on the ass cheeks.

"We'll never wear them though." Fred smiled a bit wider.

Their youngest brother looked confused at that. "Why not? I thought you got on well with..."

The demon on the shirt George was holding up farted, sending a small cloud of pungent green gas into the air.

Ron coughed with his brothers as they tried their best to wave the vapors away. "Oh! Gross!"

"It's probably the best Christmas gift we've ever gotten." Fred seemed quite pleased. George was too busy fending off the resulting odor to agree, but seemed pleased despite his struggle with the stench.

OooOOooOO

To be continued...

Next Time: Heavy Metal Christmas 2: Return of the Suck.


	12. Chapter 12

A matter of force.

Part 12 Ironic, isn't it?

Matter of force Christmas Special: Rockin Around the Christmas Tree.

OooOOooOO

Pansy was giving her piano instructor the biggest grin the woman had ever seen. Her mother was an attractive tall blond woman in a slim cut, but both comfortable and elegant looking, black dress. She was standing behind her daughter holding onto her shoulders to keep her in place and behaved in the woman's presence. She was a firm woman, much like Snape in her mannerisms and ideas of respect. The old woman was spindly and almost as tall as her mother. She had a not quite forced looking smile on her face as she handed the girl her Christmas gift. It wasn't wrapped, and the girl found a book filled with classical music shoved into her chest gently. It was a thick and heavy volume.

Her tutor turned her nose up and spoke in a serious tone. "By the time you have finished my course, you will be able to play all these great masterpieces. I feel you are old enough to begin your understanding of..."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Awesome! I'm gonna go try it now!" She accepted the gift and turned away running towards the piano.

The reaction surprised both adults and her mother didn't try to stop her. The younger woman wasn't sure if she should be embarrassed or cross with the girl. There was a bit of clattering as the girl lifted the lid off the keys and opened the side of the piano. The volume was opened and sitting on stand mounted over they keys. The girl plopped herself down and looked at the page for a long moment.

"Really. I wasn't expecting such enthusiasm from..." The girl had managed to get her instructor to have a few dry sounding chuckles.

"Forgive me if I might sound rude, but I wasn't aware she'd grown to appreciate the lessons myself. I didn't think I'd be glad I took the effort of investing in Hogwarts so soon." Her mother seemed pleased with herself over her daughter's sudden change in behavior.

That was when what they were hearing hit them both. They both had rather wide eyed expressions on their faces as they slowly turned their heads towards the piano and the girl sitting behind it.

Pansy had her eyes closed and was almost leaning over the keys as she banged her head to one of the older composers in her world's history. She'd picked a strong piece with a fast tempo, and was playing it far better than her instructor could hope too.

The old woman had also instructed her mother when she was young. It was something of a family tradition amongst the women in her family. She hadn't played since her teens, but knew enough to realize what her daughter was doing. "Pansy dear?"

"Yes, Mum?" The blond looked up at her and grinned. She was enjoying showing off and didn't stop playing as she spoke.

Her mother sat down next to her and put her arm across her shoulders. Pansy kept her eyes on the page and didn't miss a beat as she continued to play. She managed to reach up and turn the page without interrupting the song. "Didn't you say something about joining some sort of band at school?"

"Yes, Mum." Her daughter was almost beaming.

"Do you think you could play anything in that book?" The old woman was almost shaking and looked a bit like she was having trouble believing what she was seeing.

Pansy nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. No problem."

Her mother sat down beside her and put her hand on her shoulder. "This is because of that Potter girl isn't it?"

"Yes. Mum." The girl nodded.

The old woman narrowed her eyes a bit. "Potter girl?"

Pansy's mother looked up at her and sighed. "It seems I no longer have need of your service. Thank you, please take my daughter off your schedule."

"I see." The old woman didn't seem very upset. "Might I inquire what sort of 'band' this is?"

"We're the greatest band in Rock History, Ma'am." Pansy kept to her expected tone of response throughout the conversation. Thought, it was easy to see she was pleased with herself. Anna had given her a way to get out of piano lessons forever. She felt as if she should be eternally grateful to the girl.

"Rock?" The old woman's face went a bit sour. "Well. I expect great things from you. Please, do not disappoint."

"That shouldn't be a problem, Ma'am. Thank you for the gift. I really do like it. The band I'm in, we rock, but we do all sorts of other things too. I'm sure I'll find it useful." She looked quite pleased with herself.

A knock came at the door. All three of the room's occupants turned towards it. As a collective group they went to inspect the new visitors. The old woman was gathering her things as Pansy and her mother opened the door.

"Anna?" Pansy's eyes went a little wide. She wasn't expecting to see the girl before they returned to school.

"Hello. I think it's best of she explains." The man standing with the group of four young children spoke to the girl's mother. She was looking at Sirius for an answer, and turned to look at the redhead.

"Can I help you?" She pushed the door open as the old woman ushered by the group with a small but fleeting frown on her face.

"We're friends of Pansy's from Hogwarts. We need to borrow your daughter for the evening." The redhead turned her attention towards the young girl who was looking at her in bewilderment. "Pansy, do you like Mad Magicians?"

"Of course she does. How do you think I knew who they were?" Margaret had her arms crossed and looked away as if uninterested in what was going on.

Melvin and Harry were both rather zoned out staring at the tall voluptuous blond woman. Sirius had experience with attractive women before and wasn't quite so obvious. It had been a long time though, and he was having a little difficulty with it. They had all taken up a position to allow the females to do the negotiating.

Pansy grew irate with the girl. "Stop posing! You've got three CDs in your drawer at Hogwarts. Two of them are Mad Magicians! You like them as much as..." She cut herself off and quite suddenly returned her attention to the redhead. "You've got tickets to the concert tonight, don't you?"

"Well, they expect us to be there." The redhead looked up at her mother after she nodded and said it. "We kind of need her."

"Please!" Pansy fell to her knees at her mothers feet and clutched at her dress. "You can keep all my presents!"

"Yeah. We're expected to play as the closing act for them tonight. We'd really like to have her. You can come along if you'd like." Anna was talking to the woman's mother.

"And what of you? Mr?" The blond woman looked at Sirius and frowned a bit.

The man moved his hand up as if to tip a hat that wasn't there. "Black. Sirius Black. I'm afraid I've recently landed this group in my charge. Forgive if I seem a bit inept. I'm a little new to the age. I was planning on taken them to the show, and they insisted that we stop by first to at least make the offer."

"Really? I don't see why not." The woman's lips turned up in an ever so slight smile. The look in her eyes changed in a rather dramatic fashion, and she seemed much more welcoming. Sirius didn't move, but swallowed a bit.

Melvin grabbed Harry's shoulder. "Man. He's so gonna get laid."

Harry was looking at the woman with wide eyes and a somewhat dumbstruck expression. "I uh, yeah...I'm pretty sure."

Anna was a bit surprised as well and gave the woman a blank looking glance. It came with an emotional backlash she wasn't expecting and her knees grew a little weak. "Whoa."

Pansy hadn't moved since Anna's announcement that she would soon be sharing the stage with her favorite band.

"I think she's stuck." Margaret was poking her in the cheek a bit.

"Um, Pansy, is your mom single?" Anna was looking over her shoulder at Sirius.

"No. Father isn't around much though. He's in Germany now, he travels around on business quite a bit." The blond seemed to come out of her dazed state. "Um, did you just say that we'll be playing with the Mad Magicians tonight?"

"Odd question, I suppose it did snap her out if it though." Margaret looked suspicious of the redhead.

"Well, we play after them. I'd like to get there early. I think I might have talked them into playing a bunch of new stuff tonight."

"You are so awesome! I'm so lucky we're friends!" The blond had the redhead and black haired girl in a rough hug.

"Are you crying?" Melvin looked a little confused by the scene.

"Melvin, just let it go." Harry was shaking his head as all three of the girls gave him a dark looking glare.

"Hey! I wasn't poking fun or anything! Lay off!" He seemed irate with the three of them in retort.

OooOOooOO

It didn't take the group long to get to the stadium. They were ushered onto the grounds by a few crews with the broadcasting radio station. The instruments they'd used at the store, plus a keyboard for Pansy, were already there and waiting to be set up after the Magician's set. The show had not yet started, and the manager from their group was giving Sirius dark glares and avoiding looking at them.

A tall slim man approached them. He had slicked back hair, but was starting to bald. His goatee was black with a few flecks of gray beginning to take hold. He gave a clip board to who he assumed were the parents. "We'll be needing you to sign..." The redhead reached up and grabbed the sheets. She looked them over. "Waver...cool." She took three sheets off the bottom and ripped them to shreds.

The man grinned at her and shook his head a bit. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. You want to manage my band?" The redhead smiled at him and handed back the clip board to an only slightly annoyed looking Sirius. "You're working for him now aren't you? Did you say your name was Rufus?"

The slim man nodded, not noticing that he hadn't told her his name. "Was it obvious?"

Harry and the other children were watching just off stage as the older band took the stage. The noise was staggering. It was a packed stadium, full of both Muggle and Wizard fans. There were exclusive wizarding bands, but most played and wrote songs with Muggle concerts in mind. Pansy and Margaret were sitting almost huddled together looking almost horrified with excitement as they stared out at the band on stage. He turned his head and looked surprised to find Anna talking with Sirius, Mrs. Parkinson, and the slick manager's friend. He shook his head and squinted his eyes. The show had started, and he couldn't speak to anyone who wasn't standing next to him. Melvin was his only choice. "Hey. Doesn't that guy look familiar?"

"Hey! What's Rufus doing here?" Melvin seemed confused and looked at his friend. He was more interested in the crowd than what was going on on stage. It was a very impressive view and he had a hard time turning his eyes away. He liked the man, but had only met him a few brief times.

"Oh. Never mind." Harry noticed his sister look towards him and give him a thumbs up. There was a bit of signing going on between the adults.

OooOOooOO

It was a long show for the older band. The fat bald manager looked to be having a heart attack, he was livid with his band. He rushed up and started screaming obscenities at them the moment they came off stage. The fans were screaming in the wake of their exit, and thus the children were spared hearing most of it. They tossed towels over their shoulders and looked rather smug as they told him something that sent him off the deep end. His face had gone red and he was clenching his teeth as he sat and pouted about it grumbling to himself as they walked away.

The children and their parents could still see what was going on with no problem, but had taken a bit of distance between themselves and the stage. They were near the dressing rooms, watching the squat man's meltdown as his band defied him and played only two songs from their currently released albums. It was still easy enough to hear the music, and it seemed to calm the children down a little.

Pansy was leaning on Anna's shoulder. "Please! Can we play some of that stuff? You know, the stuff we never play for anyone? I know you want to rock, but just a few! It's awesome!"

"I do like some of those songs. I agree we should toss a couple in." Margaret was on her other side, but not hanging from her like the blond girl.

"We don't have any problem. Right Melvin?" Harry looked at the other male.

"I don't care what we play. I'm here for the women. Oh, and the money too," agreed the other boy.

The shortest girl looked surprised. "Sure. You don't have to beg you know. What brought this on? Have I ever said 'no' to something like this before?"

"The concert is over. You're on." Sirius spoke up and pointed towards the stage. Both adults were watching the group with more than average interest. It was easy to tell most of them were nervous. Harry and Anna exuded extreme confidence though. It seemed to keep the others stable.

The blond girl's eyes went very wide as she looked up at the dark haired band leader as they moved to pass by each other.

The man looked towards the young redhead. "Hey kid. Thanks for the advice. Felt better than I'd thought it would."

The girl shrugged. "Talk to Rufus, he's just gone independent as well. He'll be a better manager than his old boss could ever dream of being."

The two groups passed as Tenacious D made it's way to the edge of the stage.

Harry and Melvin took up the back of the group, with Pansy, and Margaret taking up the front. Anna was in the middle.

"I...Uh, don't know if I can do this..." Pansy tried to turn around, and Margaret with her. Anna pushed them both out in front of her.

There was a small cheer in the crowd, a great many of them were surprised to see anyone else on stage at all. Many people were starting to leave, but most stopped and returned to their seats as they realized there was more show to be had.

The redhead walked up to the microphone and almost screamed at the crowd. "Sit back down! All of you! We're the greatest band in Rock History! Tenacious D! The show isn't over yet! If you thought all that new Mad Magicians stuff was awesome, you ain't heard nothing yet!"

The redhead kept her grin as the crowd gave a good natured chuckle in response.

Anna Potter looked at her friends and plucked at her strings in a final check with all her friends doing pretty much the same thing behind her. "Come on girls." Pansy chimed in with the first few bars of the song. The little redhead thought nothing of opening up her show with Madonna 'Express Yourself' 'Vogue' 'Material Girl' and a few other near rock pop songs. The crowd was predominantly female, and she felt it best if she eased them into some of the more hard rock songs. They would do a few rock ballads, and then metal the hell out of any dudes that managed to survive.

Tenacious D put on a two and a half hour show that covered just about everything they'd played at Hogwarts.

As Anna Potter walked off stage she handed several cassette tapes to Rufus who was standing by to greet them. "Our first three or four albums."

He almost dropped them and was looking at the group with his jaw working. He, like much of the audience, had been treated to about ten of the best extended guitar solos he'd ever heard. "Are you sure you want me to be your manager? I just did most of the paperwork. I was nothing but his apprentice until you got me fired."

"How hard do you think it will be to sell that?" Harry seemed a bit miffed at the idea.

"He's got a point." Melvin seemed to agree.

"Everything all right then?" Sirius Black looked to be having the time of his life. His collar was undone, and had a bit of red on the left side. Pansy's mother was hanging off his back rubbing at his chest with her hand.

Pansy and Anna were both staring up at the scene. "Oh boy." It made the redhead a little nervous to see it and know that Pansy was right next to her.

"Nuts." The blond girl looked just as annoyed, but neither one noticed the other.

"Are you two all right?" Margaret seemed confused, and was still coming down from the rush she'd gotten. The public hadn't made its way back stage just yet. "I think Sirius wants us to leave before the mob arrives. He seems to be in a hurry."

Melvin was off to the side with Harry. "We should help him."

"No. Let it be. He's got all the help he needs all ready." The boy who lived frowned at his friend a bit. "I'm too tired for this. I didn't think she'd make us go for two hours."

The group wasn't moving very fast as they walked away from the stage entrance. Sooner or later, they would have to push through a mob, but where they were was pretty much populated by concert crews. The Mad Magicians were waiting for them a short way down the hall.

They all had rather stunned expressions on their faces.

The blond was the first to speak up. "I'm glad you asked to play after us."

"That was amazing. We didn't think you'd play for so long," agreed the redhead.

"Well, we are the greatest band in the world." Anna seemed pleased at the praise and puffed her chest out.

"I believe it." The lead singer sighed and hung his head, but still seemed to be of good cheer about the whole affair. The fans in the stadium were still cheering.

"Well, the crowd is still out there. Want to jam?" Harry was grinning from ear to ear. "I've got one more in me."

Anna turned to look at him with a surprised expression on her face. Pansy looked about ready to pass out, she'd yet to work up the nerve to speak up to any of them. Melvin and Margaret shrugged at each other and looked at the other band. "Cool."

"We haven't got anything to play." The lead singer seemed surprised as well, but none of the other band seemed to think it was a bad idea.

"I've got an idea." The mouse haired boy pulled his guitar up. "We're gonna do that single of yours. Mad Witch Love. We're going to up the beat a bit though." He turned to look at his band. "You know that song 'Not Going Away' ?"

Melvin was nodding his head a little as he thought about it. "Hey. That'll work."

Anna was a little confused, but shrugged. "Your show then. I'll help out with vocals on the chorus. It's the only part of the song I know." She looked at the blond. "You can do rhythm right? It's a simple heavy riff." She played the chords for him.

The older band looked at each other and then back at her.

The group headed for the stage. The crowd reacted as they should, and tons of flash bulbs lit up the stadium all at once as they all came out together.

They played the other band's song, with an Ozzy twist. Anna was surprised at how well it worked, her brother did another long solo, and when the song ended, both bands bowed and exited.

OooOOooOO

A short time later, both bands were walking towards the dressing rooms in a small hallway. Tenacious D wasn't expected and had no room of their own. They were in front of the double doors that led into the hall.

"Here we go. Hope you kids can handle this." The brunette member of the band looked back at the group. The others were preening themselves to some degree and trying to loosen up a bit.

Anna looked at her brother. They were standing just behind the older group. "Harry, remember when I told you that you were going to have to adjust to certain things a while ago?"

"Which time?" The boy who lived looked a little confused as he thought about it.

"Well, I hope you were listening." The redhead gave a small snicker behind his back as she shoved him ahead of her as the older group opened the doors.

"To wha..." He froze and looked at the wall of fans being held back. A small trickle of them as getting past security, brandishing their back stage passes at anyone they moved by. Harry Potter couldn't move. He turned his eyes back towards the blond woman hanging back with Sirius. They were standing next to each other watching the events unfold with a bit of bewilderment. As the first groups of girls began to build up around the band, there were a few boys as well, but the crowd was dominated by young girls in the stadium and even more so in the back stage area. He was getting the same vibe from them that the blond woman was giving Sirius from the moment he told her his name. "Oh."

Anna was a bit surprised at the mob of girls around her as well. They were giving her a very different vibe than she was familiar with from other girls. "Um, hi." She found herself swarmed and bombarded with questions.

"You're awesome! Are you the band leader?"

"I was sitting next to the television broadcast. They're calling you the 'Material Girl'. It's so cool!"

"I've never seen a girl who could play so well!"

It was quite an excitable group and they were all jumping up and down. They looked a little too happy to meet her, but it wasn't a sexual connection. "Material Girl?" Anna's eye was twitching a little as she signed things on an almost subconscious level.

She was adjusting to the new feeling as the group filled the hall around them. The Mad Magicians were doing the same thing in their dressing room. The children didn't have a room of their own, and needed to navigate the crowd to leave. They were pretty much pinned where they were for a time. The adults seemed to realize this, and took up a position nearby against a wall. They'd spent almost the entire concert beside each other, and seemed to be having a good time of talking with each other about what was happening with the children.

The redhead was preoccupying herself with being labeled the 'Material Girl' as she continued to smile and sign. "Three stupid songs, what the hell? I should have known better. Dang. Wait. There was a television broadcast?" It took her a moment to realize it and she got a rather blank stare from a few somewhat dazed looking fans.

The fourteen year old in front of her smiled as she took her book back. "Yes. The concert was a Holiday Special on the BBC."

Anna lost a little bit of color. "It...it was?"

"You didn't see the cameras?" The girl looked a bit surprised.

The redhead seemed to think about that for a moment. "You know. I know we're the greatest band in Rock History and all, but..."

The girls around her seemed confused.

"I was expecting it to take a bit more...time." The redhead shrugged and kept smiling. "Oh well."

A small group of girls she'd already signed for moved up to her. They were giving her wide eyed stares and most of them were clutching their autograph books to their chests. More than one of them was looking down at what was written there.

A brunette girl in the front spoke up. "Wait. Y-you're Anna Potter?"

The redhead's face fell a little. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"R-really?" A younger girl with short blond hair piped up.

"Yeah. Harry's over there. I'm sure he won't mind signing your books if he hasn't already. We just can't help it I suppose. If I'm going to be famous regardless, might as well make the most of it." She seemed quite pleasant as she said it.

The group dissolved after that, many looking more than a bit surprised. Most of them started towards her brother. The crowd was thinned enough moving through the hall was much less difficult.

Harry Potter was standing with Melvin, doing much the same thing as his sister. Margaret was with Pansy on the opposite wall glaring at her brother over the crowd on occasion.

Harry had noted that there were a lot of girls without bras getting their chest signed. In the end, he'd relented. He'd signed a few, but only touched them with the pen. Melvin had no such inhibitions, and was enjoying every moment. The Potter boy had no idea he was so adorable. Anna hadn't mentioned anything about him being as cute as the emotional state of the girls around him seemed to point too. It didn't help that they were telling them both how amazing and cute they both were.

After handing the autograph book of the next girl back, he was a bit surprised when an excited and very cute twelve year old planted both her lips on his and rushed away. He flushed a little and shook his head. It wasn't his first kiss, it had happened about six times up to that point. He was kind of expecting his first kiss to be a singular event.

"Harry. I'm not sure how to put this, but...we're the coolest people we know now. I've never had that before." Melvin looked quite serious as he said it. "Now what?"

"I guess we rock? I don't know." Harry shrugged and kept going.

OooOOooOO

A short time later, outside the stadium, the group of rather tired looking children was being trailed by two drowsy adults. All of the children had cramps in their hands. Margaret looked a bit disheveled and was glaring daggers at her brother when she did look at him.

Pansy was walking with her mother, the woman was almost hugging her as her arms draped over her shoulders. "Are you sure about her? It is not something we can mistake." She whispered it into the blond girl's ear.

"Yeah." The girl's face fell a little. "Strange, isn't it?" She looked up at her mother and gave a faint and nervous smile.

The woman gave a small sigh. "It seems to be good for you." She stood upright and let her daughter go to hang back with Sirius again.

"Quite an evening." He seemed a bit worn out, but not as much as the children.

"I didn't think anyone could make my daughter enjoy piano. I was about to give up, she took to it worse than I did."

"I haven't know her long, but Anna has a way with people in her own odd way. She's very clever, maybe a little too clever." He seemed pleased to speak of it, but a bit worried.

"Too clever?" The woman seemed a bit confused.

"If you get to know her, you'll understand." He shrugged a bit. "Quite a group."

She nodded and put her arm under his. A smile formed on her lips as he grew quiet after that.

OooOOooOO

Pansy pulled Anna away from being too near the adults, with Margaret following them back as they went. The blond girl looked at them both as she spoke. "Anna, I hope you don't get upset, but..."

The redhead's face flushed as she grabbed her shoulders. "Oh. Thank god!"

"Huh?" Margaret wasn't sure what to make of it. "What's going on?"

"Pansy's mom and Sirius are going to have sex tonight, and we're all going to act like we have no idea what's going on." The redhead turned her head to speak to Margaret in a hushed tone.

"Um, yes." Pansy nodded. She blushed a bit more. "This isn't the first time..."

"What?" Margaret leaned into the blond, she was trying to be supportive, but was confused a bit. "Didn't you say...?"

The girl went a bit more red. "Well, he's never here. I saw him five times last year. That was when I wasn't at Hogwarts most of the time. I haven't seen him at all this year."

Margaret looked a bit put off. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

Anna stuck her nose into it and gave them both a wink. "Look. This doesn't concern us. Those two are grown ups, and we all understand this ending in marriage is so unlikely that..." The redhead trailed off and shook her head. She'd just seen her uncle slipping a ring on the woman's finger and kissing her rather passionately. "...well, it just won't happen." She picked up her train of thought again and kept talking. When she looked around she found herself receiving glares of confusion from Harry, Melvin, Margaret, and Pansy.

"What just won't happen? Why do you girls look all uncomfortable?" Melvin looked suspicious.

Harry nodded. "Hey. She's snapped out of it." He seemed pleased to report this to the two girls.

"What do you mean?" Anna was looking around and realized her brother was leading her by the hand. "When did you show up?" She seemed to realize all at once that her brother and Melvin were now beside her.

"You've been out of it for like five minutes Anna." Margaret was looking at the adults. They were distracted enough with each other to not take much notice of the children.

"We were talking and you just sort of zoned out, and you almost walked into a tree. If Harry hadn't stopped you..." Pansy turned a bit red. "I'm sorry. Please don't be angry at my mother. I'm kind of used to it..."

"Huh? Why would I be mad at her? He's been unjustly imprisoned for ten years. I'm just glad you're okay with it. I've got no reason to feel bad at all. Besides, I really like you, but I'm pretty sure you and I never live in the same house." The redhead had no idea why she added the last part, but it seemed to work and everyone seemed to settle on avoiding the topic, and ignoring the adults.

OooOOooOO

The group never made it back to the Black home. The children found themselves alone for most of the morning, and into the early afternoon. Pansy lived in a nice home, not quite as large as the Black residence, but her family was far from poor.

Anna Potter was sitting back on Pansy's couch with her friends beside her. They had talked her into watching a movie. She had protested a bit as the movie was about an independent witch girl who grows into a woman. It was also titled 'Horse Diaries', which was an even bigger reason to not watch it in her mind. They had brought it to her attention because they both said she reminded them of the lead character. Thus, she had been pretty much forced into watching it.

The worst thing about it, the most horrifying terrible truth, was that she had related to the girl. Related on a level that disturbed her. Just being female for as long as she had gave her a different perspective on the whole thing. It was awful. She was looking at her hands in silence.

"I told you you'd like it." Pansy seemed pleased with herself as she dabbed at her eyes a bit. The movie had a horribly sappy ending, and Anna felt a strange satisfaction in that.

"It is one of my favorite movies for some reason." Margaret seemed a little reluctant to admit it. "She does remind me a lot of you."

Anna growled a little. "Yeah. I liked it all right?" She shuddered a bit. "A little too much," she added in her mind. "That was creepy." She had to get herself into the lab at the house for summers. Sirius had already cleaned the one in his home up, it was in the attic. It was also well stocked, and kept in decent condition. Sirius wasn't a potions master, but he could make about anything he might need to for use around the home there with little trouble. It was obvious other members of the family who had once lived in the home were quite advanced in matters of potions. She was still a minor though and she couldn't do more than make a few tonics and things that didn't require the use of magic to brew. That pretty much ruled out a fix for her current condition for a while.

OooOOooOO

Soon after the end of the movie the Potter and Boggs twins found themselves walking home with a very cheerful man.

Anna was giving him an odd look now and then. Margaret was paying attention to that, but didn't say anything about it either way. The redhead seemed quiet and somber.

"Anna's seen something." Harry nodded towards his sister. Melvin was beside him looking as cheerful as ever as he stretched his arms and yawned.

"Huh? Like what?" Melvin looked confused.

"She used to get quiet like this when I'd ask her about something she said in her sleep at times. She doesn't seem worried about it though. Has to do with him I think." He pushed his glasses up his nose a bit and gave a nod towards Sirius.

"Well, she's an odd bird. I can't believe you got her to do those songs on stage." Melvin looked a bit surprised. "What's the big deal anyway?"

"You'll see." He had a satisfied looking smile on his face as he said it.

Melvin shrugged. "Whatever. Just remember I work for her when you get down to it. I like you and all, but not more than I like not experiencing soul sucking death."

Harry didn't seem brought down. "Pansy's mom was nice. I think Anna was nervous about meeting her. I was a bit worried about what would happen if they didn't get along. Things seemed to have turned out all right though."

"I don't mind that one bit. She's a total babe." Melvin rubbed his hands together as his eyes became a little unstable.

The dark haired girl scowled at her brother a little for being a pervert. She wasn't close enough to hear the conversation, but had noticed his expression and recognized it for what it was. "Idiot," she grumbled under her breath.

"That she is." Harry seemed to agree.

"What do we do tomorrow? We've still got a bit of time before the holiday. There aren't any girls but our sisters around."

"Take the opportunity to relax while we can. Sirius was saying there will be a Quidditch match on tomorrow. That should keep us busy for a while."

Melvin shrugged. "Have at it. I don't care for either team."

The boy who lived smiled at him. "Just relax then. When things get exciting you'll appreciate moments like that more."

"What's with Anna?" Margaret had trailed back to the boys as the group rounded a corner and leaned in towards Harry. "She's quiet. Sirius is in a good mood and hasn't noticed how quiet she's been. They talk to each other constantly."

"Yes, he's trying to keep her attention to keep her out of trouble. I used to do that too. He'll figure it out soon enough." Harry nodded.

"So um..." She looked a bit sheepish as she was unsure how to phrase.

"You'll get used to it. She gets quiet after she has visions sometimes. Could be good, could be bad. It won't last the day." Harry smiled at her. "She's fine, probably doesn't want to talk about whatever it is either." He seemed a little annoyed with her as he said the last part.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was standing between two graves and looking at the simple headstones with a frown on his face. Sirius Black was standing just behind him. Anna walked up and put her arm across his back. Melvin and Margaret were at the house alone. Sirius had offered to let them stay, he wasn't sure bringing them along would be a good idea. Their parents weren't something either child spoke of if not asked directly. He'd avoided doing so as much as he'd been able.

"You remember them..." The boy was shaking a little.

The girl squeezed him a bit as she looked at the stones.

"It feels empty here." He shivered and looked down at the ground. Both plots were covered with dead plant life, the stones looked dirty and worn. It was not a well kept grave, and it was obvious that in the spring and summer months they would have been hard pressed to find the spot. It would have been overgrown with weeds.

Sirius was standing back watching them, but not inclined to disturb them. He was feeling more than a little upset at the poor care Lilly's sister had taken of the site. Neither of the children had ever visited the site before.

His sister gave a small sad smile. "It is a cemetery."

Harry looked back at the man behind him. He didn't look angry, and a few tears were running down his cheeks. "Where are they? They aren't here."

"They're dead, Harry." Anna was a little bewildered and pushed her grief away. It was building to levels she'd not been expecting. "I saw them carrying out..."

He looked as if he felt a little bad about her confusion. "No, that's not what I mean. There's nothing in these plots. Both of them are empty."

The man seemed to realize Anna was confused and getting a little upset. She was looking back at the ground. "What do you mean? I saw."

"There was nothing left." Sirius walked up and dropped down on one knee, taking both of them by the shoulder in a gentle manner. "A few of his followers were found, caught up in whatever it was. He was little more than a skeleton himself. What happened to you and your sister has never happened before. We found their wedding rings along with a few strips of clothing, and that is all that is buried here.

The boy frowned a little more, but nodded. He turned to look back at the graves. "I don't feel quite so bad. It's a terrible mess here. We'll have it in top shape in no time."

Anna seemed to calm quite a bit. She nodded and smiled at the man. "Might have to wait until summer. Not the best season for gardening."

Sirius frowned a bit and pushed himself up. "No need for that. I only wish I'd thought to come sooner. I've been putting it off until I could bring you. I don't care for places like this much these days." He pulled out his wand and with a few short words and motions, both graves stones looked as if they'd been carved the day before. The tall dead grass and weeds cut themselves and blew away in a short wind, and two roses appeared in the small vase that hadn't been visible between both graves.

Both children looked a bit dumbstruck.

Harry looked up at the man with a pleased smile on his face. "Thank you."

"Y-yeah." The redhead was having a hard time looking away from the carvings that had been eroded away. There was a bust of both her parents carved into the stone. Before, they looked like rough representations, now they looked almost life like. It was a bit unsettling and her eyes gave out on her all at once. She didn't start bawling, but both her cheeks were soaked after a few short moments. She was sniffling and rubbing at her face with her sleeves as the trio walked away from the site.

OooOOooOO

On Christmas evening, Remus Lupin was sitting with Sirius and his new family. He was a thin and ill looking man, with brown hair with flecks of gray in it. His clothes were shabby and patched, though he appeared clean. They had all eaten a large turkey dinner, and packages were opened and strewn about. Anna's bunnies were cleaning up the mess.

Remus and Sirius had gotten together while the children were away at school, and while none of the children had yet met the man, he wasn't surprised and came bearing small gifts for all of them. Anna had gotten her own new broomstick, the same model as her brother's. She also got a watch that always showed the correct time, even with daylight savings, and changing time zones.

"I've a feeling that might be more useful than I'd thought," Sirius commented as she opened it.

"You have no idea." The girl was as cheerful as any of the other children.

Margaret and Melvin both got gifts as well, but were more quiet and reserved. They were cheerful, and grateful, but it was obvious they were feeling a little home sick. The four of them were sitting on the couch, while both men sat back in arm chairs opposite them. There was a coffee table between them and a roaring and popping fire in the fireplace.

The thin man was staring at the bunnies. "They've eaten almost the whole mess. Incredible." It was obvious he found Anna's minions fascinating.

"I'll admit I was a bit put off at first, but I haven't had to pick anything up since she brought them home. They even do dishes, though they break and fix most of them while they do it.

One of the bunnies was crawling along the floor on his belly, his nose twitching at a rapid pace as he crawled towards some wadded up wrapping paper. His mouth opened as he almost pounced on it, only to get creamed into the floor by one of the other bunnies who had walked up in an almost casual manner with a mallet hefted over his shoulder. He plucked the paper off the floor and swallowed it whole.

"They can fix things?" Lupin seemed a bit perplexed at the idea.

"Anything they eat." Anna nodded and shrugged. "They'd be an awful mess otherwise. Not very useful."

"You made them?" His wonder hadn't ceased and he worked his jaw a little and looked at the redhead.

Melvin shuddered. "She's a little too into potions."

"I'll miss having her to help me out." Margaret hung her head a bit.

"Why is that?" The guest seemed a bit confused.

"She'll be in a fourth year class next year. Dumbledore wrote me recently to tell me." Sirius seemed to puff out with a bit of pride as he said it.

"They are allowed to use the lab upstairs to a limited extent. She has to leave her wand outside, and I can't let her brew anything in a cauldron. It's only for study." Their guardian's tone told the children his comment was directed at them.

"Fourth year? I know her mother would about explode with joy. She loved Potions, it was her favorite class." Lupin sat back in his chair and smiled at them. "Oh, by the way. Might I ask..." He pulled a long white box out from behind his chair.

"Oh." The redhead blushed. "Right. How did that go by the way?"

"My jaw was sore something awful the next day, but I stayed in one place for an entire cycle. I feel I should add, I'll not be going without a potion again if I can help it." He handed the box over to her and she hefted it over to the table.

She nodded and accepted it from him. "Great. What sort of condition is it in? I've heard about werewolf wounds before."

"Not a scratch on it." The man was impressed to say the least. "What is it?"

"A chew toy. Something that might help keep a werewolf contained and occupied for a bit. Might curb a bit of aggression as well and it may be useful as a decoy as well. Study on that will take time and facilities I won't have access to for a long time though. Might hand it over to the ministry, see if they might find a use for it." She shrugged. "I read werewolf wounds have a curse that keeps them from healing properly. So, I just made something synthetic that could repair itself, and made it taste human." It tasted like Snape. Just getting her hands on one of his hairs had been enough. He didn't notice her pluck it off the back of his robe with her power during class. She saw no reason to bring it up though. She had a feeling it might make Remus nervous.

"Interesting idea. Kept my friend occupied." The thin man shuddered a little.

Margaret and Melvin were both looking at the man with wide eyes. Harry was pleased with his gifts and didn't seem to notice anything of importance going on. He looked at them both. "What's up?"

"He's a werewolf?" Melvin croaked in a harsh whisper. Margaret had grabbed the spectacled boy's arm.

The boy who lived shrugged. "So? Don't worry about it."

They were both surprised at his reaction, but settled back and looked both sheepish and nervous.

Anna leaned it. "He's not Greyback, relax." She whispered it at them while trying to be polite to the man sitting with them by not drawing attention to it.

"So, how much do you know about me?" The brunette eyes leveled on the redhead as he seemed to pale a little more.

She turned to peer at him and smiled. "Right. Improved hearing and all that."

He shrugged and still seemed pleasant despite looking a bit more sickly.

"Well, I know about the Whomping Willow. I know who turned you and how Voldemort uses him." Her smile turned a little dark. "He'll get what's coming to him. I also know about that old map at Hogwarts, and where it came from."

Both men were sitting upright with wide eyes. Sirius almost sprayed the air with his drink but managed to choke it back.

"Anything else?" She seemed pleased as she looked back and fourth between them.

"No, that will be fine." Sirius was thumping at his chest and coughing a bit.

"I'd like to go have a look at this in some good light." The red haired girl put the box under her arm and started towards the stairs.

"Wait. I'd almost forgotten, but you and Harry have a few more gifts. They came by owl earlier." Black jumped to his feet and walked over to the table and pulled out two boxes. One was square and flat, and the other a small rectangle a little bit longer than his hand.

Anna blinked as she took the smaller box as her guardian moved by and kept going to give her brother his.

She turned to see Harry pulling his invisibility cloak from it's box.

"Whoa!" Melvin's eyes went wide as he peered over the boy's shoulder as he read Dumbledore's note. "That's an invisibility cloak! A real one."

"That's very rare." Margaret agreed with a bit of wonder in her tone.

"Wait. Your father...had one of these?" Sirius and Remus both looked at the three children in front of them. It was as if something had quite suddenly made sense to them.

Serious looked as if he had just realized something. "That bastard. You remember..."

"That's how he got past that... Here I was thinking he was clever." Remus snorted and smiled as he thought about it.

"No wonder he always seemed to get the last word in. With an advantage like that..." His schoolmate was just as amused.

Harry was blushing a bit and realized the Boggs twins were just as confused.

Anna turned away and rolled her eyes. She opened the lid of the small box and pulled out a folded note from Dumbledore. "Anna, your mother lost these in her sixth year. They were found a several years later, but I'm afraid I never had the opportunity to return them. I think she would like you to have them, and I hope you find them useful. She was quite distraught at losing them." The girl pulled a pair of reading glasses out of the box and peered at them. "Huh." She put them on and looked around. It didn't change her focus, and they seemed ornamental.

Sirius and Remus were snickering.

"Looks just like her." Her guardian spoke up first.

"Like looking at a photo." His cohort agreed.

She narrowed her eyes at them and tilted her nose up a bit. "What of it?" She was staring them down from the bottom of the rims.

Both men burst into laughter.

The girl took them off hastily and frowned crossed her arms as she grabbed her box and started towards the stairs. "I guess I should figure it out on my own then."

This of course only made the laughter grow stronger.

Remus was drying his eyes on his sleeve. "I never thought we'd end up on this end of that look. She used to save it for James." He sighed as he started to control himself a bit.

Sirius froze up. "Yes. I have to live with it for the next six years." He was looking over his shoulder. She didn't seem upset with the matter and was cackling to herself as she took the box up to the attic. "Wand outside!" He called up to her.

It floated into view and rested on a small end table near the rooms. Her guardian turned back to look at the rest of them.

"She'll be gone for a while." Harry was smiling and seemed almost relieved. She was scaring the hell out of the Boggs twins. "She really looks like Mom?"

"You both look exactly like your parents." Remus gave him a good natured nod.

Sirius seemed to notice the Boggs grow a little uncomfortable. "Harry and Anna will be playing Quidditch this year."

The guest seemed impressed. "Really now? What positions?"

"We're both Seekers." Harry seemed to grow a bit excited as he thought about it. "I can't wait to play against her next year. I've already played my first match. We won."

Melvin nodded in a rather vigorous manner. "No kidding."

"It was pretty impressive." Margaret agreed. She seemed a bit more reserved than her brother though.

"Beat Slytherin? Well, I'm sure your father would be proud. He was quite good." Remus seemed to think about it for a moment. "Both Seekers? You're in different houses then?"

"Yes. I'm in Gryffindor." The boy seemed to be enjoying himself, his dark haired friends were growing more relaxed as well as time passed.

"Anna is a snake. Go figure." Sirius shrugged at his friend.

"She's in Slytherin with us." Margaret spoke up with a bit of irritation in her tone, but remained cheerful otherwise.

"That would worry Lilly." He sat back in his chair and chuckled. "Truth is, I almost had her pegged for Slytherin. I met her just before the sorting."

OooOOooOO

Anna was upstairs in the lab. She chuckled to herself as she unwrapped what appeared to be a human arm from her box. One of the bunnies had followed her and was clinging to her leg as it peered up at what she was doing.

She wasn't completely honest with Remus. She put her hand down and looked at the creature below her. "I'll need those needles."

He reached into his mouth and pulled out four syringes. They were quite large and fat and had wards wrapped around the outside of the tubes. Without another word she jabbed them into the arm, causing it to move about a bit. It wasn't difficult to control with such a small prick, but would seem like struggling prey in a werewolf's mouth.

A thick purple fluid filled the chamber and she got a wild mad look in her eyes as she repeated the process until she wasn't pulling fluid from the arm. There was a small pocket space strip in the arm, the werewolf venom collected inside. She managed to fill three of the needles completely and the last one was about three fourths of the way full. "Heh. I am such a genius!" She put a cap on the needles and wrapped them up in a cloth bundle before handing them back to the bunny. "Keep these until later. I'm going to need a better lab than this to get started on that. In the mean time, I can finish working on the Vampire anti venom." Her recent visitor had moved the priority of that particular project up quite a bit. "Not tonight though. It's Christmas, we're going back down. I'll give this back to Remus before he leaves. He'll be my Guinea Pig soon enough. Heh." She turned towards the door and almost skipped out of the room.

Her pet followed after her, looking almost fearful of being left alone. "Waaaaahhhhhh!"

OooOOooOO

Walburga Black was screaming. It was the morning after Christmas, and two children stood looking up at the painting in the stair well. Harry and Anna weren't startled one bit when the curtains slid open and she started screeching. "What do you make of it?" asked the boy.

His sister leaned forward to peer at the painting a little closer. "Her name is Walburga Black. This is Sirus's mother. The painting could use a good cleaning, she's gone all yellow."

Harry looked a bit confused. "What's she on about? She doesn't seem very happy."

"I'm not sure. Oh, I know what might calm her down." Anna looked into the old woman's eyes and smiled. She was ignored as the screeching continued. "The other two children with us are Boggs children. I recently acquired them."

The dead woman went silent. The little girl's eyes narrowed into slits as she stared at them. Anna's eyes were a golden with a few flecks of black that seemed to shine a bit more in the light than most eyes would. The curtains closed and not a sound could be heard from the other side.

Sirius Black came around the corner and looked at the pair. They were standing in front of the portrait and turning away. "Wait!" He waved them over and bent down as they approached. "Please tell me. How did you shut my mother up?"

They both got rather blank expressions.

Anna shrugged. "I think she's embarrassed we weren't very impressed with it all. I knew she was there already. I've seen a bit of what she was like since I've come here. I'm...less than surprised."

"She's been waiting to catch us both alone. She gave Margaret and Melvin a good scare while we were at the cemetery." Harry seemed pleased with himself. "I think she was trying to startle us, but we kind of saw it coming."

OooOOooOO

"Hello, nice to see you again, Lissa." Sirius was sitting against a wall in a waiting room with Pansy's mother. Rufus was leaning against the reception counter of a local radio station. The new band manager was wearing a very nice suit with a diamond on his finger. He also had a rather vacant and dazed look on his face as if he wasn't quite sure if he was dreaming or not.

The children were doing a radio interview. They had been out of school for about a week and it was the first day of the new year. They'd made a three record deal, and had already delivered the albums. It would be a few months before they printed and distributed still.

"Mr. Black." The woman seemed more reserved. The man didn't seem to notice, or care. "How was your holiday?"

He smiled at her and was obviously enjoying himself. "Very nice, thank you. Call me Sirius."

The woman was being pleasant with him. "I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

"It seems like it." He nodded and didn't seem to think much about it.

They sat for about twenty minutes, chatting to pass the time. Both of them lost interest in the rather mundane polite conversation as the children came out of the broadcasting room talking with each other in an excited manner.

Harry was the first to break off and walked up to greet Rufus. He hadn't arrived yet when they'd gone into the interview. "Rufus! Excellent. What's up?"

The man seemed to snap out of his dazed state. "Oh, hello Harry. I've got good news. Over the last week, you're the most played band on the radio. You've got all ten of the top ten."

The redhead peered over her brother's shoulder. "Really? We're number one around here? All the locals are playing us?"

"No. These are national polls. I was just going over the fax." He handed her a sheet of paper. Her face fell into a rather shocked and somewhat stunned expression. There were about ten top ten lists on the page, all of them filled with Tenacious D songs. Their jam with the Mad Magicians was also on quite a few of the lists. She was surprised, but it was not her primary concern. Just below the over all polls were nine other polls. A few were labeled 'Pop', and at number one on all of the pop lists was 'Material Girl', followed by at least two of the other pop songs she'd done with the group. She frowned at the page a bit. "Rock is first. I'm not turning into..." She clenched her eyes shut and shuddered. "No way."

The girls both stared at her with blank expressions. They had been looking over her shoulder at the polls lists and were stunned into silence by it. After a moment they were both laughing at her comment.

"We noticed." Margaret rolled her eyes.

"You are such a tomboy." Harry ruffled her hair and stuck his tongue out at her.

"It's still awesome. Wow! We beat out Christina Melinda, and Britney too." Pansy was having the best holiday of her life.

The redhead frowned at her. "Who? Never mind, I don't care."

Rufus seemed pleased and spoke up. "Well, I've already ironed out the details and we'll be needing to do a few interviews and a photo shoot. I understand you attend private school. So we'll need to do it before the holiday ends. I'm afraid it will be difficult to market the albums without them. Well, only a little."

"Yeah. We rock. Isn't it awesome!" The little redhead seemed pleased with herself.

Rufus turned towards the guardians as they walked up to collect their children. He handed them a sheet of paper. "You need to be at this address tomorrow for the photo shoot and interviews. We'll have a few magazines talk to the kids. Softball stuff, only about the band like you asked. I know all the reporters so it won't be a problem. After that the children can relax. I'll be speaking with you both on occasion before they come back for the summer. Oh, one more thing. I have the paperwork, the money goes into the accounts you have set up already. The numbers are correct, but it's going to take three days for it to become available."

Both of the adult's eyes went wide as they looked at the page he had just handed the both of them.

"Are you sure this is right?" Pansy's mother looked up at him with her jaw down.

"Yes. It was a twenty million dollar deal. Plus a percentage of the recording itself once it's on the market." The manager nodded and didn't seem to notice their shock.

Pansy's mother looked back at the group of children standing behind her looking on with interest. Her daughter in particular. "I'm going to divorce my husband." She didn't say it out loud, but it was the first thing that passed through her mind.

Sirius was looking impressed. "Are you sure?"

The man nodded once. "Yes. I ironed out the details myself. It was a bit easier than I'd thought. Now, if you'll excuse me. I really should pick out my new car." He turned and walked out of the station.

"Is it a lot?" Melvin asked.

Everyone else looked at him with a somewhat dumbstruck expression. Sirius sighed and handed the page over to them.

"Holy shit!" Margaret snapped it out of his fingers as her eyes found the numbers first.

"I told you, it will only get worse." Anna was smiling at both adults.

Pansy's mother gave her a weak and distracted smile.

Sirius nodded. "That you did."

OooOOooOO

The vacation was half over. The children spent a lot of time relaxing around the house in the living area. Harry and Anna were taking a break in their training that would end the next day. They would be returning to Hogwarts in about three days. After the initial round of head shots, photos, and interviews about the band, they had been left alone. The home they were staying in was an 'undisclosed' location. Few reporters would be able to even find Gringotts. Those who could would know better than to try and find out an address for an account from them.

Anna sat near the door of the lab with a few beakers over a small flame in front of her. With a patient but fading smile on her face as she looked towards the window in the attic. It was evening and something had caught her attention outside the open glass. He slid in through the window and frowned at her. There were several needles on the counter top near the window. "I'll be needing a resupply." He'd just flown up to the window as a bat and transformed into a man on the roof tiles. "If you weren't a messenger the enchantments on the house wouldn't have let you in. You also weren't invited."

"When you return you will be destroyed." He glared at her and spoke. "He awaits your return."

The girl didn't seem concerned with what he was saying. "I'm sure. Sit down over there and give me what I want."

She waved her hand and he nodded without saying any more. He sat down and started poking the needles into the roof of his mouth while the girl watched him with a cautious smirk on her face. She was confident, and kept her wand in her lap. He was about ten feet away, and her eyes never blinked as she glared at him. He filled up five needles and stopped. "I'm out."

"Fine." She tossed a much smaller syringe onto his lap it was short and thin. "Use it. Inject it into a large vein in your forearm."

The dosage wasn't very large and it looked a bit like a dark spiced rum. "What is it?"

The girl frowned a bit, putting her hand on her wand as she leaned forward a little. "Use it and I will tell you."

He nodded and injected himself. "I'll need to feed or..."

"It's brown because there's a bit of blood in it. It's obvious you've already fed tonight, you've got color. You'll be fine. Sit there for a minute I'll speak with you once you've recovered." She was shuffling around and putting her lab in order to make more. The needles he supplied floated over to the tabletop beside her.

"You said..." He looked a little angry and she was losing her control over him.

She gave him a small frown and seemed to ignore him. "I said I would explain and I will. You're not aware enough to bother with it yet. Give it a moment and you'll be able to understand it at least. You're feeling a bit odd now. It should pass after a minute or two."

"What did you do to me?" The vampire was looking at his hands. Horror and fear covered his face as he looked up at her. He felt different, something was making his vision fade in and out out, and he didn't have the strength to stand up. He ended up on the floor on his rear.

"I've cured you. You're not a Vampire. It's kind of strange, but the fact it was a magical affliction actually made it easier to do. The Snake Anti-Venom was harder to make. Getting ingredients might be a bit of a chore though. I might find a few willing donors but I'll have to be careful about that. I can make a good bit with what I've got, but I'll have to be sparing with it. Don't bite anyone. You won't find it very satisfying. I'm afraid you'll probably have to see a dentist about those teeth."

He wasn't sure if she was talking to herself, or him. "What?" His fangs were sitting in his lap, bloody roots and all. He reached up and tasted blood on his lips. "What have you done?"

"I'll walk you out front. Don't go home, you've got to go away for a bit and avoid your old friends. They can still kill you." She hopped down from her stool and laboratory and smirked in a confident manner. "I'm not sure, but I think you've also been inoculated. So if you meet one of them and get away alive, you shouldn't have to worry about becoming a vampire again. It's basically Vampire Venom that's been processed through several anti Vampire substances, garlic, silver, purified water, you know, expose it to a little open flame..." She seemed to be thinking about the process.

"What?" replied the man. He had no idea what was going on.

"I'm the Greatest Potions Genius in the Universe!" She pointed her finger into the air.

Two small puppets in tiny Hogwarts uniforms started cheering for her on her shoulders crying out praises as they waved about tiny little flags with 'AP' printed on them.

"Are you crazy?" He looked angry for a moment, but still wasn't able to stand. He was starting to feel better but he had almost passed out.

She leaned into his face a little more. "I'll bet you're thirsty aren't you?"

"A little..." He started hissing in anger, but his voice dropped away. "A little?"

"This will fix it." She reached onto her table top and handed him a glass of water. "It'll either be the best or the worst thing you've ever tasted. Come on. You can't stay here I'm afraid. One of your friends might decide to show up looking for you. Like I said before, I don't care how much you think you can trust any of them, be somewhere else, soon." She poked him in the chest and frowned a little. He was still pale but was starting to get a little color to his cheeks. His eyes had changed into a pale brown from the unnatural looking yellow they had been. She pulled on his hand and he had no choice but to follow her as she led him outside the lab.

Sirius Black was looking on from the top of the stair well, he had a paper in his hand and looked over to her as she stumbled down the stairs from the attic. His eyes were wide and the cup of coffee he'd been drinking was spilling on the ground at his feet. "What the hell?"

"Hi. I have no idea who this is, but I just cured him of Vampirism." The girl let go of the man's hand and rushed over to his side leaving the man leaning against the wall by the stairs.

"What?" The girl didn't think her guardian could look more surprised, but he managed it anyway.

"She's crazy!" cried the man in fear as he cowered back a little. He was holding his head and cringing into the ground.

"Anna, what did you do to him?" He looked horrified. "You're not going to be allowed in a Potions lab again if word of this..."

"I just told you. The vampires go wind of what I was doing and sent him to try and scare me out if it by making threats. I got some of his venom and made an anti-venom for it! Cool huh?" She looked quite pleased with herself.

Sirius was looking at the cowering man. Two of his front teeth were missing and he was bleeding from his mouth. His clothes were old and dirty looking, frayed and overused. The air smelled like wet earth and coffee. His face began to fall into a serious frown. The man was looking up at him from the ground on his back, he was curled up and shielding himself with his hands. "Open your mouth."

The man did so and the inside was red with blood. His fangs were gone and looked like a dentist had pulled them out. "Shit. What the hell did you do?" He was glaring at her.

"He came to visit me last night. I got him to give me a sample of his venom and made an anti-venom for the toxin. It was magical in nature so it wasn't that hard to undo. Chemistry is harder. That's what the snake anti-venom thing I did at Hogwarts was really. I was kind of expecting to keep making him come back a for a little while." She frowned a bit. "I guess I'll have to find a new supply, but it's no big deal."

The man's glare intensified. "What?"

The redhead shrugged at him. She wasn't sure she could explain any better than she already had. "Well, I've cured him now. He's not a Vampire anymore."

Sirius looked frustrated and glared at the man on the ground. He looked a bit cautious and was a little worried the girl might have invited it in, but it was cowering and seemed nervous. "Anna, you can't just rip a vampire's fangs out and..."

"They fell out." The unknown man was sitting with his back against the wall with a sorrowful frown on his face. He seemed to have collected himself a little more. He was looking at his hand. "I'm warm. I'd forgotten..." He looked horrified and amazed.

"How was that water by the way?" The girl nodded towards the overturned glass on the ground beside him, it hadn't broken and was sitting in a small puddle.

He had already drunk most of it and seemed to just realize it. "I thought it was the blood from my teeth." It was dripping from his mouth as he spoke a little. "The taste of it is making me feel sick."

"We need to give him some gauze or something. He'll pass out if he keeps bleeding." She stood next to him without fear and put her hand on his shoulder.

Sirius hung his head and nodded. "Come on. You stay where I can see you." The girl went into the bathroom and came out a few seconds later with gauze in her hands. He looked towards the girl again. "You realize what will happen if anyone finds out you've been making potions at home?"

"I don't see how I'll get in any trouble. What I did was closer to Muggle Chemistry than anything magical. I just took the magic properties of the ingredients involved into account when I was making it. I'm a bit surprised how easy it was. Aside from a bit of silver, garlic, and some purified water, it's the same thing as making anti-venom for a poisonous snake bite. Not easy to do with a wizarding lab, but not impossible." The girl shrugged at him and looked thoughtful. "It's actually closer to a tonic than a potion."

Harry was standing next to Sirius and looking around at the odd scene. Their guardian looked stressed, and a sad looking man took a few bandages from his sister. Anna seemed pleased with herself. He looked right at her with a small scowl on his face. "What have you done now?"

"Why, I've just proven I'm the greatest potions genius in the universe!" She pointed her finger into the air and Sirius Black felt a headache coming on.

"Oh boy. I don't know if I can handle this," grumbled the man.

"I did warn you." Harry shrugged at the scene and turned to follow his new guardian as he staggered towards the stairs.

The man put his hand between his shoulders as the girl skipped ahead of them. "That you did."

OooOOooOO

Albus Dumbledore was in his office. He was going over a few things from his staff, making notes, and perusing through the lesson plans for the coming term. It was early evening, and the sun had just vanished beyond the horizon.

"Hello Albus."

The old wizard froze in place, and turned his eyes up.

A tall man with long dark hair and a cordial smile on his face was sitting in front of him. He was holding an apple in his grip and polished it on his sleeve as he continued to speak. "Don't bother with that port key in your desk. Nothing gets out I'm afraid. I've sealed you in here. The whole school really. I'm afraid one of your students has...offended me."

Dumbledore gave a short and serious nod. "Vlad. It's been a long time."

"I like you, but I'm afraid I'll probably end up killing you when you come for revenge for what I'm about to do to your...charge." The younger looking man leaned in.

"What are you doing?" The old man spoke in a cautious tone as he sat back and lowered his chin over his neck to look at him.

"A contract has been broken. I'm making an example of your school. I've not come alone, my friends will be gone by the time she arrives. Her friends will remain." He crushed the apple in his hand to a pulp. "No one gets out of the building, but your students will be welcomed in. Only to find us waiting for them in the dorms. It is a thing of beauty, a simple trap."

Dumbledore scowled at him. "A trap for one student?"

"Would you be willing to let me have her?" The Vampire leaned in over the man's desk. The old wizard didn't speak and the creature shrugged as if he'd been answered. "Then, the answer doesn't really matter. As I said, I'm making an example. What I take is mine forever."

"This will not go unchallenged." The old man didn't take his eyes off the creature for a moment. "You realize..."

"Voldemort will see my wisdom when he returns. My kind flourish, growing fat on Muggles and Half Bloods. I allow him use of my spawn as payment for this. Having the ability to hold myself as well as Greyback over the parents of his sheep will only make that easier. It is mutually beneficial." The creature was pacing back and fourth through the room. "Will you leave, and destroy your students to escape? The barrier will not fall until they are quite hungry. I will remain, and leave you to your devices once the thirst burns in all of them. By my own standards, quite merciful. It's going to be an interesting week."

The wizard stood up as he passed through a barrier of some sort as he stepped up to the window and spread his arms. "Tonight, we feast!" He dove away and into the darkness.

Dumbledore was glaring at the windows as they closed by themselves and left him stranded in his office. The enchantments that protected Hogwarts were powerful indeed. Vlad, more commonly known as Count Dracula, was immortal and unkillable. His spawn could be destroyed, but their master resisted every form of destruction contrived for him. He was a force of nature, and the Headmaster had serious concern that his plans would likely succeed in the end.

That did not mean that he didn't intend to try and save what he could. Even if it was just trading his own life for the safety of a few students. Getting through the barrier would be difficult and time consuming. Time was not on his side.

OooOOooOO

AN: Kreacher is 'hiding' from the bunnies. We'll meet him over the summer.


	13. Chapter 13

A matter of force.

Part 13

Hogwartsvania.

OooOOooOO

Harry and Anna Potter were standing across from each other in the middle of the main room of their new home.

It was about ten in the morning and the room was devoid of furniture. Sirius was sitting in the corner at the table with a cup of coffee. His hand was against the side of his head and he was giving them both a lazy stare. He'd just gotten up about a half hour before and had noticed that the pair were early risers. They had both been up before him every day. "You're going to put all that back when you're finished I take it?" It wasn't a question and he didn't seem to care much that they had cleared a space in the living room for whatever they were doing.

Both children were staring each other down and nodded at the same time without looking away. Almost as soon as his rear hit the chair the children levitated the furnishings to the hall at the top of the stairs. Margaret and Melvin were looking on from the railing in front of the bedrooms.

"What's going on?" Margaret seemed confused.

"Not sure. They haven't said anything." Melvin shrugged and yawned. "Are they having some kind of argument or something?"

"I hope not." Margaret looked a little worried, but it was a quick flash that her brother didn't notice.

"Yes. What is this about anyway? I won't have you two fighting. I'm not sure I like the look you're giving each other." Sirius looked a bit more awake. He'd seen the pair moving small objects about without their wands, but removing all the furnishings from the living room was a bit more than he'd expected.

"Harry and I train in the mornings. I'm teaching him about our power and how to defend himself." The redhead seemed to relax and smiled at the man. "We're not normal wizards. I've been teaching him how to fight since he could stand. Well, there's a bit more to it than that, but early morning is combat training. We had to do it before the Dursleys woke up every day."

"We've been up for a while. She wanted to start like we always do, but we make a bit of noise. I had to talk her into waiting for everyone else to get up." Harry was having a bit of trouble standing still and shifted in place as he spoke.

The man's eyebrow fell. "I'm confused. You've been training him for how long?"

The girl shrugged. "I had a past life. It's got a lot to do with how I can see the future. I can see into the past as well. How do you think I found out about that map, and the secret in that tree?"

Melvin shuddered and his sister glanced at him noticing his discomfort.

She put her hand on his shoulder and spoke in a hushed tone. "What is it?"

"I've seen what she's talking about. She can give people dreams. That thing that's giving people nightmares. It's not just a story." The boy's eyes showed a bit of fear, but he turned away. "It's not something we should talk about. She's already told us both to keep quiet about Mr. Lupin and this isn't any different. Not a word to anyone. Not even Harry, or Pansy. I'll tell you this though, from what I've seen I feel safer with her than Voldemort." His eyes seemed to smile in a dark way as his lips turned up a bit.

She turned her eyes towards the redhead. "I...see." Anna was colder and more cruel than she'd thought. She'd heard stories of horrible nightmares that brought young students worst fears to life in a way a dream shouldn't be able too. Draco Malfoy was plagued by bad dreams. Her lips turned up in ever so slight a manner. "Well, isn't that interesting?" She leaned into her brother's shoulder as he almost hung off the railing. "I wonder what she's doing with something like that?"

"I'm not going to ask her." Melvin shuddered. "You don't want to meet that guy."

The man looked at Harry and sighed. "I suppose, since you do this every day, you'll be quite good at it then?"

Anna gave a rough snort of laughter. "Come on Harry. We've been putting this off long enough."

The boy grinned from ear to ear and put up his fist. They had warmed up before the others had woken up and both of them were ready to go.

They charged into the middle of the room, neither one noticing the clunk of their guardian's mug as it hit the table and sloshed what was left of his coffee in a puddle around the cup. It took him a moment to stand up, and he almost rushed in to stop it. During his slow rise, they'd picked up the tempo, and both of them were still gaining steam.

The pair was standing no more than three feet apart. Neither one gave any ground as they blocked, countered, kicked, ducked, and hopped around each others blows.

The small girl pushed aside one of his punches and sent one at his face, he caught her fist and twisted to lock her arm. She flipped with his twist and crouched to sweep at his feet as she forced her arm free with her downward momentum. He hopped over it and tilted his head back as she jumped and kicked straight up at his chin. She landed by flipping back, and then bent her back to avoid the spinning kick. With a casual shove with her hand his leg was pushed up and threw him off balance leaving him open to an open handed palm strike to his gut.

He staggered back, looking like he'd not even felt the blow. "Nuts."

"You're still trying to overpower me? Really Harry, that never works." She seemed amused at his reaction. Her wand ignited at her side and she pulled it upright in front of her face. "Ready to really impress them?"

Harry paused and looked around. Melvin and Margaret were gripping the stair rail and looking on with wide eyes and hanging jaws.

Margaret was getting a new look at her mistress. "She...she can make a sword with it?" Her eyes went wide as she gripped the railing a bit tighter.

"Pretty cool." Melvin didn't seem surprised about it.

His sister turned to look at him. "You knew?"

"I wasn't sure." He shrugged and kept his eyes on the pair below.

Sirius was still standing and was gripping the back of the chair he'd been sitting in. His jaw was open and his eyes were wide. "You're kidding? Right?"

The pair didn't answer as Anna charged her brother and forced him to block with his own wand. Both blades popped and hissed as the Potter twins hacked and slashed at each other. The blades passed through the walls and stair railing without leaving any damage behind as both of them moved about the room.

After a short time they began jumping over each other, blocking and attacking as they did so. Harry was pushed back into a wall by a nasty set of slashes by his sister. He ran along the side of it for a moment and bounced over a corner, only to push himself back at his sister. The boy stabbed at her, but she deflected in an almost casual way and hooked the blade up towards his face. He turned his lightsaber upright and stopped the strike before ducking and spinning his weapon at her midsection. She was fast enough to stop him with time to spare and moved back while waving at his wrist with her beam. The boy shifted his arm out of the way and jumped at her. She sidestepped his strike and he rolled away from the retaliation.

The both of them were grinning at each other and laughing between gasps as they locked their weapons near the base of the stairs. Harry was pushing Anna's blade down into the stair railing. She spun and unlocked the blades before hopping up to the third step and hacking through the railing, and his neck.

"Either you're getting slower or I'm getting faster. Either way you should adjust." She seemed pleased with herself.

The boy was scratching the back of his head and looking at the ground. "Yeah. You have gotten faster." He was giving her a cheerful grin.

"Don't pick up my bad habits." She glared at him and crossed her arms.

He laughed and looked towards the top of the stairs. "I lost, so I'll do the work." All the furniture replaced itself to the same place it had been before.

After he was finished his sister slapped him on the shoulder. "Come on. We'll take it easy today and go cool down. We can get back into it for real tomorrow. I don't want to overdo it after a week off." She bit her tongue as she almost added. "I can feel myself getting fatter."

Her brother took notice of her odd expression. "What's that look about?"

She shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it. Maybe they'll be able to talk again by the time we get back?"

"I told you it would be fun." Harry was enjoying himself as he started walking towards the door. They would take a few lazy laps and do a bit of stretching after every morning work out.

"Yeah. Do you remember the look on Dumbledore and McGonagall's faces?" Anna was chuckling a bit at the memory.

"No kidding." Harry glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the blank stares they were getting.

After they left the room stayed silent for a bit.

"Did she just say they were taking it easy?" Margaret was drifting down the stairs with her brother trailing behind her. The twins sat down in the chairs opposite the couch.

Sirius was drinking his coffee again. He was seated and ignoring the pool of liquid around his cup. He'd dropped it, but it had remained upright and still contained about half of his drink. His eyes were a bit far off for a moment. "I wonder what Lilly and James would make of this?" He shook his head and seemed to clear up. He was a bit worried about what he might see the next morning. He found himself wondering just what sort of past life the girl was speaking of. "I'm not sure I like this. I can't bring myself to stop it either." He kept it to himself and pretended to read the newspaper. He knew why. There were plenty of wizards that would take any chance they had to hurt the both of them. They were in for a nasty surprise when they tried. Just how nasty is what worried him the most. Still, it was nice to know he didn't need to worry about keeping a constant eye on them while they were out together.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he thought about it. He was going to have to speak to both of them about the limits the law would impose on the use of their skills. He was starting to dread asking the girl for information. She was well spoken, cryptic, and good at talking around things. "A past life?" The evidence was starting to add up. Harry was submitting to her teaching, and from what he knew of the boy she was doing a stand up job. He seemed to look up to her as a boy his age would a parent at times. It came and went, the pair seemed to enjoy a good argument as well. "I'll wait until summer." It seemed like it would be wise to watch for a bit. He was getting the feeling that Petunia Dursley was not the mother figure in the boy's life at all.

The group would be returning to Hogwarts in two days, and he wasn't sure what to ask them. It was a conversation that needed a bit of thought first. They seemed to have a handle on things and he didn't see it as a bad development thus far. In fact, the more he thought about it the more he was pleased with them over it.

OooOOooOO

Ron Weasley was leaning against a thick stone on the top of a wall at Hogwarts. There were a few students from Gryffindor standing with him. Both of his brothers, Lavender, Parvati, and Lee Jordan. They were watching fireworks in the distance over the woods. The new year was still two days old and not everyone living nearby had yet got it out of their system. It was still an impressive display.

"Well, it's not like it was a few days ago." Fred seemed as pleased as his brother about finding the spot.

"That was something to see. Better than last year." George agreed.

Lee was beside them grinning as he leaned back against the wall.

Lavender was looking down the side of the wall by leaning onto the stone and kicking her legs about behind her. "Hey. Who are they?" She looked up and backed herself off the wall, riding her robes up a bit as she did.

"What?" Ron seemed irate and embarrassed as the girl straightened her clothes a bit. Parvati was helping her a bit with her shoulders and looked uninterested.

The girl was looking down still dusting off her robe and pointed her finger towards the wall. "There's a bunch of people on the grounds. Lots of them."

Fred and George were looking into the field. The fireworks only gave the faintest glow of extra light to the grounds for a few moments after they went off. They were sparse as things were winding down for the evening.

Lee Jordan leaned against the wall and looked over his shoulder. "There's nothing there. It'd be hard to miss a group even in this light."

"They were walking away from each other." The girl looked up and turned her head towards the wall. Dozens of them."

"You're seeing things." Ron was frowning a bit as he shuddered. He had his hat on and pulled the brim down over his face a little. His other hand was gripping his towel. He was wearing the whip, but only because Lee hadn't seen it. He'd put it away after he'd gotten it. The interest in it was short lived there was nothing to do with it besides crack it a few times. Lee seemed to be the best at it. Ron looked over towards the older boy just in time to watch two hands grab his shoulders. What looked like a stark white man pulled the boy down and himself up while latching onto his neck with his mouth. The thing's eyes turned towards the children as it released it's victim.

Lee was gasping for breath and looking up. His neck was covered in blood so much the wound couldn't be seen. He was shaking and turned to look at them. "Help me." His head rolled back as he passed out.

The newcomer shoved him forward onto his belly and crawled up to stare at the group.

"Vampire!" Parvati shrieked and latched onto her friend, who did much the same thing.

"Ron!" George and Fred were reaching towards their brother who was standing between the monster and everyone else.

The boy was looking on with wide eyes. His hand clenched what he thought was his wand. A loud crack echoed through the air and his chin was forced up. His vision blurred for a moment and he staggered as it faded and left only a stinging sensation on his chin. "Ouch."

The vampire was about six feet tall with long dirty hair and a hole ridden wizard robe. His eyes were locked on the boy's chin. "Well, aren't I the lucky one? My first meal so soon."

Ron and George had stumbled back a bit in surprise at the crack of their younger brother's weapon.

His jaw was hanging down and wide eyed terror was the only thing he could express as he stumbled back and took a rather pathetic attempt at the monster with the whip.

The vampire put up his forearm and chuckled as the leather wrapped around it a few times in a rather limp way. "Heh. You don't really think that toy wi...AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The creature's arm was smoking, Ron jerked the whip in the act of running and the creature's arm fell off with no real resistance. The stump was glowing like a cigarette butt as a few bits of ash fell away.

The boy paused and looked at the weapon in his hand for a moment in shock. "Whoa!" He turned his eyes towards the angry Vampire. It was glaring at him and growling as it staggered after him. He was still back pedaling and stopped, putting his shoulder into hauling the weapon's length into the monster.

The vampire's eyes went wide as a long burning gash was cut from his neck to his lower abdomen. The thing staggered back and fell over his own legs off the edge.

"We have to go! Now!" George gathered up his brother's shoulders as Fred helped turn him away. They pointed to the door towards the girls. "We've got to warn everyone!"

Parvati was trying to push by them, but Fred hooked his arm around her and put her on his shoulder. "Wait! Lee, we can't just..."

"He's a Vampire now. We can't help him." George's voice wavered a bit as he said it. "The best thing we can do is get help as fast as we can."

That didn't sit well with Ron, but he was smart enough to realize they were right. Even if it didn't feel right. "Can't we do anything?"

"No." Fred didn't say any more than that as he put Parvati down.

"We've got to warn my sister!" Parvati got a shocked look on her face as she seemed to realize it all at once.

Lavender was content to follow everyone else and seemed too afraid to speak much.

A short secret passage later and the children were rushing through the halls as fast as they could run.

Their run slowed into a dead stop ten feet in front of the entrance to the dorms. The painting was open, students were lying about face down on the ground inside. Professor McGonagall was lying face down just outside the open portrait and her wand was on the ground a few inches away from her palm. Every painting in the castle was empty.

Nearly Headless Nick was standing in front of the group, appearing out of nowhere before them. He seemed faint and was hard to see, but his voice still carried. It sounded a bit distorted, and he was a bit slow getting anything out. "Don't bother going inside there. There's no one left." He looked somber and stood between them and the dorm. "It's like this all over the castle I'd wager. Though, I've not gotten word of the Headmaster, or Hufflepuff. Slytherin is much the same, as is Ravenclaw. You need to leave the grounds. Now." He looked quite stern as he said it. It was something they'd never seen in him before that moment. George was too preoccupied to notice it.

"No!" George looked down at his feet and his breathing started to grow out of control. "We're too late then?" He looked like he didn't want to believe it.

"Sorry." Fred looked horrified as he seemed to realize the news of Ravenclaw was the reason behind his brother's distress. Lavender had her head buried in her friend's shoulder.

Parvati looked rather shocked at hearing about the fate of the house as well. "N-no! Padme..."

Nick started to fade away. "Don't hesitate children. There is something Dark within Hogwarts now. The Vampires have not come alone. It is a power that will change the castle in horrible ways. In a few hours time, you won't even be safe from the ghosts. Run, leave this place while you still can!"

The terrified children started nodding. "I say we listen to him." Ron jerked his thumb back at Nick.

Fred and George were already ushering the two frozen girls out of their stupor and pushed them ahead of themselves. "Get going."

"We aren't going to carry you!"

Ron rushed after them as they moved an uncomfortable distance away ahead of him. "Wait!"

"Hurry up Ron. No time to fall behind!" George took a few steps back. He froze and reached his hand out before almost dashing forward.

Ron was turning a corner and two adult sized arms grabbed his shoulders. The young boy felt what seemed like someone had punched him in the neck. He jerked himself forward and felt something strip from his neck as he freed himself with a surprising amount of ease. As a reflex his hand moved up to snag what had come off his neck. He planted his foot onto the corner and heaved with all his might.

The vampire that had stalked him was thrown off balance and tossed face first into the opposite wall as his fangs got caught in the towel he had bitten. "Not again!" The redhead hung his towel over his shoulders and tucked it in as he ran towards the group. "Run!"

The creature was pushing itself back to his feet as he looked over his shoulder again. The next time he looked it had already covered half the distance to him, and he was still ten feet from the corner. He spun around realizing he wouldn't make it without slowing the creature first flailing the whip again as he did so and rounded the corner after he did so.

The vampire shrieked in pain as it clutched at it's face over it's mouth. It lunged around the corner to find the boy curving his weapon from the floor into the air. The monster was lifted off it's feet and thrown back into a wall. The whip cracked near the ceiling and another inhuman scream followed by a dull thump scared the boy out of his wits. He rushed away from the female vampire he'd accidentally knocked off the ceiling that had landed right next to him. He was frowning with tears flowing down his face as he pushed himself to catch up.

He gave the new vampire a lick on her side to prevent her from standing as he went by, tossing her into the wall and forcing a grunt from the monster.

Fred and George were gasping for breath around the next corner with the two girls huddling together looking at the others in fear and bewilderment. "Bout time..." gasped George.

"...you got here," finished Fred.

Ron nodded and was feeling much better since he was back in close proximity to the group. "I think I'm getting the hang of this thing." He was coiling up his whip without seeming to notice he was doing it.

"We need to get out of here. We aren't sure if there are any teachers left. They might have even gotten Dumbledore. We need to get outside and maybe find some broomsticks." Fred was looking around at everyone as he spoke.

"We should avoid Hagrid's place." George shook his head. "He might be all right, but if he's a vampire I don't want to run into him. How did they get in here? I thought Hogwarts was protected from things like this?"

Fred glanced at the children with them. "We won't make it. Ron is the only one armed. We left our wands in the dorm, remember?"

George seemed to think about it. "Right. I've got an idea, we're not far off. Come on."

Ron looked confused and clutched his whip a little tighter. "Well I'm not giving it up. I'd be dead now if I didn't have it."

Parvati gave a nod. "We all would be."

Fred frowned at him. "Whatever, I know what he's planning. Just come on and keep quiet."

OooOOooOO

Ron was looking at the stairs with a frown on his face. "Crap."

Fred and George had opened up a nearby door. It was off limits to students, and a great many things of their imaginings were contained within it. Filtch had the only key they knew of, but the twin brothers had little trouble picking the lock.

"I'm surprised it was this easy." George walked out of the room with a toilet seat around his neck. Fred had an identical seat around his own neck.

"I'll say. I expected Filtch to have all sorts of enchantments over his beloved closet." It was a good sized storage space. Neither of the twins knew it, but Filtch hadn't been allowed to enchant the locks. Any of the faculty had access to the room. All the teachers would add more to the stash on occasion. It was little more than a store room for contraband of a magical sort. The only enchantments on the room were for identifying who went in and out and when they were there. It was enough to catch students who might raid it for it's contents. Filtch had the record for adding the most to the room's stores. He often proclaimed it as his 'closet'.

"Well, we aren't getting down this way." Parvati had shaken some of her nerves off, but was clinging to Ron's arm.

Lavender was holding her friend's hand and peering down where the stairs should have been. There were a few spots in mid air with a stair or two, but nowhere near enough to get them down without a fatal fall.

Ron looked mortified. "Now what?" He turned towards his brothers.

"Don't take this the wrong way Lavender, but I'm starting to regret talking mother into letting us stay this year. I'll not be doing it again." Parvati looked at her friend and squeezed her hand.

The girl shuddered and started crying. "I'm sorry."

George grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. He pointed his finger into her face. "Don't start. We don't want them to hear us."

"Right." Ron's voice got a bit lower as he said it. He turned his head towards the railing on the balcony that had once led to stairs. "Oh, no."

An angry looking vampire, with a burnt looking scar line across his face over his mouth was glaring at him as it pulled itself on top of the railing and set itself before lunging at the boy.

The youngest redhead stumbled back, but the creature grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back into Parvati. The girl was trying to get out of the way, but couldn't step aside fast enough. She screamed as they were both lifted off their feet. The monster shoved them both into the window just beside the stairs.

The glass shattered as both children were tossed into the air. The Weasley boy wasn't sure what happened next, he felt the whip grow tight in his grip. He'd grabbed his towel with his other hand and it flapped for a moment as he went into free fall. It lasted but a second and his arms jerked apart, jarring both his shoulders in a rather painful manner as they did.

He opened his eyes in time to see himself crash through another large window near the top. The whip went slack just after he made it inside and he landed flat on his back. He hit the stone tile hard, and bits of glass clattered around him.

He rolled over onto his side and gasped as he saw Parvati. The girl was clinging to his towel and having as much trouble getting up as he was. "Are we all right?" She seemed dazed.

"No." The vampire that had tossed them out the window was standing with a female beside him. She had a scar on the side of her left arm. She was glaring at the boy and working her jaw around.

"I want him." She looked upset and licked her lips as she stared at the boy. "You can have the girl."

"He's mine." The vampire they had met on the rooftop appeared behind them. His scars were healing but still visible. "It's going to take a lot of feeding to fix what he did to me."

"Shit." Ron wet his pants again.

Parvati screamed and grabbed onto his back.

The boy spun and snapped his whip at the single vampire standing in front of them. He was thrown off his feet as if hit by a force much stronger than a whip should generate. He hit the wall and left a crater.

Ron had Parvati by the hand, but didn't notice as he pulled her away while snapping back at the other two vampires as they tried to move after them. Neither was hit, and both backed away hissing.

The children kept running. They came to a short curved stair well that extended on both side around the last door they passed through. The other side of the room was a huge pair of doors. They were at the front doors of Hogwarts.

The boy let go of Parvati's hand. She was gasping for breath and looking at him. "We should leave then?"

"Right." He nodded at her.

"I can't just leave my sister! The only reason she stayed is because I did!" The girl was looking over her shoulder back into the castle.

"Well. I'm going." Ron was quite final. "I can't fight all those vampires! This thing hurts them but it doesn't kill them. We need to get away!" He looked worried as he peered over his shoulder. "We need to hurry. Those three are after us!"

The girl sniffled as she started crying. She nodded and frowned at him. "They're after you."

"Don't say that!" He looked mortified. "They'll take you if they can get you." He started towards the doors.

Both children screamed as they ran into Fred and George. The older pair put their hands over the younger pair's mouths as they both grinned and put their fingers up to their lips.

"We were about to say..." started Fred.

"...that we knew about a passageway nearby that could get us down here," finished the other Weasley twin.

Lavender was poking her head around George's back. She looked relieved to see Parvati and rushed up to throw her arms around her neck. The older pair waved them towards the front doors.

A few inches in front of the doors the group ran into an invisible wall. It appeared as transparent red that rippled as they touched it like water.

"Oh no." George was feeling the invisible wall. It was like touching mud covered stones. "We're trapped."

"Yes, you are." A man with long dark hair was standing behind them. "Every way out is locked, sealed by magic." He was wearing a long cape and formal wear. His tone was even and cultured. "I'm afraid nothing leaves this castle until my business here is finished."

The group of students was looking at him with frowns on their faces. Fred spoke up first. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Forgive me. You may call me, ah, but you are young, Vlad." He seemed quite pleased to be speaking with them. His eyes were dangerous and cold, and all of the group noticed.

"You did this?" George was looking around at the castle walls.

"This castle is now mine, as is everything in it. Including you and your friends. It will leave a lasting impression when I send you home to your parents after you've taken care of your returning friends for me. Heh. That fool Voldemort, wishing for power comparable to mine. I shall resurrect him and let him live as a dog at my boots. He can stay sealed in his little room for now. I've no use for him yet." The man was standing in the middle of the room between the barrier and any exit the children might have. He stepped towards George. "Shall I end it for you now?" His grin grew dark and predatory as he reached out his hand towards the boy.

Ron screamed as he snapped the whip at the vampire. "Leave him alone!" He stepped back with his legs growing weak at what he saw. The thing hadn't reacted beyond turning his head as a scar appeared on his cheek. He turned to look down at the young boy. It was just a gash and it wasn't bleeding. It wasn't hurt nearly as much as the other vampires had been by the weapon.

"Interesting. We'll see how long you can survive with that toy." The creature gave a laugh as he took a step back and bowed to the group. "I shall be watching and cheering for you. The only path out is through me." He laughed again. "I'm afraid that is destined for failure, but try you must, or give in to my children." He vanished into a shadow and the group watched the place he'd vanished into for a moment. They were all unsure of what to do.

"Now what?" Ron was starting to realize he had a bit of an odor about himself. He was starting to wonder if it was just him. He looked back towards his brother.

"The chapel. It will give us a constant supply of purified water. There's a tap near the altar there that does it." Fred looked over at George. "The pipes are enchanted there and it can't be contaminated."

"Right. We should be able to hold out there until morning, and then have a look around and try to find another way out. Who knows? Maybe we'll find someone else?" His twin nodded and pointed. "It's this way. Not far off."

A familiar sounding trio of voices called over the silence. "There they are!" The injured vampires weren't even bothering with sneaking about as they chased after the children.

OooOOooOO

The group backed away from the doors to the small chapel in the center of the school. It was a tall and long room with about seven rows of seats on each side. There was an altar, with a large basin, with a golden tap on the left side. There was a crystal ball sitting on a square cloth in the center of the stone altar, and an unused book stand. The room was used for purification rituals and was the source of the schools purified water. It had multiple uses in wizarding study, but was most commonly an ingredient in potions.

"They can't come in here right?" Lavender and Parvati were right behind Ron as he raced up to the altar. Fred and George flanked them on either side not looking back.

The door to the room shattered and three of the monsters walked into the room with dark smiles on their faces.

Ron was just reaching the altar when one of the creatures landed in front of him. He lashed out with his whip, tossing the thing over the stone table on his back. It writhed around in pain for a bit and howled in agony. He spun around and nailed the other male in the forehead as it dove at the girls, sending him on his back into the sturdy wooden benches. He blinked in surprise he'd only meant to turn around and run screaming in the general direction.

The girls backed into the altar together. The female jumped into Fred's chest tackling him to the ground and going for his neck at the same time. She stopped and backed away screaming as her face started smoking and the skin around her jaws turned to ash. She jumped off and hissed in anger. The second year boy had a sunburn on his neck and fingers as he pushed himself along the ground back away from her and pulled himself up onto the steps. He had a grin on his face as he rolled and stood. He reached his arm out George spun around from watching the display as he realized his attention was needed elsewhere.

"Ron!" cried one of his brothers, he wasn't sure which one.

The boy was still a little dazed as he felt something knock into his arm. He was gripping the lever on the faucet and it jerked as he was pushed sideways as his whip fell away. A boot planted on top of the handle keeping it from being retrieved.

The vampire from behind the altar grabbed the boy by his throat. "I've been looking forward to this." He noticed Ron was looking at the water and reaching with his fingers. He was more than a foot shy. "Good idea. I could use a drink." The thing bared it's fangs at him.

The redhead reached up and grabbed his towel. In a single swift motion he dunked it into the water and slapped the monster on the side of his face. The thing howled as it's face became inhuman and seemed to burn as if acid had been thrown on it. Ron hit the floor and kicked the side of the basin.

The other two vampires had eyes on the girls huddled together at the front of the altar. They were looking up at them like deer in headlights. George and Fred were watching their brother's escape and turned to realize the position the girls were in as the water sloshed by them and down the stairs.

The creatures shrieked and hissed as they backed away from the puddle.

"Stay in the water!" George watched as the remaining vampire backed away from Ron with a frustrated look on its face. The water had forced it back too far and it could no longer reach him.

Fred was pulling the girls into one of the pools with a careful eye on the trio as they moved back. The tap was still running and the pool was growing.

Ron was sobbing and clutching his whip and his towel. "I love my towel! I'll never go anywhere without it! Not ever!"

The vampires vacated the room as they realized the children weren't turning the water off and were simply going to flood the floor of the room with it.

"Sooner or later you'll have to come out." The male with the burn scars on his face turned to glare at them as he left them alone just before he walked out after his fellow vampires.

Parvati was looking at Ron in a sort of wonder and disgust. He had cried more than either one of them, and she was sure he'd wet his pants at least once. She was willing to forgive it as so far he'd done more to help them than anyone. She wanted to berate him for crying but couldn't work it up or justify it. She had a few tears starting to form in her eyes as well as she started to calm form the excitement from running for her very life.

Lavender was looking at him as well. She was being quiet and hadn't said anything aside from a few shuddered whimpers.

Parvati put her head into the other girl's neck and watched the pool of water grow. "What do you think?"

"I'm real scared." It was as far as Lavender's train of thought went.

George looked over at her. The two oldest boys were sitting on the steps looking out at the door. "So am I."

OooOOooOO

The group with Ron was nestled in the back of the chapel sitting huddled together behind the altar. The chapel floor below was now flooded, a barrier against the Vampires that now ruled the school at night. The creatures had complete control of the grounds. A barrier around the castle. It blocked exit through the docks, and the front door, but surrounded the rest of the school about twenty meters distance from the wall. They couldn't leave.

"What happened?" Ron and the others had returned to the safety of the chapel as dusk approached. Ron's whip was sitting in a puddle of purified water while he slept and was still clutched in his grip. They had raided one of the supply closets for candles, and found the great hall still produced bowls of fruit and small things to eat. They had spent most of the day following Fred and George around. They were consulting a map they had found. The only passages that seemed to work were the ones that moved through the innards of the castle. None of the others would even open. The Gryffindor dorms were relatively safe as they were well lit, and they'd returned to retrieve their wands.

None of the young students knew any spells that would destroy a vampire or even hurt one very much. They were useful as tools and might provide some light in the evenings for them. The twin boys also retrieved some of the burn ointment they'd used to treat their rears in the incident that gained them the seats they were using to defend against the undead. It would cure their burns in a few hours time and also act as a sunscreen to prevent further damage from the use of their toilet seats to defend themselves.

Ron wouldn't let anyone touch his whip. His brothers had tried to con it away from him a few times. He'd had to dodge an attempt or two to grab him. Parvati and Lavender chided them both for trying and it seemed to put a stop to it.

He was thinking on it as it had been an hour since one of his brothers had bugged him over it. He looked down at it and found it hadn't gotten any drier. It was still dripping wet. In fact it was just as wet as it had been when he'd fished it out of the water after waking up. They had only gotten about five hours sleep. He thought it was a bit odd and shook it a bit. It was kind of irritating and it was dripping down his leg leaving his left sock soaked.

The only use they'd gotten from it during the day was driving back a few rather odd looking Mermen from the area outside the castle closest to the pond. They'd left after the youngest boy snapped at them a few times with his weapon. Just making noise was enough, though they did have to back away after the things had spit some sort of acid at them. They rushed back into the lake without any resistance once confronted.

Ron was getting a bit annoyed as the girls had started shoving him forward when danger presented itself before hiding behind his brothers.

"I wonder if it's dark yet?" Fred shuddered. "There are no windows in here. How do we know it's day again?"

Ron still had his hat and and his towel hanging from his shoulders. He glanced up towards the doorway and froze in place. "It's dark." He frowned, making the fresh scar on his chin feel odd for a moment. He'd done nothing for it and it was covered by a scab.

"How do you..." Lavender gasped and screamed as she pointed towards the entrance.

"Percy." Parvati locked her eyes on the doorway as Fred and George spoke their older brother's name at the same time. They didn't look pleased and seemed to move a little towards Ron. The youngest boy wasn't moving and simply looked at his oldest brother.

"Hello, brothers." His voice was cold and he hissed a bit. The vampire was standing in the doorway watching them with his irises glowing from the shadows.

"What do you want? You can't reach us here. You're not going to trick us out of here just because you used to be our brother either." Ron looked upset and angry.

Fred and George had their toilet seats around their necks and they seemed to relax as they realized Ron wasn't going to rush up to the older boy.

"No. I'll have no part of this group. I'll have plenty to eat once the students arrive. I've no intention of turning my own brother. Who knows, you might find a way to escape?" Percy almost sounded like he thought it was funny.

"What do you want?" Ron squeaked in a rather pathetic manner. It was obvious he was having trouble keeping his balance because he was shaking so bad.

The girls were hiding behind the two older boys with their eyes squeezed shut huddled together.

Percy gave a cold sounding chuckle. "To have a look. You won't be safe in here tonight. I promise you that. The spirits in this place grow dark. The master resides here now and his darkness spreads."

"You don't sound much like my brother." Fred kicked at the water and sent a splash at the figure but none of it reached anywhere close to it.

"The only way out is to drive him away. You can't stay here forever and you're to be taken care of before the other students arrive. I will suffer for what I have already told you. Get ready to move you're going to need to." He vanished into the shadows leaving the doorway empty.

"That's not good." Ron was crying again he pulled the brim of his hat down over his eyes.

"What's that..." Fred turned to look back at the three younger children.

"...sound?" finished George as he mirrored his brother's expression.

A dull thumping and a low growl echoed through the hallway outside.

"What is that?" Parvati screamed as she pointed towards the door.

"It's too big to fit through the door!" George looked pleased.

"Right, we'll be all right." Fred nodded his head and seemed to agree. "Those walls are thick stone."

Three dog gigantic dog heads filled the doorway all snarled as two giant paws fit onto the top and bottom of the left side of the door. It shifted onto it's side and squeezed its way into the room, and now had it's massive bulk between them and the exit. The eyes were glowing red and a thick foamy drool dripped from all three jaws as the heads started barking at them between growls.

"Shit." Ron's tiny voice was the only thing said by any of the wide eyed children.

"Well?" Parvati was gripping his shoulders. "Aren't you going to do something?"

The boy looked over his shoulder at her with his jaw hanging down. "To that? What if it just makes him angry?"

"He's angry enough Ron. If you're not going to use that thing give it to me and I will." Fred was sidestepping towards his younger brother.

Whether it was a selfish reflex or Ron being cross with his brother for calling him cowardly should be obvious. He snapped his wrist seeming to not even realize what he was doing.

Something different happened. The whip seemed to become engulfed in a blue flame as it caught the middle dog's head right on the nose. It burst into flame all the way down to the neck line. All three heads started howling as they turned to the right and ran into the benches breaking them to splinters before ramming the wall and rolling about tossing chunks of wood as it did so.

The group took full advantage with the girls being pulled along as they rushed by and left the room.

Ron was looking at the flaming whip in his hand. It wasn't burning him and gave off enough light to see what was near in the hall. "Where did she get this thing?"

"Well, she seems to like you more than us." George sighed and hung his head.

"Yeah. All we got were a couple of T-shirts." Fred seemed a bit miffed as well.

"Well, you've got your toilet seats!" Ron clutched it and stuck out his tongue for a moment. "I'm not giving it up. Stop asking."

"Fine." The twins crossed their arms and mirrored each other's expression.

"There they are!" The three vampires from the night before had moved up behind them pointing and calling to each other. "After them!"

Ron Weasley stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face them. He was frowning at them. "I'm not scared of you! You bullies!"

"Good, it will make you easier to catch!" The vampire they had first met lead the charge.

"Are you crazy!?" Fred and George shouted at the same time as they staggered and turned about with Parvati and Lavender in tow. The girls struggled against turning around at first.

The youngest boy snapped his whip and curved it into the first vampire's chest. The creature had expected it and shifted away. The whip caught his leg and he burst into a blue flame. He gave a high pitched scream as he turned away and passed by his companions. They had stopped and looked at the boy with wide, angry, and horrified eyes. They backed away and started snarling and cursing in frustration.

The group seemed to relax as Ron snorted. He started to turn and walk away in a rather cool manner. It took him a moment to realize the hissing hadn't stopped, but had in fact grown stronger. He turned his eyes toward the darkened hall and he found himself looking at dozens of eyes of varying height. The students had turned.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" He started to run catching up to his brothers and the two girls as they rushed away down the hall and blowing by at high speed. They all moved to follow just behind him.

The group turned at an intersection and almost slid around the corner. George Weasley did lose his feet. He hit the ground chest first and pushed himself up as the others kept going. He tried to get up a bit too fast and it felt like something had fallen across his legs for a moment. He started to run bending low to pick up his toilet seat as he stumbled for balance and tried to keep moving and snag it. It bounced off of a polished shoe just before his fingers reached it. The boy froze and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as he cursed.

"Hello George. Found someone to replace me already, have we?" Cho was giving him a cold smile and a predatory grin as she met his eyes as he rose. She didn't look very sweet and her fangs were protruding over her lips.

"Wha?" He turned to look back. Three young vampires were holding Lavender down and feeding on the unfortunate girl. He had been holding her hand when he had fallen and she'd been too afraid to make a sound. He tried to turn back, but Cho's hands were already planted on his shoulders.

OooOOooOO

Fred Weasley was rocking back and fourth. He was clutching his elbows and looking at the floor in a dazed state. "He's gone..."

They had found a moment of peace in the main hall. Nothing had chased them that far and the doors to the outside world were still sealed shut.

Ron was trying to urge everyone on. "We've got to keep moving!" He was panting for breath and leaning over his knees.

The doors into the Great Hall were open and the young boy staggered through them ahead of the others. Parvati was pulling him along with a worried look on her face. Ron was getting a good way ahead of them. Fred was moving but at a lazy pace he looked up just in time to see Ron skid to a halt just inside the doors and turn just in time to see them close on his face. "Ron! No!" He almost pushed the girl aside but jerked her around in a rough manner as he rushed up to the doors and started pounding on the thick wood. "Damn it!"

"No!" Parvati was just as distressed. She was grateful to Fred for his help up to that point but he had already put his back to the door and was clutching his arms and shaking. Tears were flowing down his eyes. She turned to pull on his arm. "We have too..."

A loud crash came from the other side of the door and she squeaked in terror.

OooOOooOO

Ron rushed inside the new room hoping to keep everyone moving. George was missing but he still had his toilet seat. He had Lavender with him. Fred had starting acting off the moment they realized they'd lost him. He wasn't feeling very good about it either but it was a short lived thought. He skidded to a halt and stumbled back.

The giant three headed dog was standing in the middle row of the house tables looking right at him with it's glowing red eyes. All three heads started to growl and stalk forward as the hackles on it's back stood up.

The boy turned to move the other way only to find the door shut in his face. He rushed up anyway and pounded on it.

The dull thump of the creature's huge paws moving up behind him cut it short. He rushed towards Slytherin's table, hoping to put a few of the tables between them.

The beast jumped up and skidded a bit to the side as it landed on the end Ravenclaw's tabletop.

The boy fell back on his rear as he stopped after realizing he had no hope of making it. The trio of heads were all looming over him and growling with an angry dangerous stare.

He cracked the weapon and the beast snapped at it with its jaws. It kept the thing from jumping on top of him as he made it to his feet again.

The young redhead kept facing the beast as he snapped the whip around himself and muttered under his breath. "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die."

The creature made a lunge forward, and he slapped it on the jaw with the whip. The offending head, the left side this time, burst into flame and howled in agony. The other two pressed the attack and snapped at him despite it.

Ron stumbled and landed on his back, crawling under the Ravenclaw table just out of reach or a pair of snapping jaws. The third head had gone out and was smoking with a vile smelling vapor. The beast chewed on the table and bench in its way. The wood splintered but didn't break as the beast scratched a few shavings off as it jerked and tugged at the wood.

The boy slid on his belly out the other end, only to find the beast in front of him again. It hopped over to the next table and growled and snapped at him in a menacing way.

He pulled the whip off the floor at his side and sideswiped all three. The monster's heads all burst into flame. It hit the ground as its paws seemed to give out and whined and shrieked in pain.

The boy frowned as he stood up and backed away to a more comfortable distance. He continued to pop the thing on the heads as the flames started to die down. It got to its feet and staggered backwards. It was off balance and ended up staggering along the edge of the Slytherin table towards the front of the hall where the faculty sat.

With an ear shrieking trio of wounded dog cries the beast jumped out the last window and dashed away into the night. Ron was clutching his chest and gasping as he leaned against the table and looked on in shock. "I'm alive!" He turned towards the doors to the hall and rushed back to the door. All he could do was jog.

OooOOooOO

Ron Weasley pushed the door to the Great Hall open and stepped out. Lavender and Fred were looking on with wide eyes, the girl seemed to be frozen in the act of pulling on his brother's arm. She was trying to keep moving, and dropped him as soon as the younger redhead appeared.

She was about to grab the younger boy around his neck, but his brother beat him too it. "Don't scare me like that!"

"What happened?" Parvati looked nervous. "You haven't been bitten have you? Please don't leave me alone!"

Ron looked at her with wide terrified eyes. "I've wet myself again."

Fred seemed to consider that statement. "What about me?"

"Now what?" She ignored his question and changed the subject.

"Back to the chapel!" Ron started moving away. "That dog is gone. We should be all right."

"Are you sure?" Fred stepped back and cocked his head at his brother.

"Come on!" Ron was doing his best to drag the two of them for once.

OooOOooOO

It was the third day. The remaining group of children had found nothing but sleeping vampires as they moved about the school. The inner class rooms were infested with them. The grounds and outer halls and rooms with windows were much safer and they were able to move about. Their morning was just beginning and they had just finished raiding the great hall for a few things to eat. The fruit bowls were still filled as the day started. It was growing late, and they were wandering through one of the halls near to Slytherin dorms strolling at a lazy pace through the empty and silent school.

"Weasley, stay where you are." Ron's head ripped around and the girl beside him squeaked in shock. The one voice he least wanted to hear was speaking to him. Professor Snape was standing in a doorway near Slytherin dorms. "Don't come any closer. I am sealed in here. Try to come near and you'll be knocked out until evening. The barrier will stun you if you touch it. You won't be the first."

Fred smiled at Snape. "Forgive me sir. I never thought I'd be glad to..."

"Save it." The man seemed unimpressed and impatient. "The Vampires won't come in here. I imagine Professor Dumbledore is still in his office as well."

"What can we do?" Ron sounded like he didn't think there was anything. He wasn't sure he wanted to save Snape at any rate.

"I don't need your help. I'm sealed in here because I'm too dangerous to be set loose. I've got a job for you." Snape looked down at them with a firm glare and a frown. "Two first years and a third year. Wonderful." He gave a sigh and didn't look at them. "You need to warn the coaches not to return. The rest of the students cannot come back to Hogwarts."

"We can't leave. All the doors and passageways are sealed shut. There's some sort of barrier around the school." Fred didn't seem very hopeful.

"There is a signal beacon..." Snape was cut off as the door to his office closed. Several pieces of wood floated over the doorway and a few nails moved into place locking the boards in place.

"What happened?" Parvati didn't seem that alarmed. She almost looked relieved, but not quite.

"Master says no warnings..." Peeves appeared before them. He giggled to himself and whispered as he spoke. "Master says...no weapons." He turned and grinned, his eyes seemed to be made of black and a wide crazed leering grin was plastered across his jaw. It was much too wide and angry looking to seem pleased and he looked quite mad.

Ron jerked his arm back and popped the fat ghost right in his belly as it swooped down and made a grab for his wrist.

The specter burst into flame and vanished through the ceiling howling in pain.

"What was that about?" Ron was confused and looked to his brother.

"We should start looking for this beacon. Snape was right. We need to try and warn the others about coming back. It should be on the roof and higher up than the rest of the castle." Fred motioned for the others to follow. "I'm not about to take off those boards and ask him about it." He waved his hand for them to follow. "Come on, we need to try and get there before dark. We don't have much time left. It would be nice to get back to the chapel before dark once we get it lit."

Ron seemed to think that was a good idea. "We should start looking then."

Fred glanced at him as he peered at the map he'd pulled from his robe. "Don't worry. It shouldn't take us long to find it."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter hadn't slept well. She was sitting in one of the passenger cars, watching Sirius Black move away as he waved them off at the station. Sirius seemed to take it in good humor, she was irate but not with him. He'd been teasing her about not wanting to go back because of the look she had that day. The man had played it off as an unusual morning slur for the girl. She looked like she wanted to crawl back into bed.

Hermione was with them and had a huge grin on her face. Harry was telling her about his Christmas as she prodded him with questions. Her eyes had grown very wide and her jaw was hanging a bit. "Wow! So you and your sister will be using the same kind of broom then? I remember you said you wanted that."

Despite the smile on his face and the story he was telling, he seemed rather somber and distracted.

"I saw you, on the BBC. They ran the whole thing. Tell me about what happened then? Everyone's been talking about you!" She was hopping in her seat. "Oh, what's wrong?" She frowned a bit realizing he seemed to be in a bad mood, his head was hanging down and he was looking at the floor.

"I sense a disturbance in the force." He looked up at his sister. "You've seen something, haven't you? I could hear you last night. I'm sure your room mate remembers as well."

"She says it was a nightmare." Margaret shrugged. "It's been going around in the dorms at Slytherin. Didn't seem any different."

Melvin glanced at his sister and looked at Hermione. "Not sure. I slept like a log."

"Well, someone had a chain saw then." Margaret stuck her tongue out at him.

"It was just a nightmare, Harry. It's got to do with something I've been working on. Don't worry about it."

"What was it then?" He countered. "If it's just a nightmare then you've got nothing to worry in telling us then do you?"

"What do you care?" She scowled at him.

"It wasn't a nightmare. You mentioned names, places. Margaret was worried and I came over to check up on you. We couldn't get you to wake up and you calmed down on your own eventually."

She wanted to spit that she didn't really see the future. That it was all just something she'd read in a few books in her past life. She bit her tongue and snorted. "Vampires. Lots of them. What happened with that vampire over the holiday spooked me a little. I'm fine."

"Vampire? You saw a vampire over the holiday?" Hermione was confused.

"Doesn't feel fine to me. If I'm right, McGonagall is a vampire, and so is George, Percy, Flitwick, Filch."

"That's silly! Nothing like that can happen at Hogwarts!" Hermione seemed relieved to brush the subject aside. "It's the best wizarding school there is! There's no way! It's just silly."

Margaret and Melvin seemed to agree. The boy spoke up and shrugged. "She's right. Nothing like that can get into Hogwarts. It's protected from things like that with really strong magic. You'd have to be stronger than all four of the founders to do that. There's just no way."

Harry was looking at his sister with a frown on his face. "Well, there's not much to be done. We'll get there soon enough." He seemed to relax again and put his hands behind his head as he leaned back and closed his eyes. "I do wonder why my sister ignores her feelings so often. Why do you resist it so much? It's like you push it away as if you don't believe in it yourself. Very strange."

The girl was looking at him with a snarl on her face. Her eyebrow was twitching and she clenched her fist. "Where do you get off...?" She stood up kicked him off of his seat pulled her chest down and put it on top of his back.

"What are you doing?" The boy was floundering a bit with a surprised look on his face as she popped the lid and reached inside. She pulled out a bunny by his ears. "Give me back those needles." A stumpy looking hand gave her a medium sized black hand bag. It looked more like leather camping gear than a girl's purse. She hooked it over her shoulder and stuffed the ears back into the chest. She smirked and stepped on her brother's shoulder to keep him from squirming out as she pulled her new broomstick out. "Be on guard when you reach the station. Once the sun goes down be mindful of anyone you meet." she mounted her broomstick and the window slid open.

Margaret and Melvin did nothing but watch with wide eyes.

Hermione was pulling on Harry's arm trying to help him up.

"I thought he was talking about over the summer. How could I be so stupid?" She growled out the statement as she shot out the window.

A crowd of students gathered around the outside of the compartment trying to find out what was going on.

Draco Malfoy was smirking at the boy who lived from the middle of the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. Harry seemed to ignore him as he pulled himself back into his seat with Hermione's help. "Well, Potter, it seems your sister has gotten herself expelled. She'll be lucky if the Ministry doesn't break her wand for this."

The girl helping the boy who lived back to his feet flashed him an angry frown but didn't respond.

Harry looked out at the horizon. The sun was dipping from view. They were still about two hours away from the station. "We'll see."

The door closed in Draco's face and left the boy feeling flustered. The crowd started to break up as students seemed to catch the hint and return to their seats.

OooOOooOO

Ron Weasley was walking up a set of stairs and looking out the window in horror. "Oh no!" The boy was mortified as the sun began to vanish below the horizon. They were several floors up and heading for the tower. Fred had his map still and had been able to find the beacon marked on it. It was at the top of the central tower. They would have to cross a stone bridge to reach the stairs that led up to it from the east wall to the center of the grounds high over a courtyard.

They were only halfway up the wall and Fred had a serious frown on his face while Parvati was starting to shake and cry. "No! We've not reached it yet!"

"We have to hurry Ron, the other students will be here soon." Fred urged them both on. "We can't let them get here, no matter what."

A rhythmic metallic clanking sound started from the stairs above them. All three looked on in horror as a giant set of armor walked up. It was carrying a huge spiked mace and leered down at them. "Sorry children, none shall pass." It was Nearly Headless Nick's voice, but it was distorted and cold.

"Nick! Move! We need to warn the others!" said the oldest boy as he looked up at the armor.

Fred tried to step forward, but the mace hit the ground at his feet. "None shall pass!"

The older boy jumped back and both of the first years were holding each other's shoulders and looking on in horror.

"Can't we please get by?" Ron's voice wavered. "We're all in Gryffindor."

Nick was screaming inside the armor as he clanged his weapon into the ground again, cracking the stones on the stairs as bits of it went flying about.

All three of them jumped. Parvati pushed the redhead forward expecting him to do something heroic. He sort of complied, squeezing his eyes shut and snapping out to hit the unarmed armored arm. The metal sleeve and gauntlet bounced away and fell past the children and down the stairs leaving Nick with one arm.

"There. I've won." Ron didn't want to hurt Nick any more. "Move now!" His voice wasn't very commanding.

The armor peered over the edge of the rail for a moment. "Tis but a scratch." He readied his mace again.

"A scratch? Your arm's off!" Ron was looking at the intimidating weapon still.

The armor unset itself and looked down at him. "No it isn't."

"What was that then?" The boy pointed to where the arm had fallen.

"I've had worse!" The knight bellowed in triumph.

"He's got you there, Ron." Fred and the first year girl were a few feet back watching the scene.

"Who's side are you on then?" The younger boy looked annoyed.

"Right. Sorry." His older brother looked a bit embarrassed.

"Come on you pansy!" Nick raised his weapon over his head, only to have it knocked away and fall over the stair railing this time.

Ron pointed at where it had gone. "There, now I've beaten you."

"Come on then!" Nick kicked his leg at the boy, who ducked away just in time and jumped back to avoid being stepped on. "Have at you!"

"You've got no arms left!" Ron looked worried.

"His legs are pretty big." He'd backed into Fred and they were both stepping down the stairs away from the hulking thing.

"It's just a flesh wound!" The knight cried.

Ron was getting annoyed as the armor with his house ghost inside clanged it's foot down after them again. "Look!"

Nick ignored him and continued to stomp down at them.

"Stop that!" cried Ron. "Look, I'll have your leg!"

The armor continued. The boy whipped the right leg out from under it and it clattered by the trio down the stairs. "Right! I'll do you for that!" The armor could do nothing but hop a very short bit it seemed.

"You can't even bleed on us!" Fred cried as he pointed at the thing. He almost laughed, but seemed to realize no one else was there to laugh with him.

"I'm invincible!" The knight cried into the hall.

Ron knocked his other leg away with a small snort and it did the same thing his other leg did, leaving the armor leaning in the stairwell on its rear.

Nick seemed miffed. "Right. We'll call it a draw then."

"Come on, Parvati, Fred." Ron gave a small sigh and shook his head.

"Oh, running away eh? The helmet turned to watch them leave. "Come back here! I'll bite your legs off!"

Ron rolled his eyes and looked over his shoulder again. "Even as an evil ghost he's not scary."

"To think, reduced to doing that scene again." Fred looked back and shook his head.

"So sad," agreed Parvati.

"Come on now, at least cut my head off! Be a sport! I'd like to see what it's really like!" called Nick as the menace faded from his voice and became pleading.

The children continued walking up the stairs and left him in the stairwell. Ron looked back over his shoulder and took a few steps back. He cracked the whip and another clatter sounded as the helmet rolled down the stairs. He looked at the wide eyed stares of the other two and shrugged. "I like him, he's a ghost, but he's not scary or too boring."

"Come on then. We've got to hurry." Fred pushed them onward towards the top of the stairs.

OooOOooOO

They rushed up a few more flights and Fred took the lead. "The door is in the middle of this hallway. We're almost there."

"Parvati..." A soft voice echoed through the hall behind them. It sounded a good distance off but was still clear and distinct.

The girl gasped and froze her eyes growing wide as she turned to look back with the others. "That was..." Both boys seemed to realize that the voice in the distance sounded a lot like the surviving girl's echo.

Fred grabbed her arm in a firm grip and started to pull, forcing her to keep moving with the group. "No it wasn't. We need to stop it from happening to anyone else."

"Are you sure?" Ron spun around but his strike went limp as George and Percy stood shoulder to shoulder in front of them in the hallway.

They were both grinning and looking at the group with no emotion on their faces.

"You said you wouldn't turn your own brother." Fred narrowed his eyes as he pointed his toilet seat at the pair of them. They both took a step back.

George smirked and Cho Chang stepped out from behind him and put her arms around him with a seductive smile on her face. "I'm afraid I've stolen him from you."

"I never said that, it was Percy. We'll have a bit of fun when it's over, don't worry." George looked right at his twin and gave him a toothy grin. His fangs were long and sharp, protruding over his bottom lip.

Ron staggered back unsure of what to do.

"It's not so bad Parvati." Lavender's voice chimed in from the shadows behind them.

"Yes, I think you'll like it," agreed Padme's voice.

Neither girl could be seen in the hall behind them. They were waiting for the group to run to them.

"I wasn't very hungry when I said that. Things have changed." Percy chuckled.

The young boy with the most dangerous weapon screamed and lashed out. "You jerks aren't my brothers!" He lashed out violently towards the two vampires and they spread out moving to either side of him. It was obvious they were trying to jump on him from either direction at the same time. His weapon curved through the air, and while it didn't strike them hard just coming into contact with the wet leather was enough to drive them away. They ran screaming down the hall while stumbling and bouncing off of each other as they rushed away. Cho hissed and backed into the shadows. She wasn't quite as brave as she had been with backup.

"Come on! We need to get to that door!" Fred was shoving him and pulling Parvati again.

They hadn't gone more than twenty feet when Ron stumbled and fell onto the ground as something beaned him upside his head. He lay there for a moment and shook it off before pushing himself upright and grabbing both his whip and the offending object off the ground.

Parvati's scream broke his confusion. He dropped the bone in his hand and almost lost his whip and his bladder again.

Three skeletons were standing in front of them having moved out of a few open doorways in the hall. The were all clutching bones and rearing their arms back.

Fred took one in the back as he covered Parvati. It felt like someone had punched him in the ribs and he grunted as he ducked into the wall behind a vase stand. The vase shattered leaving him with no cover.

Ron ducked under one of the thing's projectiles. They were pulling bones off of themselves but he didn't think he could dodge until they tossed all of themselves at the three of them. He raked his weapon at the trio and they exploded in more of the blue flame seeming to burst into chunks of dust and bone chunks.

"All you got was a T-shirt?" Parvati was looking up at Fred. "Your brother is pretty cool, but no way am I stepping on her toes."

He worked his jaw a bit and chuckled. "Um yeah. We're here by the way."

The older boy turned the knob and coughed into his hand at the sight that met them. A long walkway stretched out before them. It was made of thick stone with low walls and was suspended about two hundred feet over a courtyard in the grounds right to a tall thin tower that rose about seven stories higher above them.

The weather was nasty and angry lighting crashed across the sky as a torrential downpour fell from above.

"How are we supposed to light that beacon in this?" Ron looked mortified. The top of the tower could be seen and it was little more than a few pillars and a roof.

"We've got to try. It's magic, it should work." Fred gave him a tired looking grin.

"We're going to die here, aren't we?" Parvati was sniffling but seemed a bit braver as she said it.

"I don't want to die!" Ron's eyes went wide as he looked at her in horror. "Don't say that!"

"She's probably right." Fred looked over his shoulder. "Come on, before we have to deal with those other two vampires. They're going to get hungry once we stop the food from coming, and braver." He pulled them out into the rain dragging both by the hand.

They made it halfway across when a cultured and polite sounding chuckle sounded behind them.

"I'm afraid it is time for this little game to end. It has been amusing, but my children are hungry and you're not much of a meal. There are a lot of plates to be filled after all." Vlad was standing behind them between the main building and the group. His eyes were cold and hard. "Do not worry. My gift is especially strong. You've survived long enough to warrant a more, personal, demise. I must congratulate you as you've far exceeded my expectations."

He smiled at them and put his arm up with his palm open towards them as of offering his hand. "This ends now. That toy is too weak to harm me."

Ron frowned and lashed out catching the monster on the arm. It roared in pain as his palm to his elbow came to life with more of the blue flames. "You've gotten stronger." He was hunched down and clutching his arm as it went out. "Not strong enough!"

A ball of orange light filled his hand as he pointed his palm towards the youngest boy who stood between the monster and his brother. Parvati was with Fred but hidden behind him as far as she could be.

The young boy's eyes went wide as he stumbled back.

"Don't worry, I want to keep you boy. I'll bring you back before you burn to death! Though, you won't be as handsome anymore." The creature pushed its palm forward and launched the ball of power towards the redhead. Ron couldn't see it coming as he had he put his head down so the brim of his hat blocked his view.

The vampire howled in rage and pain as a blur of motion and a flash of light arced across his chest at a downward angle. Ron gasped as something landed in front of him as a massive explosion shook the bridge they were standing on. It remained intact but the Vampire was inside a smoldering, smoking, crater.

Anna's broomstick hovered in the air as the girl stood with her wand held ready with a firm frown on her face. "If his weapon isn't good enough, then why don't we give mine a try?"

The vampire growled under his breath. The wound across his chest was still smoking and a wild angry glare was the only response she got. He looked surprised at the damage and the sudden appearance of his new opponent.

"My wand emits UV light. A recent upgrade. Who could have known it would become so useful?" She smirked at him and readied herself by putting her foot forward and holding her weapon pointed at the thing's face.

"Heh. We'll see." He pulled out a broadsword from his side. It was glowing with unnatural looking orange flames as he pointed it at her. "I've been meaning to speak with you anyway." He looked back over his shoulder. Cho, Padma, and Lavender were looking on from the doorway. "Take care of her friends and don't let them light the beacon. If they do, you know what comes next." He glanced back at them and then turned to look at the girl again. The other Vampires stepped out of the door and crawled onto the underside of the bridge.

"Come on! We've got to move! The train will be here soon!" Fred pulled the two younger children back towards the door to the tower. "She can keep him busy for a while! We've got to hurry!"

OooOOooOO

TBC...


	14. Chapter 14

A matter of force.

Part 14

Triumph! Anna's big rescue!

OooOOooOO

Pansy was sitting back with her arms behind her head. A group of Slytherin girls was glaring and pouting inside the booth across from them. They looked disgusted and angry. Their young housemate had a group that crowded out the door and filled the hall outside her compartment. She was sitting next to the doorway, talking to those around her. "Anna is much cooler than she seemed at first. I have to admit." She had her new robe draped across her shoulders and tossed her hair a bit. She was wearing expensive looking clothes, all new and pressed. "I don't see why more people don't like her."

"She's...strange. I've heard stories about her and that lab at the top of the dorms. She's a first year, I heard a rumor she was brewing up mutants." A third year boy from Hufflepuff looked around a bit as he said it. Most of the crowd was in agreement. "I heard strange things happen around her all the time."

"Yes. The bunnies are awesome though. You haven't seen them? She took them out and showed them the school a while back." Pansy gave a small shrug. "I don't see how it matters. It should be obvious she's cool by now. Why wouldn't I like her? She's made us rich." Pansy was quite pleased. There was a considerable sum they couldn't touch, but a moderate percentage was available for their own personal use. Wizarding law was quite a bit different about parental and child property laws. Her mother was allowed a sum of whatever she made until she turned seventeen.

"What's Harry like?" The other most common question she'd been asked thus far popped up from a fourth year boy with a spiked haircut of blond hair.

Pansy was a bit annoyed for a brief moment, she had learned to expect these questions first in line from the wizarding crowd. "He's serious competition, just like you're afraid of. He'll probably catch the best of this lot I'm afraid. Lucky girl, whoever she is." Anna was right, it was fun to do things like that to them.

Most of the girls were blushing, looking pleased, or shifting about in an uncomfortable manner. The boys either brushed it off, looked wide eyed in horror, and a few seemed to realize she was giving them a straight line and seemed amused.

"Any more questions? We've got a bit of a ride to Hogwarts you know." No one ever asked what the Boggs were like first off either. She understood it, but she was getting tired of answering it. Given her current financial and social status, and the fact that Salazar's heir was her close personal friend, she wasn't about to complain. She wouldn't get invited to the big parties, she and her friends were the party.

Before anyone could ask Harry Potter rushed up to the back of the crowd. "Pansy, Anna took off. Something is going on."

"Huh?" The girl sat up and her pleased and somewhat smug expression vanished.

"My sister just left. Come on. I suppose we need to have a meeting. I think I know what she needs us to do." Harry didn't seem to notice or care about the other students as he leaned into the crowd a bit to catch her attention.

Pansy was pushing through the rather dazed looking students before he finished speaking. She was confused and it showed as she stumbled a bit as she followed him. "What do you mean 'left'?"

"Come on. We'll talk about it when we get with the others." He looked over his shoulder and noted he'd attracted a crowd of interested followers. He waved his hand and gave them a stern looking glare as the blond gave a small blink. She looked over her shoulder and noticed the students were drifting back to their seats at a lazy pace. "Did you um..."

"Its not time for them to know. I'd rather not get tied up or stunned before it gets here." The boy said it with a straight face and didn't look to be joking around.

"Are things always like this with you?" Pansy's eyes went a little wide as she hunched her shoulders and looked less pleased about following him. "Just when I was starting to feel really good about all this."

"Pretty much." The door opened itself and she walked in before him. It closed as he sat down next to her on a rather crowded bench. "Well. There's Vampires. I'm pretty sure, but I can't prove it. Anna had a vision that Vampires took over Hogwarts I think."

"Where is Anna?" Pansy grumbled as she seemed to pout a little with her arms folded over her chest.

The frazzled haired girl she sat down next to spoke up. "She flew off on her broom. If we're not in a lot of serious trouble, then she is for jumping off the train." Hermione looked frustrated. "Vampires? She said it was just a dream."

"She has a way of doing that. She's very protective about what she sees. Letting you in on something too soon can be dangerous, more than you might think...in theory. She's always been like that. It's her favorite excuse." Harry seemed serious and didn't look upset about the mess. He shrugged at her and seemed to think on it.

"Well, you know our part is survival first. Don't expect us to be very useful." Margaret and Melvin both nodded as the dark haired boy said this. They looked a bit worried and were giving each other nervous looking glances on occasion at that point.

Hermione's jaw dropped. "What? You're not going to do anything?"

"Well, we're not going to fight, if that's what you're asking. We'll help any way we can otherwise." Margaret shrugged and looked more interested in the boy pacing in between them.

"Don't worry about it." Harry didn't seem to care, and was trying to move Hermione off the subject.

"You're saying we're about to get attacked by Vampires then?" Pansy didn't look pleased to hear it. She was scowling and looking at the bottom of the door with her arms folded.

"When?" Hermione didn't want to look worried. She turned her head to look out the window. The sun had started to vanish below the horizon.

Harry looked like he was deep in thought but sure about what he was saying as well. "They've infested Hogwarts. Something big is going on. It could be as soon as night fall. We might not see any Vampires if we don't make it to the school. My sister will get the job done."

"What? You want us to stop the train?" Melvin looked shocked.

"Only if we can make it turn back. I doubt we can." The boy looked annoyed. "We need to be ready. If we try and warn anyone they won't believe us. There's nothing we can really do but stay alert and wait." As Harry Potter finished saying this the sun vanished below the horizon, their journey to Hogwarts was a bit more than halfway done. "If anything goes wrong, we need to get the word out to the older students as fast as we can. Any sixth or seventh year student you can find especially. I don't care what house. I'm pretty sure my wand will hurt a Vampire. I can't kill them either." Harry didn't bother to tell them that it wasn't because he thought his wand wasn't strong enough to do it. The boy seemed to dwell on that for a moment and looked at his sister's trunk case and then at his wand as he gripped in his fist in front of himself. "I suppose I should tell you."

Everyone turned towards him. Margaret and Melvin looked at each other and up in a bit of surprise.

"On the back cover of my sister's potion book. There are instructions for a cure for Vampirism. We have to get it to someone who can make sure the students of Hogwarts get cured instead of destroyed." Harry was looking at Pansy and Hermione as he said it.

The frazzle haired girl thought about it for a moment. "The Ministry of Magic. If you're right, they'll probably be the first wizards we see. Assuming you're right. I still don't think it's possible."

"Always what cannot be done." Harry gave a small sigh and looked at her for a moment with a smirk on his face.

She flushed and gave him an irate glare in response, it didn't last but a moment.

"This is starting to sound like something from the Quibbler." Melvin snorted in distaste. "Might have to start reading it more."

"If anyone can do it, I suppose it would be her." Margaret was also informed already.

"Harry. You know I was raised by Muggles. I want you to understand. I know how amazing magic might seem and all, but..." Hermione was looking irate. "It's obvious they're putting us on. I mean..."

"I'd rather be prepared than sorry, wouldn't you?" The boy didn't seem to be leaning one way or the other in the conversation. "I'm pretty sure it's true. I sort of saw it with my own eyes. The cure works. That seems to have upset them."

"Enough Vampires to do that couldn't even get into Hogwarts!" Hermione seemed stern. "Harry, your sister is in a lot of trouble!"

"No. Dracula could though. As strong as the enchantments are it's not a holy site. There is a chapel but it's small." For the first time in the conversation Margaret looked worried.

"What's he's..." Harry's fellow Griffindor looked like she'd been insulted.

"Where do you think Vampires come from?" Melvin spoke up without looking at them he was chewing on the end of his thumb as he kept his eyes locked on the window and the darkness outside.

"What's he doing in England?" Hermione seemed miffed but went silent after she said it.

"The bigger question is how did he find out?" Harry stood up and paced in the middle of the car for a moment. "I don't think its something she's been talking about. Melvin was as surprised as I was when we found out."

Pansy hadn't said anything and seemed to be at the bottom of her bad mood. "It's bad enough with the Death Eaters! Vampires now? Great."

"We're going to need the older students to help. I'll probably go off on my own after that. Don't follow me. It will make my job harder if I have to keep you safe along the way." Harry was looking out into the night sky through the window.

"Stop talking like that!" The young brunette jumped to her feet to force him to stop pacing around. Pansy seemed relieved the girl had said it when Hermione jumped up and poked him in the chest. "You trust that girl too much." She sat back down with her arms crossed glaring at the floor.

The boy shrugged "We'll see."

OooOOooOO

Anna stood in front of the Lord of Vampires with a frown on her face as she held her blade in front of her. The rain was still falling around them in a deluge, the sky rumbled and flashed angrily above. There were four large torch wells in each side of the low walls on the bridge that led to the tower. They lit up the area around the pair as they looked at each other about ten feet apart.

Dracula frowned at her, his flaming blade pointed at her in a calm battle ready stance. The smoking gash across his chest was closing, and even his clothes repaired themselves around it. "Ah. You must be the young Potter girl. Quite an impressive entrance. I do hope you're interesting."

"You have no idea." The girl's broom was resting on the end of the bridge behind her, propped up next to the entrance to the tower. "I'm guessing you're the man in charge."

"Forgive me. I am Vlad, more commonly known as Count Dracula. I have come to make you suffer for what you have done. I take it you enjoy the improvements to the school? It's only been a few days. Give me a century more and I'll really make something out of it." He seemed pleased to meet her and bowed deep almost touching his long dark hair to the ground as he did so.

She did much the same with an angry looking grin of her own. "Lady Anna Potter, Heir of Slytherin, and Lady of the Sith. I doubt it will be a pleasure considering our business."

Vlad looked impressed and readied himself for a fight again. "I am afraid, my good Lady, it is true. Interesting indeed, I shall be sure to show my gratitude for that. Sith?"

Her blade hissed and popped as the rain struck it, a bolt of lighting struck, sending an almost blinding flash across the scene. The girl's eyes were narrowed into thin slits. "Yes." She was holding her weapon with one hand in a fencing stance. Her free hand had a black bag hanging around her wrist, it was unzipped but it's contents were unknown.

The Vampire rushed forward slashing at her. He was expecting her to block his strike, but seemed surprised as she countered with a skill far too great for her age. He was forced to step back as she slashed at him twice, spinning her own weapon around his own in an attempt to strike his head and forcing the monster to duck.

The girl hopped back and swiped the arm the bag was hooked onto.

The vampire took four shots to his chest. Four small needles were plunged deep into his chest and their contents injected upon impact. He growled and fell to his knees keeping his sword gripped in his hand as he raised his blade up to block as the girl tried to cut him in half in a diving hack.

She growled at him as she tried to push his arm down. He was looking her dead in the eye with a grin on his face. His clothes were smoking and the skin around his neck looked like it was boiling. "Painful, but nothing of me can destroy me. A dose of your cure I take it?" She jumped back as he gave a small chuckle and regained his feet. She'd figured out that she wasn't going to use his pain to help overpower him just yet. She didn't look worried or afraid of him. The child was giving him a stern and fierce glare as she stood her ground four feet in front of him awaiting the next attack.

"Maybe it needs a bit of work." The redhead was cursing up a storm in her head. She wasn't expecting it to kill him, but she had been hoping it would be a bit more effective than it was.

The vampire smirked as he readied himself and held his free hand behind his back. "Well, shall we continue?"

"I'm waiting." The girl's eyes were on where his free arm was. She could feel something going on in the energies surrounding them, as if something was being pulled from the air to the space behind his back.

The vampire thrust his hidden hand forward and a ball of orange flame blasted from his hand. The bridge rocked with the explosion as his spell exploded sending pieces of bridge clattering about in its wake. The structure remained intact though and the damage was little more than a dent in the stone. The vampire followed the girl's arc over his head, her eyes never left him as she jumped over him with her weapon pointed at him the whole way over. He was grinning at her at the peak of her jump. He waved his hand again and sent another ball of fire at her. She surprised him yet again. Instead of twisting to avoid it as expected she took a swipe at it with the blade of light in her hand. The ball of flame slammed back into him and she seemed to ride the pressure wave of the explosion back a few feet before landing in a soft manner on the battered stone walkway.

The vampire could see her from within the wall of fire that surrounded him. "Impressive." It was almost a gasp as instead of waiting for him to recover she charged at him as soon as she landed. It was obvious she was not expecting him to be destroyed.

Anna screamed in a rage as she hacked down into the still burning pyre of the explosion. She met the monster's sword and snarled as he pushed her back and stepped out of the flames as they started to die around him. He was looking at her and seemed pleased again. "Your anger makes you strong."

The girl gave a short laugh at that, keeping her weapon against his. "Yes, I know."

The monster was battered by a few large stones knocked loose from the battle so far. Vlad took three shots in his back and either side of him at once. He grunted and staggered a bit as her sword came close to his face. She unhooked her lightsaber from the edge of his enchanted blade and spun around, cutting a large section of stone out of the bridge in the process. He snarled in anger as the piece she'd cut loose slammed into his face and he took a slash to the torso. He'd almost been cut in half by the strike and jumped ten feet back sending another ball of flames at her as he did so.

The girl responded by jumping back onto the roof on top of the school over the entrance to the bridge. The vampire was impressed by her unexpected reaction yet again and gave a feral looking grin. His attack had never neared her. She sent another blast just like his to intercept it. The energy collided in mid air sending a blast wave that almost knocked the vampire back. He shielded himself with his arms as she called down to him from her perch above. "You're not playing fair. When I come up with something new, you should be defeated. That's how it works you jerk!" She was taking the opportunity to catch her breath and didn't look upset or worried. The vampire had never encountered a child like her. The little redhead was actually taunting him.

Anna was standing on the apex of the roof on a narrow and slippery section of tile. She was looking down at him with a frown on his face. She'd figured out he was pulling the heat energy off of his own sword and the torches still lit along the bridge. They'd destroyed two of the torch wells so far in their battle.

The vampire was laughing as he landed in front of her. The sky roared in rage around them as bolts of lighting flashed around them like cameras in the distance. "You have impressed me. To think that someone so young would have such control of their own fear and rage. You will no doubt excel at the dark arts as none of my servants before you."

They remained in the middle of the roof and charged at each other with their blades clashing as they collided and fenced as they spoke. "You'll find I'm full of surprises."

Vlad's eyes looked at her with a sort of hunger in them as he smirked at her. "Yes. I've decided I'm not going to destroy you. I've decided to keep you. You shall be my bride."

"Eew. I'm not even thirteen!" The redhead's face scrunched up as she deflected a few shots meant more to keep her occupied than to wound her. "That's going to be a hard sale." She didn't seem any more worried than before, but she wasn't smiling anymore.

"I can do this all night." He seemed a bit miffed at her reaction and grew more serious.

"I can do this for days." Anna retorted. She needed to figure something out fast. She doubted she could go all night like she was.

OooOOooOO

Ron Weasley was gasping for breath. His legs burned, he was covered in sweat, and all he could see ahead of him was more stone steps. He was only half aware of the girl's hand in his because he could feel her struggling to keep up as her grip tugged on his own. He was moving as fast as his legs could carry him.

He slid to a halt as the doorway came into view and almost didn't notice himself walk out onto it. His feet skidded across wet marble and he almost lost his feet. Parvati ran into his back and kept him upright as he gasped for breath. The wind was carrying the rain and the familiar sensation of being soaked shook him out of his blind stupor.

"Ron!" Parvati screamed into his ear from behind.

Fred had rushed out just ahead of them. He was struggling with George just beside the pair, pushing on his twin brother's shoulders to keep him from trying to push him down and knock the magical toilet seat that was protecting his neck off.

The young boy reacted without thinking, taking a swipe at the pair with the coiled whip and sending George staggering away with the side of his face smoking. Parvati was screaming in alarm, giving his ears an unpleasant ringing. Cho Chang, Lavender, and Padma were circling around the large stone well in the center of the tower. A soaking wet stack of wood filled the center of the platform on top of the tower. A stone ceiling held up by six stone pillars was the only, and rather ineffective, protection against the deluge. The wind ripped through the open air around them making it just as uncomfortable as it had been on the bridge.

Ron didn't notice any of this, and it was a good thing because he would have frozen up. As it was, he was having a bit of trouble keeping his attention off the four Vampires moving up on either side of the stack of wood towards them.

Fred was now keeping Cho and George at bay with his toilet seat by holding it in front of himself as the magical sunlight within shined. The two vampires were hissing at him and not moving forward. "Ron! I can't get my wand, light the beacon!"

The young boy had his eyes locked on Padma and Lavender. The pair was smiling at him in what was supposed to be an inviting way. He found it disturbing and held his whip over his shoulder with his arm cocked back while standing between them and Parvati. "What? I don't know that kind of spell!" He didn't take his eyes of the two young female vampires as they stalked towards him.

"Come with us..." Lavender had lost the vague and nervous tone. She seemed like she wanted something from him.

"Parvati, it's not so bad, really... You could enjoy it." Padma was looking at her sister. The terrified girl was gripping his shoulders behind him, her eyes locked in horror on her twin sister.

"Do something!" She screamed at the boy in front of her.

Ron reacted as he had from the start, by sending his weapon curving towards the two girls. Both hopped out of the way in a nimble manner while hissing in anger at the boy as they did so.

The children and monsters were both blown back all at once. Ron's strike came in contact with the wood and a blue flame erupted from it. Everyone standing in the tower onto their backs as it consumed all the wood at once, going full bore from the start in an almost explosive way. The vampires all started screaming as if in pain and vanished over the edge of the tower.

Ron was staggering to his feet, Parvati was pulling herself up with him and they made their way onto their feet by leaning on each other.

"We did it!" Fred was grinning as he collected his toilet seat from where it had landed after he had been knocked off his feet and hooked it back around his neck.

"Now what?" Ron seemed to realize where he was standing and was edging his way back towards the stairs. He jumped as lighting crashed nearby and almost shoved Parvati towards them. "We can go now right?"

Everyone fell to their knees as a series of explosions rocked the tower and shook the foundation enough to throw them off balance.

Fred was leaning against one of the pillars just to their right. "Potter is still fighting him! Look!" He pointed his finger and seemed to go a little slack jawed as the girl hopped off the bridge below and onto the roof in an almost casual looking jump. At the apex of her leap she sent a ball of orange light into a similar projectile from the monster. They impacted and exploded. "Are you seeing this?"

Ron and Parvati were holding each other's shoulders and shaking as they moved up beside him and gripped the pillar to keep their balance in the wake of the explosion.

"Potter?" The girl's eyes were wide as she let go of Ron a little and moved towards the fight a little more.

"Is that her wand?" Ron was impressed enough to forget how scared he was for a moment.

"Looks like it." Fred seemed pleased with what he was seeing. "She's giving him a good fight. Maybe she can drive him off? We might make it out of here if she can."

OooOOooOO

Anna gave the tower a glance as she noticed the light in the tower. Vlad was looking at it as well and stepped back. "A distraction then? No matter. If the students will not come here, I'll just send my friends to retrieve them." He flew back onto the top of a spire twenty feet away leaving the redhead on the ledge alone.

"No!" She jumped at him with anger on her face, intent on stopping him. He slammed his blade into hers, sending her sprawled on her back into a rather painful landing on the bridge. He gave her a cold smirk and spread his arms. "Hear me my children. Go! Go and bring the children into our family!"

Anna had made her way to her feet and held her sword ready behind her. "Damn."

OooOOooOO

Hermione was standing in the compartment with Harry. The group had gone quiet and seemed to sit and wait and all of them looked irate and nervous. All but the Potter boy he looked calm and serious. The lights had gone out and a familiar screeching sound seemed to fill the train. Cries of confusion and surprise could be heard down the hall as all the lights went dark and the train stopped cold as the brakes were engaged.

"It's time." Harry unhooked his weapon and waved the children.

The rest of the students around him looked up at him as he moved towards the door. Hermione was glad no one else could see how pale she had gone. It felt like her face had just emptied itself of blood.

There was another cry of surprise as the train finished stopping. After a moment it started to move backwards. The engine working in the distance could be heard from the passenger cars.

Harry poked his head out of the door and found himself looking at a Prefect who was moving up and down the isles with a few others patrolling the doors along the length of the train.

"Back in your car. We don't know what's going on. It's best if we stay put until we know. The train will take us back to King's Cross." He was about two feet taller than the boy with short cut brown hair and a stern look on his face. The patch on his shoulder identified him as a Prefect in Ravenclaw. "We'll be fine."

Harry grinned at him as the boy was jerked off his feet and landed on his chest on the carpet of the hall. He was looking down at the older boy and squatted. The train had jerked to a stop in a much more violent manner than before. There was a high pitched whine from outside the train, a few banging sounds as the cars jerked about a bit, and then silence. The entire locomotive had come to a dead stop. The Potter boy gave a small sigh. "I'm guessing that's not supposed to happen."

The older student frowned up at him and spoke up. "Stay in your cars. We..."

"Sorry. We've got to plan for when the Vampires get here." Harry grabbed his hand and helped him to his feet. "We're about to get attacked I'd say."

"Great." Melvin stood up and dusted off his pants. Everyone in the compartment had managed to keep their seat despite the rough jostling of the train car.

"What?" The prefect looked annoyed.

"Harry, I'm not sure if we should..." Hermione looked worried as she glanced between the boy and the prefect.

"What's this about Vampires?" The prefect cut her off and put his hands on his hips.

"Well, I'm afraid there's a bunch of them heading right for us." Pansy didn't sound like she was pleased to be saying it. She was on the verge of tears. "Bugger that."

"Right." Harry looked at Hermione for help.

"Something stopped the train. If something goes wrong at Hogwarts it should take us back to the station. It..." Hermione cut herself off. "I read about it. If it's stopped, that means someone deliberately..."

"Vampires. Look, I'm not being paranoid." Harry cut himself off and shoved the older boy into the wall. A wave of screams had started a few cars down. He rushed to the door that lead to the link between cars and looked over his shoulder at the older boy. "Get the students who can fight together to defend the younger students! I'll hold you responsible if something happens to my friends!" His wand ignited as he stepped between cars and hacked the protective walkway's ceiling out with two swipes. He looked up at the opening for a moment and jumped outside onto the roof.

"Is he mad?!" The Prefect was aghast and looked to the rest of the group. "He can't just..."

"No. We should listen to him." Melvin and Margaret were already pushing him along with Pansy and Hermione just behind them.

OooOOooOO

Anna snarled as she ran along a wall as the vampire destroyed the walkway beneath her with another blast. She'd stayed ahead of it and landed back on the remains of a long patio along one of the outside walls of the school.

The vampire landed behind the redhead as she jumped ten feet of open air to land back on the bridge once again. His hand reached out and snagged another needle out of the air. He crushed the plastic and glared at her as the contents oozed out of his hand onto the ground. "No, no more cures. It's time to end this I'm afraid. Though, it has been fun."

The girl kept her blade in front of her and seemed angrier than she had been before. "Shit." The vampire didn't know it, but the last shot hadn't been one of her cures. She'd sent one of the syringes of Werewolf venom at him.

The Vampire put his sword away and grinned at her as his body began to swell.

Anna staggered back and looked up as the man changed from a human looking monster into a ten foot tall demon bat. It had gray skin, yellow eyes, and a wrinkled face with a permanent frown. Fangs hung over it's lips as it gripped both sides of the bridge with it's front claws and a huge thick tail waved behind it as the monster spread its wings into a fifteen foot span.

"Now you're just a bigger target!" The girl rushed forward with her sword.

The Vampire took the shot in the palm and closed it's claws around her hand.

Anna was sent to her knees screaming in pain as she heard the sound of her bones snapping inside the monster's fist. It jerked her forward and pulled her up to it's face by her arm.

"I'm afraid that toy isn't as useful as I've been letting on." The creature no longer spoke in a cultured tone, but with a thick graveled voice dripping with anger. It plucked her bag from her other hand and tossed it back between its wings. It landed by the door to the school behind him.

Anna was struggling in his grip and snarled as it opened its mouth and tried to snap its jaws around her neck. She thrust her palm into the open maw and screamed. "Eat this then!" A ball of orange light blasted into the monster's jaws forcing it to drop her as it staggered back clutching it's face in pain.

The girl landed on her back and rolled onto her stomach to crawl away a bit more.

"No! You'll not escape so easily!" The beast slammed one of its hind claws onto her legs. The girl screamed again as she felt the bones in her legs snap as she struggled to crawl away. She was in pain and rolled over to glare at it again on her back, pushing herself away with her elbows only to find herself just under it's face as it bent down over her. "Nowhere to run."

"I don't need to run!" She screamed in rage and pain. She waved her arm as if slapping him across his face.

The giant monster's eyes went wide as it looked up to find a huge seven foot section of the balcony they had once been fighting on slam into it's face. It raked with it's claws trying to keep itself upright as the stone shattered across the monster's jaw, sending a cloud of dust.

Anna was trying to roll away, but felt a sharp pain on the left side of her face. She grunted in pain and felt her world shift.

The thing had managed to grab her around her waist, its claw was more than large enough to make a fist around her torso. Vlad was on his back and halfway hanging off the edge of the bridge waving his claws about to keep his balance. He squeezed her in his grip causing quite a few more stones to plummet to the ground as she lost control. He staggered back to his feet and continued to crush her in his grip. She felt her ribs snap under the crushing pressure of his claws. "No more daring escapes! You're mine now!" He opened his jaws and pulled her up to bite.

She was trying to push herself away with her good arm but there was no way to avoid it. She could see an even more intense hunger in his eyes that wasn't there before and realized that the left side of her face was covered in blood. "Damn..."

"Potter!" Fred's voice chimed out across the courtyard causing her to look back. She saw the boy pointing his wand at them and heard the high pitched scream of an injured Vampire.

Vlad had a toilet seat around his neck and his face was smoking as he dropped her like a hot potato onto the ground. He almost tossed her over the edge just behind him but she ended up bouncing off the low wall and rolling for several feet in a rather painful tumble.

"That got him!" Fred pumped his arm with a firm looking frown on his face. "We've got to do something!"

Ron looked up at him with wide eyes. "Are you crazy? He'll be after us now!" Parvati seemed to be of a similar mindset as they both held on to each other.

"Not if I get you first!" The trio of surviving students both looked back. George Weasley had made his way back to the tower. He was standing between them and the stairs and shielding his face against the blue flame with his arm. He had a crazed looking grin on his face as he dove forward and took Ron in the center of his chest, both of them tumbled off the edge.

"Ron!" Parvati and Fred cried at the same time. They watched him fall while pushing George off with his free hand, and lashing out towards one of the pillars with the whip with the other.

The weapon went tight and both of them curved along the wall back towards the bridge. Ron squeezed his eyes shut as he felt George slide down to his legs as even he struggled to keep hanging.

He felt his legs jerk forward and found himself lying face down in a puddle with the whip falling onto his back. He pushed himself up after taking a mouthful of water and coughed in a violent fit for a moment. Somehow, he managed to look at the ledge and saw the bottom of his legs hanging off the edge of the bridge in one of the places where the low wall had been destroyed from the battle. George was gone and he realized that his brother turned vampire probably hit the side of the bridge face first. A flash of lighting revealed that he was standing right in front of the vampire and the girl from Slytherin. "Oh, nuts."

The vampire had noticed his entrance and had just managed to claw the toilet seat off it's neck. "You've become bothersome. Best deal with you before we continue then." He started to stalk forward with a malicious glare on his monstrous features.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter frowned at what he saw as he jumped onto the roof of the train. He had about three feet of walking space on either side, and he could see the angry storm in the sky overhead in the distance. About a car length and a half away, a student was struggling with what looked almost like a gargoyle. It had two huge bat like wings flapping slowly behind its back. It was gripping at a young student with clawed hands and feet and dragging him from the train by force. "Come along, the master has special plans for you!" The thing was pulling on the robes of Draco Malfoy.

"You can't do this! My father..." The boy was terrified and was on his belly gripping the train roof as much as he could. His hands and fingers slipped away, and he was struggling to hold on in a desperate way.

The beast spoke up. "Your father? Ha! We remember those who betray others to us! They are a feast reserved for the master!" It seemed to enjoy watching the boy struggle. Draco was in tears, snot was running from his nose, and his face had gone red.

"Malfoy!" a voice from the window below bellowed out. Harry looked down to see a few older students hanging from the windows trying to see where the younger student had gone. Each holding his wand and pointing it to the world outside in a defensive manner.

Both victim and tormentor froze as Harry Potter strolled up to within three feet of the scene and ignited his wand again. "You'll let him go right now. That's what I think."

The creature laughed as he noticed the boy. It shoved Draco down and stood on his back with clawed feet to keep him in place. "Why should I? What are you going to do? Levitate me?"

Harry responded by jumping forward and slashing at the thing. It hissed in rage and pain as its severed arm hit the roof. The Potter boy found himself standing on the roof between the monster and its prey. "Get below. I'll hold him off."

Draco was already stumbling away. He slid off the edge of the train and managed to catch himself on the edge in front of the windows. No more than three sixth and seventh years pulled him back inside the train. The Slytherin boy almost struggled against them but relaxed at the last moment as his panic calmed a little.

"What's going on? What happened?" A stern looking boy with a Hufflepuff patch grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look at him once he'd been pulled inside.

Draco was pale and shaken and it took him a moment to find his voice. He looked up at the boy with wide eyed fear. "Vampires!"

OooOOooOO

Harry had a scowl on his face as he stared the monster in front of him down. The thing was backing away cradling its arm and growling at him in an inhuman way. It stopped and glared at him with a cruel smile on it's lips. "Fool. You think I've come alone? Our wings will blot out the moon!"

When he looked up a cloud of bat like wings could be seen approaching. The moon above seemed to lose its luster as they grew in size and took up more and more of it's place in the sky. "Then we shall fight in the shade." He rushed forward passing the monster and hacking up with his blade to cut off its wings. He pushed his hand back and shoved without touching it and sent it falling off the edge of the car onto the ground.

A volley of cries as several students cursed the unfortunate monster as soon as it had become visible. The train was becoming a mess of panic below him. Screams and cries of terror as others noticed the approaching swarm in the sky. He slid onto his belly and hung over the edge of the train to peer into the glass at those inside while using the bottom of his palms to keep himself from sliding off.

He was pleased to see the older students were taking control of the panic. He could see another Prefect and a few fifth and sixth years herding the younger students towards the center of each car. Oliver Wood noticed him first and called out to him. "Potter! Get back in here! We're..."

"No. I'm going to try and find out what stopped the train. We need to get moving and there are a lot of them coming." He hefted himself back up without waiting for an answer and started running along the roof towards the engine.

It didn't take but a moment to near the front of the train and he slid on his rear off the edge of the roof. He landed in a light manner on his hands and knees and rushed towards the engine past the coal cart. He slid to a stop and frowned as he looked up at the moon. The vampires were still visible and had now almost blocked out the light with their wingspans. The cloud was getting bigger and more distinct and they were no more than a few minutes out.

He looked at the engine and found the source of the problem was easy to find. Thick gnarled looking roots had twisted up into the wheels from the ground around the tracks. Without a word he started hacking them away with his lightsaber, rushing about quickly and making precise slashes to clear them away. It took about a minute and a half to get both sides of the engine. As the metal giant began to grind to a start and move back in a slow manner. He kept up pace beside it while hacking away the still growing roots to keep them from growing fast enough to lock up the train again. After about ten feet they stopped trying to latch on and he grabbed the front of the train while jogging to keep up and haul himself onto the engine.

He was hanging off the side of the boiler and looking over his shoulder as the Vampires drew nearer. "Not going to outrun them." He seemed to realize it at once and hurried himself along.

After a few moments of struggling to make it onto the back of the coal car he found hanging on to be a bit more perilous as the train picked up speed. He rushed over the car, noticing the shovel working itself to keep the engine fires raging as the locomotive rushed faster and faster backwards. He shook off staring at it and hopped down towards the door to the first car.

He was a bit surprised to find Wood standing with a group of about five older students. He wasn't sure who most of them were as they were wearing Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw badges on their robes. They looked pleased to see him though.

"Great job Potter! We're moving again. I thought you were gone for sure!" Oliver was pleased with the young boy and rushed up by pushing the others aside to grab the younger student's shoulders.

Harry nodded at him. "I'm going back on the roof. You need to get anyone who can cast a spell to keep them off the train from the windows. We aren't going to outrun them. Get ready for a fight." He accepted Wood's extended hand and shook it with a firm look on his face. Before anyone could argue with him he went back out the door and jumped onto the roof of the train again.

"Strange one." One of the older Ravenclaw students nodded at Oliver's stunned expression and slapped his shoulder.

"Here they come!" A pudgy looking female sixth year with a Ravenclaw patch and red hair cried over her shoulder as she pointed out the window towards the sky.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter looked on as the creatures began to swoop in on the train. He was standing on the front most passenger car as they began to swoop in. None of them looked human, but quite a few of them were smaller than the one he'd seen earlier.

The first few came in pairs, moving up to try and smash into the cars through the windows. Flashes of light and bolts of magic from the wands of the students knocked the first six or so out of the sky as they came in low and to the sides.

Two landed in front of and behind the Potter boy as he stood with his sword waiting. The creatures blinked as they looked at him and began to close in without speaking. They were roaring and spreading their wings while flexing their claws trying to scare him.

"There is only peace." Harry sprang to life when the things moved in close around him. He took out the first two across their shins sending them tumbling off the edge behind them. They ended up bouncing in a painful looking way off the railings and platforms on their way to the ground. The two behind him were trying to catch him before he recovered he took an arm off of one and shoved his palm towards it. The thing flew off the roof snarling in rage.

The remaining vampire narrowed its eyes at the boy as he faced it with his weapon held ready. It stepped back and looked a bit confused as the boy jumped over its head. It turned around and tried to put its hands up in defense as the railroad sign hanging over the tracks slammed into it and bounced it off the car. It landed on the coal cart and staggered to its feet, only to have a shovel hit it in the face and send it tumbling off the side.

Harry glanced over his shoulder for a moment and saw seven more were swooping in. The students below were doing an excellent job of picking them off as they tried to come in low and to the sides to get inside the cars. No less than a dozen had been knocked from the sky that way. He looked back again and saw the back end of the train entering a tunnel that would stretch for miles.

The boy steeled himself as he rushed forward and jumped ten feet into the air. He hacked through three of the creature's wings and claws as they tried to snag him from his jump and came down on the coal car. He landed and rolled, it was less than comfortable to do so on the loose and hard surface. As he caught himself and pulled himself to his feet to make his way into the engine car the shovel slammed into the face of one of the monster's as it tried to attack him from the side. He glanced at it and smiled. "Thanks."

He moved into the engine compartment and crawled through the front window as the train finally moved all the way into the tunnel. The boy who lived crawled up to the smoke stack ignoring the uncomfortable heat and keeping his head below the smoke as he pulled himself around the main stack and onto the front of the train.

He could see the vampires swooping into the tunnel ahead of him and grinned as he shined his light forward and let the blade of light dissipate.

The creature's screamed in agony and backed away as he shined the light at them all, filling the tunnel with UV light and sending them away smoking and angry. After about ten minutes he turned back around and started crawling back towards the cars. They were growing near to the end of the tunnel and the Vampires had given up chasing them.

He hopped down and looked at the stone wall as he made his way back to the entrance to the passenger area and opened it to let himself in. "We're all right. They've stopped chasing us." He looked at the rather dazed faces in the train around him. "We should make it back from here with no more trouble."

"How do you know?" One of the Prefects from Ravenclaw spoke up just before Oliver Wood could open his mouth to ask the same question. The tunnel ended and moonlight filled the cabin from the windows again.

"Because there's people waiting for us at the end of the tunnel. At least ten broom riders I'd say, moving up on the right. They'll make sure we get back to the station safely." The boy who lived seemed a bit surprised as he said it himself and turned himself towards the windows to have a look. As if in answer to that a cheer was making it's way towards them from the back end.

"He's right! Aurors!" A student near the end of their car pointed out the window and everyone seemed to rush to that side to catch a glimpse of the two robed wizards riding broomsticks along side the train in the air.

OooOOooOO

Ron was terrified, his knees were shaking and he couldn't do anything but look up at the monster that was stalking towards him. He started to move back towards the door to the tower but seemed uncertain and hesitated.

"Oh, don't bother running. You can't move fast enough." The creature seemed pleased as it could sense terror coming off the boy in waves. It had appeared behind the redhead between himself and the door. The young boy rushed away for a moment, moving back another eight feet towards the middle of the bridge before slowing to a stagger again. The whip in his hand was dragging on the ground partially coiled in his grip. The rain was pouring down on them from above, cracks of lighting flashed nearby in the sky, making the soaked preteen jump as he backed across the bridge to the tower in a slow and deliberate manner.

The vampire was flapping his wings and looking at the boy with a hungry stare. He kept his wings spread a little and grabbed the inner sides of the bridge with his claws as he crawled forward on all fours. It was making itself look bigger and waiting for him to freeze up.

The boy stopped walking about ten feet from the door into the school. He was shaking and looking up at the monster with wide eyes. The thing rushed forward jumping at him almost. He squeezed his eyes shut and a familiar crack sounded, though he hadn't felt himself do it at all.

The vampire was clutching it's face and snarling with rage as the blue flames boiled blisters into the gray skin where it had struck him. "Brat! I'll destroy you." The redheaded boy managed to catch the other side of his face just before the back of a big meaty fist slammed into his chest. He felt the rush of the wind as he became disoriented and flew through the air for a few yards, and then a rough impact on a stone walkway. He rolled a few feet before stopping as his back hit the low wall along the edge of the bridge. His whip was draped across his chest with the handle stretched back behind him on the stones.

Anna struggled to pull herself along the ground. She couldn't crawl with anything more than her left arm and growled with a hateful glare as she looked at the whip. Another thick syringe full of purple fluid in her hand gripped in a white knuckled fist as she used her elbow to pull herself a bit towards the fallen boy's weapon. She stopped moving meaning more to turn towards it than try to reach it. It slid across the ground towards her. The red haired girl gripped it in her hand and spoke. "Release contents." The whip became dry as the water inside flooded the bridge a bit more in an instant. The Potter girl stabbed the needle into it and tossed it aside after she emptied it.

The Vampire Lord was still howling as the boy staggered to his feet with a painful looking expression on his face. "Ouch. That hurt." He had a few scrapes but his robes had kept his body from getting too scratched up. He wobbled on his feet and waved his arms to keep his balance.

"Weasley, catch!" The redhead rolled flat on her back and tossed the whip to him with her remaining good arm. The boy had ended up about six feet away after his landing. "Use it! Quickly! It won't last long!"

"Me?" His eyes were wide as he fumbled and caught the weapon. "Are you joking? We need to run away! He's real mad!"

"If you don't we both die!" She was glaring at him with a frown on her face. It was quite a horrible sight. She was bleeding from her nose and mouth with small bruises all over her face. Her arms and legs were beaten and covered in small cuts.

The flames around the monster's face started to die away as it managed to smother them with it's hands. The thing's head snapped towards the boy standing between it and the girl. "I'm going to destroy you boy. I will torment you for a thousand years before I finish."

Ron was glad it was raining in a way as he'd just wet himself again. He was soaked enough no one would notice. He jumped and almost dropped the whip as the ten foot tall demon stomped its way towards him.

It loomed over him coming to within ten feet. Ron seemed frozen in terror. The rain was dripping down around his face from the brim of his hat. He put his foot back with the same look of abject fear on his face as he reared his arm back and pulled his weapon to life. It cracked and a dark line appeared on the monster's face. The vampire's wound started to drip and ooze black as the thing staggered back snarling in pain and rage.

The boy screamed in horror as he ducked under a massive claw before pulling back the other way and striking it across the belly. Another open wound appeared and Ron was snarling with tears streaming down his face. He yelled in a rage as he stepped forward and continued his attack. "You! This is for my brother!"

A line crossed the monster's neck and it gasped and gurgled as it continued to stagger back. One of it's wings fell away as if cut off by a blade after another crack of the boy's weapon. "I'm not afraid of you! You hurt my friends!" He pulled the whip across the chest of the monster as if throwing a fast ball pitch.

"How?" The creature looked up at the full moon with black ooze running from its mouth as the top half of its body fell back and onto the walkway. The rain puddles splashed with his impact, the rain had lessened, and the angry rumbles faded as holes appeared in the inky black clouds above. The rain became light and the moon faded from his view. "I cannot be destroyed." His lips moved but no sound escaped. His skin was melting away as if he'd been covered in a very strong acid and he was becoming a rather disgusting puddle.

Ron looked on in horror at the mess. "Eeeeewww!" It was the grossest thing he'd ever seen.

Anna had pushed herself up against the wall. She was sitting upright and cradling her right arm. She was smiling as the boy walked up with the whip dragging behind him. He had a somewhat lost look on his face as he staggered forward. "I'm...not going to end up a vampire am I?"

"No. You did great." She was grinning at him and held out her good hand. "Let me see your whip for a moment. It's more dangerous than you realize right now."

He took a moment, but handed it off. "What is it anyway? What's so special about this whip?"

She shrugged at him. "I made an excess of pocket space paint and got a little creative with it for another project I'm working on. I made this you know. It's got a length of silver in it as well. It will take up the properties of any liquid you soak or inject it with. Just leave it sitting in something for a while or inject it and it will stay soaked with it for days. Release contents." She handed it back to him and he was surprised to find it was dry despite the rain. "You have to clear it out if you want to fill it with something else though." She smiled in a delirious way and was a bit glad to think of something besides the intense pain she was in. "It's a prototype weapon. I'm going to make a cure for werewolves, and I was looking for a way to administer the antidote without being nearby. It would take too much to use that method. I'm thinking I'll use a dart gun of some sort. Seems to be the most efficient way. Haven't gotten around to that yet."

"You made this?" He seemed amazed as he stared at it.

"It wasn't as difficult as you think. I just had to cure the leather in a mixture and used a bit of pocket space paint as a supply storage." She didn't look like she was going to move on her own. "There's a few strings of silver woven into the braids as well."

"Are you all right?" It was about that point that Ron realized the shape she was in.

"Congratulations, Weasley. You have now earned the title of 'legendary vampire hunter'. You've just killed Count Dracula. I'd say if that doesn't make you famous nothing will." She looked back at Parvati, and Fred with a weak and dazed expression as the pair moved towards them from the other end of the bridge. They had just come out of the tower together.

The boy sat down across from her and started sniffing a bit. "Are you joking? That was horrible! It was the worst thing that's ever happened to me! Two of my brothers are vampires! Maybe we can leave now, but we've still got to get past all those other..."

The girl was chuckling in a wheezing way and pointing at the bag. There were about ten needles poking out of the inside. "No worries, Weasley. This is kind of my fault. I made a cure. It works, but I've only got a small supply. I'm sure we can find ways of persuading them to donate. The instructions are on the inside of the back cover of my potions book. My brother has it. Help will be here before the day is out. Don't try and kill any of them. Even if you get turned now it won't last long."

"You what?" Ron's eyes turned up. The rest of the group had rushed up to them just in time to hear it. They had gone from looking at Ron in a joyful manner to wide eyed slack jawed shock at what they were hearing.

"My brother is keeping the other students safe. There will be help soon. I expect the next time I open my eyes will suck a bit. Heh." The girl's head fell and her eyes closed.

OooOOooOO

When she did open her eyes again she saw what she had expected. A dull white ceiling. She was lying in a hospital bed and opening her eyes took quite a bit of effort. The air was cold and sterile, but the sheets that covered her were warm enough. She managed to shake a little bit off by moving her head a little, but sitting up was going to take some time. She gave a small sigh and slapped herself on the face. She had been intending to rub at the bridge of her nose but only made things worse for herself. "This sucks." She could feel something off about her skin where her hand was. She wanted to see it, but had decided it less important than not moving much.

"Awake are we?" A woman in her mid thirties dressed in robes walked in and shined the girl in the eyes with a small light from the tip of her wand. "That's an unusual pair of eyes you've got."

The experience was less painful than she'd been expecting. She wasn't sure if it was magic in the light itself or her eyes. "How long have I been out?" She smiled a bit as the woman pushed her head back and peered into the slits a bit more.

"Two days. We've had quite a load from Hogwarts as you'd imagine. I heard you helped that Weasley boy kill the Vampire Lord." The woman gave her a firm looking smile. "I've also heard a rumor that the mysterious 'cure' Professor Snape whipped up..."

She was a bit groggy and had to stop and swallow midway through speaking. "It's the other way around actually. He got the last blow in, but I was the one who did most of the fighting. I also made the weapon Ron Weasley used to destroy him. I've taken to Potions." There was a bit of pride in the girl's voice as she said it but it was hard to make out as she was still weak and disoriented from waking up.

"That would also make you the reason for his intrusion." The woman frowned a bit.

"Didn't take much with him I've heard. I do wish someone had said something. I was really just using it to research a cure for Werewolfism. My theory is that they're a bit similar, so when I happened to acquire a bit of test material..." The girl was becoming more alert and was only having a bit of trouble speaking at a normal speed. She was looking around the room without moving her neck. "Thing is, I had to use my supply of werewolf venom to kill that jerk. It was his weakness. I got a bit banged up fighting him so Weasley had to get that last shot in."

The woman gave a small sigh. Anna seemed to realize that she was annoyed with her and stopped talking. "It will take a few weeks before you're running about like you did before. You've had quite a tussle. You were fortunate enough to be out through the regrowth of your bones. You very nearly died, and you almost took Hogwarts with you."

The girl smirked but it fell away as she shifted a bit in her bed. She'd reflexively tried to sit up and it hadn't gone well. She was gasping in an uncomfortable way as she settled back in and spoke. "Yes. I'm aware of that. Is there such a thing as a Werewolf Lord? I'm thinking I might need to put that off until I've gone and graduated. I'd have done it with this if anyone had bothered to tell me."

The woman narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Who did you tell?"

Anna's eyes went wide and she relaxed in her bed as if she'd passed out suddenly. Her breathing slowed and she twitched a little as her head settled into the pillow all the way.

"Damn. The brat passed out." The woman walked over and touched her cheek. "Smart girl. Pretty, it's a shame really." She brushed her finger across the scar that ran across the bridge of the girl's nose. Another larger scar went from the right side of her forehead down to her eyebrow, with a small scar on her lower cheek just above her jawline. The vampire had clawed her in the face and they hadn't been able to heal the wounds completely. They had closed up and the scabs were gone, but nothing would erase the marks on her face completely.

The woman frowned as she turned away and tucked her arms into her robes. She had been expecting a reaction to her comment. "Guess she really is out." Either that or she was cold as ice. She didn't seem the type and seemed to enjoy talking. On the other hand she was a very smart girl. "Who are you protecting?" She turned to look at the bed to find the girl unmoving and seeming to not notice anything around her any longer. "The brother perhaps?"

Anna didn't open her eyes again. She didn't want to be bothered as she had things on her mind. "What was that Auror doing here? Shit. I should have known better." The woman's line of questioning, the way she'd been unable to catch a glimpse of her mind, and the fact she'd tried to get into her mind near the end gave her away. She'd caught everything the woman had said as she left.

She wasn't expecting the first person she'd see when she woke up to be an Auror. She felt like she'd left something dangling for them and that wasn't good. "Shit. They know I know something. I'm sure it wasn't Snape though. I'll bet someone else was listening in to that conversation. Still, the jerk should have said something. I don't think he thought I could get the venom in the first place." She was frustrated with him and it was obvious he liked her more than her brother. It was difficult to tell the difference between the two levels of strict dislike but it was there. She was certain the man wouldn't do something to harm her or her brother though.

"I think I might be in some kind of trouble." She grunted in distaste at the thought of it. "Wonder if I've managed to get myself expelled?" She wasn't as upset with the idea as she should have been. It was a guilty pleasure, but the opportunity to start wreaking havoc with the Death Eaters was tempting. She wouldn't even need extra bait to lure them into trying to kill her. She was a Sith after all.

OooOOooOO

"Anna..." Harry was glaring at her from the end of the bed with his arms crossed. Sirius Black was mirroring him behind the boy.

"You jumped off the Hogwarts Express on a broomstick, upset the Lord of Vampires, destroyed half of the castle, and then, flew into a fight with a first class demon." The older man sounded more like he was tired of dealing with it than angry.

The girl shrugged. She was feeling well enough to sit up and had started using her arms with a bit more success. "I cured Vampirism, won the fight, and made the world a better place." She could tell Sirius wasn't angry about it, he seemed a bit proud in fact. For some reason he didn't think he should show it though.

"Ron Weasley won the fight." Harry narrowed his eyes at the girl a bit more and leaned in.

"He would have died if not for me. I banged the stupid vampire up quite a bit, gave him the means to destroy him, and did most of the fighting. He helped me kill him, not the other way around. I'm not worried about how wonderful he is now and I think he deserves the credit he's getting for what he did, but I want to make sure I get credit for making the cure, and discovering that butt hole's weakness, kicking his ass to soften him up enough that Ron could finish him off...Oh, and Ron's whip. I made that too." She was ticking the things off on her fingers. "Didn't expect the whip to be quite so useful. I was thinking I might use it the way Ron did. To get my antivenom in without getting too close. It wasn't practical and I'd need too much to keep it going for long. I'd end up wasting most of the antivenom that way. I'm thinking a dart gun of some type would work best now. I doubt I'll be able to keep more than a bit around." She was looking back and fourth between them and they were both gaping at her.

"You almost died!" Harry almost shouted at her as he gripped the end of her bed.

"Those wounds will never heal fully." Sirius had a solemn look to his face as he turned his face away from her. "You'll likely have those scars the rest of your life."

"Are you kidding? It's awesome!" Anna pulled a mirror down to peer into her face. Her hair covered the one on her forehead which was the ugliest of the bunch. "I've earned them I'd say." She moved off for a moment and frowned at her own reflection. The doctor had given her a hand mirror and a gentle warning earlier that day. She wasn't sure how she felt about it yet and poked at the one on her nose with her finger. Sirius had been a little worried about how she might take the scars and she noticed his relief about how she seemed to look at it. Once again he was a little proud of her.

Her brother looked a bit put off by her reaction to it all. She seemed to be enjoying it a bit.

She pulled her eyes away from her reflection and looked up at them both again. "What? Don't look at me like that. A scar like this is a badge of honor! It's not like he ripped off half my face."

"He came close." Sirius didn't look pleased with her. He was having a hard time scolding her and it seemed more like he was doing it because he thought he should.

"Why is everyone acting like we lost?" The girl hung her head and gave a heavy sigh. "I got a scratch but I killed him for doing it. Jeeze, you'd think I'd started a curse that would last thousands of years instead of ending one." She looked up at her guardian and smirked.

"It was dangerous and stupid." Sirius looked frustrated and paced around behind her brother. "You shouldn't have gone off on your own that way."

"And it's my fault then? That guy was a jerk and he needed killing anyway." She looked at her brother's face and snorted. "He's been here for thousands of years Harry. He's had plenty of opportunity to change. Don't go thinking this is like killing a person. You didn't see that thing. Besides, the ministry would have given him what he wanted and killed the students rather than fight him. You give them too much credit. I had what I needed to destroy him and going for help would have prevented it. If I hadn't gone and taken care of him myself no one would have, and the ministry would have destroyed the students rather than anger him. I had no choice by that point."

Sirius glared at her. "This is serious Anna. I'm not certain you'll come out of this unpunished. I don't think it will be harsh, but still. There are a lot of people upset about what happened at Hogwarts because of it."

"What would you have done?" She looked up at him and smiled a bit.

He tugged on his coat and put his head back glaring at her still. "I would have helped James." He turned on his heels and left for the waiting room and left her alone with her brother.

The boy sat down at the edge of the bed. "Nevill was telling me how much his Gran hates you." He didn't seem upset and looked up expecting a response. "She's trying to get you expelled, there are a few families backing her. Most people think it was a good thing though. You're just lucky it ended well." Harry had noticed that Sirius would have been praising her and giving her a high five for the whole awesome mess if he wasn't obligated to fuss at her because he was their current legal guardian.

"I'm not sure how upset I'd be. I'd almost like the chance to get at them out here. You'll do well enough at Hogwarts without me." She looked at him and settled back into her pillow again.

"I'm not sure running off on your own was the best idea." He seemed to be accepting her explanation.

She turned her eyes away from him. "It was my mess."

"Well. You've gone and made it worse again. I'm an even bigger hero now. There was a bit of a tussle on the train. It stopped on the way to Hogwarts, but they flew out to get us. We managed to get it moving again and lost them. We met the Ministry at King's Cross, a few dozen Aurors met us halfway and led us back. They sort of took over. I'm glad you told me about that cure. Everyone is alive and we'll be heading back to Hogwarts next week. The term has been extended a week thanks to this mess. Most of the students who stayed behind went home yesterday missing teeth." The boy opened his mouth and pointed at his eye teeth after he said it.

"How's Ron doing?" Anna seemed pleased.

"I wouldn't worry too much about getting expelled. Most everyone thinks you did good. Still, you've made quite a few people at school mad. Snape will be insufferable. You'd better watch out. Most people seem to think of you as some sort of hero. No one died. So I don't think anything will come of it."

"How's Ron doing?" the girl repeated herself.

"He's a bit cross with you for making him famous." Harry smirked at her. "He's not used to being so popular. Says it feels like he's lying when he tells the story because it sounds cooler than it was. He won't talk about it much but everyone else is talking about it."

She cocked his head. "Really? I haven't heard much about it yet."

"What? You don't know?" The boy looked surprised in a teasing sort of manner.

"I know how it ended." The girl shrugged. "I told you before I'm not omnipotent."

"I'll tell you later. It's fun to hear him tell it though. He just keeps talking about how awful it was and how glad he was he'd had his towel." Harry seemed pleased.

"It figures. I want to hear about on the train too. I'm afraid you're the first people to speak to me about it. I've also got the Ministry's attention. I had a visitor, though I'm not sure she knows I realize it." She looked a bit irate about being out of the loop at all. She had no idea how people would react to what she'd done. She was thinking the act of killing the Vampire Lord combined with handing over the cure would be enough to get her off even if she did go a little over the line that time.

"The Ministry? Well, you did give them a cure for vampirism in your first year at school. I handed it over right away. You may need to get another potions book." Harry seemed a bit surprised she hadn't seemed to have thought about the ministry taking an interest in her. "I'm to understand that's near impossible. Not to mention that mess on the train. A lot of people saw what I was doing back there."

"I've a feeling this will turn out well." Anna frowned at the thought of it. "Though, it could be one of those things we don't feel until later."

"I'm not that mad about it. You should have been more careful though. I had to save Draco Malfoy. Do you have any idea how disgusting that was?" He seemed annoyed at her again for a moment. "I managed to drive them away from the train. The older students kept them from getting inside."

"That doesn't sound so bad." The girl shrugged. "I don't want to say get used to it...but..."

"Yeah. I remember." He put his hand on her shoulder and stood up. "They want to keep you another night. We'll be by in the morning to pick you up. They would only let two of us in tonight. Margaret and Melvin said to say 'hi' to you. Pansy said to says to send her love as well."

"Harry. Just so you know. If I'd known about all this. I would have waited until after I'd graduated at least." She was lying on her side watching him walk out as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Right." The boy shook his head and smiled despite himself. "Anna, everyone knows now. The whole mess is all over the papers."

"There's nothing to be done. It was going to happen regardless. Tell the others I said thank you." She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes as he closed the door.

OooOOooOO

It was early in the morning, Sirius and Harry had not yet arrived to collect Anna. She was on her feet enough to move about the room easily. Her hospital gown hung off her shoulders as she frowned at the woman standing before her. She had thick ridged curls of blond hair, large hands, and a cheap pair of jeweled glasses. In her hands was a large crocodile skin handbag. She walked into the room and leaned in towards the girl.

The redhead was looking at the woman with her head cocked to the side. "You're Rita Skeeter?" She didn't look surprised and simply watched her walk up in a rather vacant way.

"Yes." The woman seemed pleased to meet her and lit up as she realized she'd been recognized.

"I don't like you. You seem dishonest." The girl's irises narrowed into slits as the redhead put a tiny frown on her lips.

The woman's smile fell away as her mouth turned into an 'o' shape. "I assure you, anything you might have read..."

"I was raised by muggles. I've never read your column or anything about you. You seem...enchantingly nasty."

"So, how did you hear of me?" The woman arched her eyebrows as she seemed to realize the girl was trying to be a hard case.

"Hear of you?" The little girl was grinning. "Who says I have?"

"You obviously know my name." The woman seemed haughty and was loosing patience with the rude little girl in front of her.

The girl gave a nod and put her finger up to her lips as if she was thinking about that. "Yeah. I do. I think you're an evil, self serving, over opinionated, blow hard, and that's just from when you walked into the room until now. Could you leave now? I'd rather not talk to you."

Rita puffed her chest out a little. "What about my readers? Surely you have something to say to the wizarding world? I'm sure..."

The girl shrugged at her. "Well, I haven't met them have I? I don't trust you to deliver a message in a coherent manner. You'll pick the parts that seem the meanest, put them completely out of context, and make me look as bad as you can. It's the only way you can make up a story interesting enough that anyone will read it."

Skeeter was getting frustrated. She'd never had anyone so young act towards her in such a way. "You are a very rude young girl."

Anna could tell and it visibly helped her mood. "No one will punish me for not being nice to you. I'm aware that you shouldn't be here and you know it as well. You're just lucky I'd rather insult you than call security to remove you."

The woman stood tall and swallowed as she gripped her bag.

"Do you really think I don't know you've got that quill working behind your back? You're standing in front of a mirror." The girl was beaming with cheer as she taunted the woman.

Rita's faked smile was cracking as her eyes went hard. "I'm going to get my story. I will find the truth..."

Anna gave a nod as she interrupted her. "...and twist it into something that satisfies your personal ambitions. I'm afraid you'll find any attempt at speaking to me to be one long insult to your poor reporting skills."

The angry woman leaned towards her. "You've got a big mouth for a first year."

Anna leaned back with a wide smirk on her face. "And you have a small brain for an adult. You also have no authority to punish me. "

"I'll be speaking with your guardian...I've written down everything you said." The woman turned up her nose and waited for the little girl.

"Go ahead. He'll find it amusing." Anna seemed pleased with herself. "I'd suggest going over it yourself but I'd doubt you'd get the point anyway."

Rita was infuriated and was cracking her knuckles by flexing her hand. She seemed to calm all at once and shook her head as she made her self look civil. "Answer me just one question."

"No. Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time." The little redhead turned her nose up and crossed her arm over her chest as she pointed towards the door with the other.

"I'll get what I want one way or another." The woman leaned in even more and cracked a confident and malicious smirk. It was a thinly veiled threat.

"Look, bug lady, don't screw with me." The little girl almost put her nose into the woman's face. "I know a lot more about you than you might expect. Back off. I don't trust you. I can make your life a lot harder than you can make mine if you catch my drift." Anna planted her foot onto the tiles on the floor and twisted as if crushing a bug.

Rita was wide eyed and open mouthed as she stepped back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm sure you do, but we don't really have to talk about it do we?" The girl looked confident and cruel as she stared the woman down. "If not, then we have nothing to discuss at all. I've no interest in speaking to someone who would try and use an injured child to further their own ambitions anyway."

The woman was looking around the room as she took another step back. She didn't look pleased as she whirled around on her toes and rushed out of the room.

Anna chuckled to herself at the reaction and sat down on the mattress to wait for her family.

OooOOooOO

TBC...


	15. Chapter 15

A matter of force.

Part 15

Back to school.

OooOOooOO

All of Hogwart's students were making the trip back to the school once again. It was as busy and as frantic as the first day of school, and a week late thanks to the events over the holidays.

The group with Sirius Black was swamped the moment they appeared through the wall and onto the platform. The man gave a small sigh as he rubbed at this temples. He looked a bit drowsy still, but didn't seem surly or unpleasant.

Margaret and Melvin took up the rear, keeping close to the Potter twins as if guarding them from behind. All of them were pulling luggage behind themselves and looking about at the crowd that surrounded them. It wasn't limited to younger students, though there were a few children a bit too young for Hogwarts mixed into the crowd as well. It was pretty orderly for the number of people around them. There was a bit of time before the train left but they all had to be on board within the hour.

A deluge of questions hit the boy who lived and his sister from all sides.

"Is it true you cured the vampires?"

"Weasley says you made his whip, is it true?"

"You're amazing! My dad's an Auror and I've never seen anyone do something like that! Father still doesn't believe it."

"Where did you get that wand!?"

The pair found themselves having backstage flash backs as a few bulbs went off along with a large number of things to sign being thrust at them. There was excited screaming and squealing, female, for the most part. The boys were more reserved but still caught up in the excitement. The group had to push forward through the swamp of people that seemed to try and move with them as they walked along the platform towards the train.

A young redhead who had pushed her way up from near the front of the crowd was almost shoved into Anna. She had a towel around her neck and a meek looking smile with a pad and pen clutched to her chest. She looked to be about a year younger and was wearing a Tenacious D T-shirt. There were quite a few shirts like the girl's in the crowd of various colors and a few different styles. Anna caught the girl by the shoulders and looked down at her.

"You're Ron Weasley's sister, Ginny, right?" Anna looked a bit surprised as the girl went red.

"Y-you know who I am?" The girl was amazed and clutched her notepad as she looked up at the older girl with huge doe like eyes.

"Sure. Ron is Harry's friend. I've heard about you from Fred and George as well." Her brother seemed to notice Anna had taken an interest in the girl and moved up beside them as he heard his name.

"Hi." He smiled at her and stood in front of them to help keep the crowd of rather excited people at bay. He'd noticed a few older people asking questions, most of them had a camera, or were standing with someone who had one. "I guess Ron and his brother's are about." He looked and noticed another large collection of people. There were a few more older people than usual in the crowd. The boy had figured out they were probably reporters. They were standing near the third car to the left of them. The Potter boy smirked as he realized he could see the top of a distinct hat turning about to answer questions directed at him from the crowd. "Well, there's a first. We've been outdone. Bit of a relief I'd say."

Anna glanced up at him from Ginny. The girl was shaking a bit and too stunned to speak as she looked back and fourth between them. "Will you...?" She squeaked as she shoved her pad into the older redhead's chest while her head was turned.

The older girl smiled at her and signed it before handing it back. "No problem. We like Weasleys. The rest of your family has been quite interesting." She stood up and almost handed the book back to the girl. "Would you like my brother to sign? I've got most of the band here. I'm sure I can arrange Pansy to sign something for you if you'd like. I'll send it by owl."

The girl looked like she was about to fall over and gave another shy nod. The older redhead handed the book back after the rest of the group signed and smiled at her. "We'll be seeing you. I'm afraid we've got a train to catch." Harry gave her another grin and waved as they moved off and tried to push ahead through the crowd.

Ginny didn't move and looked down at her note pad. It was a small book and they had all taken a page to sign their autograph. She flipped the pages over and smiled as she looked at the top signature. "Looking forward to seeing you next year. Anna Potter." It made her heart skip a beat. Her brother was best friends with the cutest boy in the world and all the girls she knew seemed to agree that Anna Potter was one of the most awesome girls of all time.

OooOOooOO

"Are you kidding? I was scared out of my mind! I'm so glad I had my towel!" Ron was standing in front of the entrance to the train car. His brothers were all standing in silence behind him on the stairs into the car. They were watching as the wide eyed boy stopped and spoke with the group of people gathered around him. The reporters were asking questions while the spectators listened in.

"Looks like the Potters have shown up." Fred grinned at Percy and George over his shoulder. "We've lost a few." He looked and noticed a crowd gathering around the entrance to the platform.

The eldest brother and his twin seemed a little quiet, but George grinned and nodded at his brother. Percy gave a disinterested glance and looked back down at Ron. The young boy was going on about the utility of towels in bad situations.

"So you've discovered..." One of the other reporters interjected as his pen took notes.

"Harry told me about it. He said his sister told him about it when he was younger. Boy was she ever right." Ron shrugged and answered the question before he realized who had asked. He was alert and his eyes were wide, but he didn't seem upset or shy. It was almost like he was too amazed and horrified at the subject matter to show how pleased he was about the new attention.

He found himself wondering if winning the Quidditch Cup would even come close. They were putting himself and more of the Potter twins into the next edition of History of Magic. He'd pretty much given himself a spot on the list of 'most famous wizards of all time'. Destroying Dracula was a big deal. Romania was giving him and the Potter girl, a National Holiday. They were both being credited for destroying the Vampire Lord, but Ron was the one who was getting the most attention for it. Anna had brewed up the cure for vampirism and she had done most of the fighting, but Ron was the one who actually destroyed him in the end. Bucharest had already erected a statue of him holding his whip in front of the town hall. His family was planning to vacation there over the summer. Anna Potter's name was written on the inscription below his likeness. She'd declined having her likeness included citing she was a bit of a mess at the time. The muggles there were already unaware it hadn't already been there for centuries.

He'd discovered the Slytherin girl would appear in a few older student's books with mention of his name at least as well. Magical Weapons Studies would get a new entry, sixth and seventh year students would get new Potions books that include her theories on Vampirism and the formula for its cure. Defense of Dark Arts would reclassify Vampires as they were now considered a moderate danger and the text would be revised with the girls theories about the viral nature of the vampirism curse as well. It had been suspected for quite a while, but she'd been the one to finally confirm it. He'd heard these things from other people asking him questions. A lot of people wanted to talk to him and his parents had allowed him to do a few interviews about it.

His mother was a red slobbering mess when she'd seen him again for the first time. It was ten times worse than what he'd seen his brothers go through when they returned from their first year at the holidays. He'd started crying as he was overcome with emotion as she grabbed him. That was when the two Auror's told them what he had done. His brothers were being a bit reserved as they stood back to watch behind the two men. They had been brought home as soon as George and Percy recovered. Fred was gripping their shoulders to help them keep their feet and grinned at the scene. Their parents had made a hasty return home once the news had broken. Charlie and Bill showed up for a bit the next day, but both left once they had seen everyone safe. He'd gotten a congratulations from both of them. It was like they thought he'd won a new broomstick to him almost.

The look on his parent's face was beyond what he'd expected. They turned white as ghosts, their jaws had gone slack, and their eyes wide. He didn't notice his father was even standing there because his mother had been smothering him so much in her arms before that moment. She stood upright and looked down at him with a cold fire burning in her eyes. "He what?"

"Your son has slain Dracula, the Lord of Vampires." The man looked like he thought they should be pleased to hear it and expected them to be quite proud as he spoke to them.

"Well, I had help..." Ron's voice was very small, but everyone heard him because of the silence. He was looking at the ground and was unsure of what to make of the situation.

His father almost didn't catch her as she fell back due to his own shock. He managed to fumble and the two Aurors moved up to help him. Ron moved in behind them as they placed the woman into an armchair near the door. When he turned around he saw his father holding onto Percy and George.

George couldn't help himself and said. "I'm thirsty."

Arthur Weasley gave a small start as Fred started chuckling and spoke up.

"Don't worry Dad. He did that to me earlier too. He just wants a glass of water."

Percy frowned at his younger brother and slapped his shoulder. "Stop doing that. It's not funny."

Ron was feeling rather numb as the Aurors bid their goodbyes to leave the family alone. They both took a moment longer saying goodbye to Ron and shook his hand to congratulate him. He was sitting at the table staring off into space. He'd forgotten he was still wearing his hat, and it was tilted back as he stared off with his fist on his cheek while tapping his finger on the wood.

Ron shook his head. "What? Sorry, I zoned out for a moment."

"Could you describe the wand you saw? The one you claim the Potter girl was using?" One of the reporters spoke up and caught his attention for a moment.

"Ron!" Harry waved over to the boy from the edge of the crowd. "Where are you sitting?" Anna, Hermione, and the Boggs twins walked up behind him and gave silent greetings by waving. "We've found Hermione. You're sitting with us again?"

"Hey. Harry!" The boy didn't even look at the red haired girl as he moved a bit closer. "We'll take the end compartment in this car." He jerked his thumb behind him towards where his brothers were.

The older Weasley brothers turned away. "Come on, Lee Jordan's got a seat saved for us and your girlfriend already."

"Are you sure? We might bite." George didn't seem quite like his old self, but it was obvious he wasn't far off.

Percy gave the young group a silent glance before following the twins into the train. "If Mum hears you talking like that she'll box your ears off. You know how worried she was. Dad says she was a mess once the news of what happened got out. They didn't find out we were all right until we showed up. Show a little restraint just for a bit?"

"It's a little late for that now isn't it? Mum's not riding along to Hogwarts." George looked over his shoulder and grinned at the older boy as he walked off ahead of him.

The crowd of reporters took a few photos of Anna and Harry moving onto the train with Ron. Both of them levitated all the luggage into the compartment for those in their group.

Anna turned to smile at the red haired boy just in front of the door to the compartment. "So, how is our young Vampire Hunter doing?"

"Being famous isn't so bad." Ron looked at her and pulled on the brim of his hat as he moved past her into the small room. He wasn't smiling but didn't seem upset with her.

Hermione stood up to greet them as they entered. Parvati Patil was sitting in the compartment across from them with her sister and Lavender. She leaned down to wave at Ron and smile. The boy gave her a friendly wave in response as he took his seat between Harry and Hermione.

Anna was sitting with Melvin and Margaret on the opposite side by the window.

Pansy was the last to step in. She watched her luggage float into place as soon as she stepped in and smiled at Anna. "Thank you. I take it we'll make it to school this time?" She sat down next to Melvin by the door.

"Shouldn't be a problem." Anna stretched her arms and grinned at her. "Quite a welcome we've gotten."

"As far as we know." Harry gave her a mischievous looking grin as he seemed to settle in.

"Don't talk like that! It was bad enough as it was!" Ron didn't look like he thought it was very funny.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she looked over at him. "He was kidding." She paused and looked over at him. "Right?" She narrowed her eyes a bit.

He shrugged and looked at him. "Don't worry, Ron."

It seemed to satisfy the boy and he took his hat off before placing it on his lap and scratching his forehead a bit.

Pansy looked down at her red haired house mate. "How are you feeling? You look like you're feeling better than when I last saw you."

"I'm well enough. I've got a bit of work to do before I can give my brother a good workout again, but I'll be good as new in a week." She shrugged and scratched at the scar on her lower jaw a little.

"Well, almost." Hermione flushed and looked like she felt bad about saying it as soon as the words left her mouth. "Sorry. I didn't mean..."

Anna looked more surprised at the reaction than upset. "Don't worry about it. I killed him for it so there's not even revenge to keep my mind on it. I think it's a good look for me really."

"You mean Ron killed him." Harry interjected with a smirk of his own.

Hermione and the other girls all looked at her in a sort of wide eyed confusion, but no one said anything. She didn't seem to think anything of the marks on her face at all. The only attempt she'd made to hide any of them was to let her bangs hang over the one on her forehead by brushing her hair a little different than she used to.

"I had just as much to do with it as he did. He just got in the last blow." The redhead narrowed her eyes at her brother a bit and then turned to grin at Ron. "I admit he did surprise me, and he deserves every bit of praise he gets. Neither one of us would have been able to pull it off on our own." She turned to look at the flustered boy in question and smiled. "I hope you don't take it the wrong way, but you were about the last person I'd expect for something like this. Strange how it works out isn't it? To think that you came out of it better off than I did. I'm still sore in some places."

He gave a small nervous laugh and clutched at his towel a bit. "Yeah. I'm a bit surprised myself." His tone changed as he got an almost proud grin on his face and swung his fist as he spoke. "Knocked his block off though. Just wish it wasn't quite so gross." He wrinkled his nose a bit as he thought about the mess the vampire had become.

Anna seemed to be enjoying the boy's discomfort with her. Pansy and Margaret were being quiet and had wry looking smirks of their own. The pair were giving each other glances and watching the conversation around them for the most part.

Harry leaned toward his sister with a mock irritation on his face. "Quit teasing him."

The girl looked away with her arms crossed. "I'm not being mean. Just a bit of fun." She looked at the other redhead again. "Tell me about what happened. I haven't heard it from you yet."

"What happened after you left?" Hermione interjected before Ron could start speaking. "Ron and I haven't heard about that yet have we?" She looked over at him and he shrank back a little before nodding.

Anna looked at Hermione and shrugged. "Ron's story should fill you in pretty much anyway. I was either flying or fighting the Vampire after I left here. He saw most of it and didn't miss much when he climbed that tower. Just a little of us beating each other up. We've got a bit of a ride and it will keep us occupied on the way. We all know what happened to Harry. I want to hear Ron's side of things."

"I am curious." Margaret spoke up. "You were in quite a state when we saw you afterwards."

"Yeah. You almost got my hopes up." Melvin gave a snorted laugh. He was grinning and it was obvious he was joking with her.

Pansy looked at Ron. "I wouldn't mind hearing about it myself."

The boy in question shook his head and looked at the other redhead opposite him. "Well, it was really, really, scary. If I hadn't had my towel I'd have thought I was dead from the start!"

OooOOooO

Anna was sitting amongst a large group of Slytherin students. She had a satisfied and somewhat dark grin on her lips. The students ages varied a lot more than anywhere else at the table. There were about thirty of them from all the age groups. She had a Prefect sitting near her and Marcus Flint was just to Pansy's right. Margaret and Pansy sat on either side of the red haired girl with Melvin taking the spot right across from her. Everyone but the redhead looked uncertain and a little surprised at how things had started at the school.

Harry was watching it and not liking the look on his sister's face one bit. "I know she's pretending to be more evil than she is but she's overdoing it."

"What's that about?" Hermione looked over her shoulder. Most of the other houses were looking on in confusion.

"A rift." Harry gave a small sigh.

"The two of you are on the cover of all those disgusting teen rags." Hermione looked like she thought he might find it distasteful. "Someone got a shot of you on the roof of the train when you were fighting Vampires with that wand of yours. I didn't know you could turn it into a sword!"

"I'd prefer it if you still didn't know." He didn't seem upset on the matter. "I'd rather not need it."

"I'll say!" Ron clutched at his towel. He was still wearing the hat Harry had bought him. It was enchanted to qualify as a wizarding hat as well. He was looking up at a few older students who gave him a touch on the shoulder to thank and congratulate him as they passed.

Parvati was sitting next to Lavender talking in an excited manner with the dimmer girl nodding in agreement for the most part. There was a group of younger students listening in at the story she was telling. She had her hands up as if she was holding a rope and seemed to be telling the part of the story where she and Ron had swung through one of the castle's windows. Ron's eyes focused a bit further down the table to see Fred and George doing much the same.

"Hagrid!" Harry seemed pleased as the half giant walked up and slapped his shoulder a little too hard.

The huge fuzzy man grinned wide. "I heard 'bout on the train. I hear you done a good thing. You be careful now, Harry. Sounds like it might be a bit dangerous." The huge man put his other hand on Ron's shoulder and turned his attention towards the Weasley boy. "I 'ere you had a run in with Fluffy."

"Huh?" Ron looked confused. "Fluffy?"

"That Cerberus. 'is name is Fluffy."

Harry looked up at the man. "He's yours then?"

The man's beard bent a bit as he nodded in a slow thoughtful manner. "Cute as a button ain't he?" He looked like he expected them to agree.

"That big dog thing that tried to eat me?" Ron looked up with a rather blank expression on his face. He looked back at his plate and then up at the half giant again with his eyes a bit wider.

"Oh, I'm sure he would na do sumthin like that." Hagrid seemed sure as he crossed his arms and nodded. "Not a bit dangerous."

"It tried to kill me twice!" The boy thought about it for a moment. "I'm pretty sure he wanted to eat me." He seemed less shocked about it and looked back up at the grounds keeper.

"Nah. Doesn't seem like em. Don't worry about it. I got em put right back where he was. Had a heckofa time catchin 'em. Jus member what Professor Dumbledore said and yeh'll be fine." Hagrid wandered away muttering about it to himself.

Harry gave a small shrug.

Hermione was giving Ron and odd look. "You're not worried about that thing?"

"I'd rather not think about that." He gave her a rather blank frown in reply before looking up at the faculty table.

Dumbledore was standing and looking out over the crowd from the podium at the center of the faculty table. "Well, that was quite the holiday. I trust you have all already been informed that the final term will extend one week to accommodate the unplanned delay." He was looking across the room giving everyone a rosy smile. His eyes fell on Slytherin. The unusual seating arrangements hadn't gone unnoticed by anyone. Snape in particular. He was glaring at his house table with his hand on his cheek.

"I have a few house points to award. For unprecedented bravery, self sacrifice, and devotion to the safety of their fellow students, Parvati Patil, and Fred Weasley have earned fifty points each for their house." He leaned into the podium and continued speaking. "Make no mistake. These students knew they were likely going to their deaths to preserve the safety of their fellow students by preventing their return to Hogwarts." He cleared his throat as he leaned back and smiled in a warm manner. "Harry Potter, for defending the lives of his fellow students, and having the quick thinking to escape a dangerous situation, an additional fifty points shall be awarded to Gryffindor." The old man waved his arm in a sweeping manner across the crowded hall. "There will also be fifty points going to each of the other houses for those who defended their fellow students in the horrors of that evening." He smiled and looked down at his podium seeming to go over notes that weren't there.

"Lay it on thick why don't you?" Snape muttered it under his breath. It was obvious he thought the old man was stacking things a bit. He hadn't realized the headmaster had overheard it and it made the old man's smile a bit wider as he continued to speak.

"Ron Weasley, who I'm sure you all know." The old headmaster waited for the applause to subside before continuing. "For destroying a first class demon, with a little help from your friends, a hundred and fifty points shall be awarded to Gryffindor." He didn't need to look back to know McGonagall was sitting with her nose pointed skyward. She was looking proud but firm while Snape rolled his eyes in disgust. "And finally, Anna Potter. I am to understand you bear some responsibility for all of this."

The girl's head whipped around to stare at him. Everyone was looking at her at the same time. Not all of them were pleasant looks.

"You returned and destroyed a curse that has plagued mankind for thousands of years. As a result of your actions not a single fatality was suffered from an event that should have claimed the lives of hundreds. For the cunning to succeed in what was once deemed impossible by many, and the heart to return and face death to help destroy the one truly responsible for the catastrophe, two hundred house points shall be awarded to Slytherin."

The response from the table she was sitting at was loud near to the girl but tepid and quiet nearest the faculty's perch. The other students filled the hall with polite but exuberant applause.

Snape had relaxed a bit more when Dumbledore closed his speech and made the food appear before sitting down at his own place. McGonagall didn't seem upset, the arrangement left her about fifty points ahead. Gryffindor had fallen behind before the holiday, but now Slytherin was the one who had to catch up. The man didn't seem that worried about it, but it was clear he didn't like it.

OooOOooO

Anna was smiling, Pansy, Melvin, and Margaret all walked into the Slytherin common room around her. The room had gone dead silent and everyone was looking at the group as they walked back into the room and stopped. The little redhead seemed to realize she was the center of attention once again and held her nose a little higher into the air as a result.

One of the first year girls nearby spoke up. "Get a little scratch Potter? Too bad." She was a pudgy girl with shoulder length brown hair and a turned up nose. She and the girls with her were looking a bit haughty. There were five of them and they'd been a consistent but minor irritant over the course of the year. Most everyone was still milling about and greeting people they hadn't seen since before the holiday in the common room. "Not quite so pretty?

"It's a shame. It's hard to catch a man when you've been mauled," agreed a second year girl in the group. She had blond hair done up in tight pigtails with a tall slim build. "After all, it's not like she can rely on her personality. Is it?"

The redhead put her arm up and gave Pansy a smirk as she stopped the girl from rushing forward by barring her chest. "So jealous?"

The blond sputtered at that. "Ha! Why..."

"Well, I'm a rock star, I'll be remembered throughout Wizarding history for curing vampirism, and creating the weapon that destroyed the Vampire Lord. I also went toe to toe with him and lived to speak of it. Something you should remember before opening your mouth." The grin she was giving the group wasn't nice. "My scar is a mark of honor. I'm quite proud to wear it."

The girl growled at that. "I'm not impressed, it's foolish for you to say that I'm..."

Anna smirked at her. "I'm an empath and you can't hide it from me. I know you are."

The girl looked rather like a fish out of water and couldn't respond to that.

Pansy nodded while still glaring at the group. "She's right. Besides, all of us are wealthy. Any one of us could pick any boy we wanted."

Melvin moved off on his own at that point and wandered by the two groups of girls not seeming to care about the confrontation. "I'm afraid she's right. The money does make up for it." He added it in just before moving out of range.

Margaret frowned at the blond girl in pigtails as her band headed towards the dorms just ahead of her. "You were missing teeth I see." The missing teeth had been replaced but they were whiter and more polished than the rest of the teeth in her mouth. It was still easy to pick out students who had stayed behind at the school over the holiday as they hadn't worn their new teeth in just yet.

The girl looked at Anna's back before turning a heated glare back at the dark haired girl in front of her. "So what?"

"You should be more grateful. Do you really think your parent's master would have come back to the school for you? He would have left you as a vampire or destroyed you before you could turn your parents away from him. Especially in the face of Dracula's wrath. He'd have let that monster keep you and made a deal to keep you away from the rest of his followers. Greyback has a similar use if you recall. It would be wise to remember that as well." The Boggs girl seemed satisfied with the quick gasps and wide eyed reaction she got from them. She held her head high as she moved off towards the entrance to the dorm rooms with her friends.

"Perhaps he'll visit you?" A smug looking fifth year girl seated nearby with a text book sitting on her lap spoke up.

The dark haired girl stopped her progress. "Why would I fear him? Do you really think he's a threat to me after all this? Anna would destroy him if he tried. I'm too useful to her for her to allow such a thing to happen. You're not really stupid enough to believe otherwise are you?" She continued on her way leaving the older girl gripping the edges of her book as the younger girls moved up around her. It was as if they thought glaring at her together would help them be right. "I've noticed she never goes anywhere without a bit of silver somewhere."

"The nerve of that girl! To think, I used to think she might be worth knowing," muttered the blonde girl. The rest of the group seemed to agree with her.

A new voice stopped the young hen's from continuing their irate gossip. "Stop bothering her. She's more trouble than she's worth." Draco Malfoy walked by the group and frowned at them. He was giving Margaret a hard frown and both his fists were clenched hard enough to turn his knuckles white and seemed to ignore the surprised expression on the girl's faces. "The redheaded brat will be dealt with before long. Her and her mudblood loving brother." As the redhead's friend vanished into the stairwell he turned away without giving any of the girls a second glance. He got a cold smile on his face as he looked towards the fireplace for a moment. "I've got assurances."

The girls looked confused and it seemed to upset them a little more.

"What's with him?" muttered one of them.

Crabbe and Goyle, who were a bit surprised as well, gave each other a glance before shrugging and moving away as they followed after him.

OooOOooOO

Anna was hugging her guitar. She was squealing a bit and kissed the fret board. "Oh! I missed you!" She rubbed her cheek on it in an affectionate way and swung it around as if she was holding a child.

Pansy and Margaret were smiling at the scene and shuffling about through their things. Their clothes and things were placed back in their drawers before they arrived, taken care of by the house elves.

There were about twelve other girls in the room, lounging about on the beds and socializing. The trio was getting glances, but were left alone otherwise.

The redhead smiled and hung the instrument over her shoulder. She strummed a bit, playing around with a few chords and tuning it. She had new enchanted strings for it but didn't see the need to replace the old ones just yet. Within a moment she was sitting on the edge of her bed fiddling around with it. After a minute or so she started playing a tune.

"Wrote a new one did you?" Pansy seemed pleased and walked over to stand next to her.

Anna didn't stop playing and started to sing a bit. "Well, it could have been, it should have been worse than you would ever know. The dashboard melted but we still had the radio." The song picked up and the girl was tossing her ponytail a bit as she nodded her head in time with the tune. She kept going, playing Modest Mouse's 'Dashboard'.

When she finished she was more than a little surprised to find about seven girls standing around her friends listening to her.

"Not bad Potter." It was a shy and begrudging statement from a girl who had once teased her about having nightmares.

There was a quiet agreement amongst the group around the bed a few mutters of appreciation and nothing more. "Maybe you're not so bad." The only other girl who had spoken anything more than a murmured agreement was the black haired girl with a crush on Draco. She was one of the students who had lost teeth and backed away with the other girls as they dispersed.

Anna scratched her head and looked at her friends before giving a small shrug.

Margaret rolled her eyes and looked around. No one was giving them angry glares or snide comments and they seemed to be ignored by everyone.

Pansy hopped down next to her and grabbed her shoulder hanging off her. "What was that about? A lot of them don't seem to hate us as much. All those people who sat with us in the Great Hall...I'm not sure what to..."

"Some of them are smart enough to realize their parents' 'friend' wouldn't have come back for them." Margaret sat down on the opposite side of the bed and leaned in to speak a little quieter than normal.

Anna shrugged her shoulders. "We'll work on that. If it's really going to work the grass really does have to be greener on this side."

"Do you have those new sets done?" Pansy poked her temple in a playful manner to get her attention.

"Yes. We'll be needing to get started if you want to get anything new done before Friday." Margaret nodded and sat with her hands on her lap on the redhead's other side.

"No. I've been kind of busy. We'll just do a review. I'll have it done by next week, and we should take a little time to get settled back in first." Anna blushed a little and looked irate, but not with her friends. "I was half done when this started. Don't worry."

OooOOooOO

Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the Gryffindor dorms together. They had taken a bit of time walking as a great number of students wanted to walk up to greet Harry and Ron in the hall.

"What were the Mad Magicians like?"

Harry was looking up at a third year girl with a blank expression on his face. "They were cool. Anna teased them a bit at first but they turned out to be great guys. They've got a new manager now. It's the same guy Anna and I signed with. Rufus is really cool."

Hermione was feeling a little flustered as she stood between the two boys. They had moved around her to keep the crowd of students from trying to push by her.

"Harry! You've got to hear this!" Parvati rushed up in front of the trio and shook the boy who lived on his shoulders. She grabbed Ron's arm to pull him over near the radio while Harry and Hermione followed. There were a number of students standing around listening.

Harry's cheeks flushed as he realized what they were talking about. He was singing 'Take me out' from the stand alone radio next to the fireplace. The song ended and the announcer came on. "That was Tenacious D, the hottest act in the world. Sorry fans, no concerts until Summer. They've got school. Their first album, with two more to follow in the coming months, is said to be already sold out in pre-orders. In a statement from the label an additional twenty million copies, on top of the fifteen million already slated for sale in mid January is already being printed. Similar reports have been coming in from rock loving nations the world over. We'll be coming right back with more D after this, on the all day Tenacious D marathon, as requested by fans..."

Harry was sort of staring at the speaker with wide eyes and his jaw hanging down a bit. "Whoa."

"Did he say fifteen million copies?"

Harry wished he hadn't opened his mouth at all but he was still a bit dazed, and wasn't sure who had asked him. "All of us in the band get fifty Sickles for each one sold."

Parvati Patil looked more than a bit stunned to hear it. "That was just in England! It's like that in most of Europe and the Americas too!"

"You're the richest person in the room." Harry didn't catch who said it but it was a female voice. He suspected Hermione but it sounded like it might have been a bit older. He almost didn't hear the cheering as everyone within reach shook his shoulders, patted his arm, and ruffed his hair to congratulate him.

"When she said we were the Greatest Band in Rock History, I didn't think she really meant right now. I figured it was just something she was saying, ya know. Just cause it was fun." The spectacled boy looked over at Ron and gave a small grin.

Hermione started to frown but seemed to think about what she was going to say. "No one has ever taken over all ten of the top ten singles before. It's been that way for a few weeks. Your first album is sold out already and it's not even out yet. I...well, I guess she was right about this one."

Neville Longbottom cocked his head. "Yeah. I've heard that the concerts this summer are already sold out as well."

"He's right," agreed Dean Thomas.

Harry looked at them both and got a little more pale. Each member of the band got about fifty Sickles for every ticket sold. They were cheaper if they were farther away and more expensive close up and it worked out to an average of six galleons. That worked out to about twenty five pounds in muggle currency or roughly fifty dollars in US currency.

"Well, I'm worn out. I think I'm going to bed. I'll enjoy thinking about it more tomorrow I think." Harry yawned a bit as he said it and Ron seemed to agree. The pair turned away towards the dorms both of them moving a bit sluggish and looking a bit dazed at the events of that day.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was lying on his bunk with Ron stretched out across from him on his own bed. The redhead had his hat over his face but wasn't sleeping. "Ugh. I'm exhausted. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow."

"I am." Harry seemed pleased to be back in the dorm.

"I'm going to sleep like a rock." Ron pulled the hat off his face to turn his head and grin. "I'm getting sick of telling that story."

"Well, it is the best one we've got so far." The mouse haired boy looked over at him and shrugged. "It's definitely better than my Vampire story. All I did was run around on the roof of a train and swat them away."

"The best one?!" Ron looked almost disgusted at the idea. "I hope I never top it! It was awful!"

"I'm not envious. I saw what that thing did to Anna. We were real worried. I had fun teasing her at the Hospital for a bit I suppose. Uncle Sirius said something about how he was having trouble 'pretending to be upset' while we were standing in the hall. I helped him scold her for nearly getting herself killed. That was fun. He's not really mad at her anyway and I think she noticed." The boy who lived chuckled to himself as he thought about it.

"Wish I could have seen it. I've never seen anything get to her. Even when she fought that Vampire!" Ron shuddered at the thought of the girl. "I don't think she'd hurt me, but she still scares me."

"She's good at hiding it that's all. She tends to cover it up by talking." Harry gave another amused sounding snort. "You seem to be taking it well. The fame and all."

"Well, I was a bit surprised. It's not so bad really. I'm sure it won't last. In a year most people won't know me if they see me. It's just a bit fun for a little while." Ron shrugged and sat up to hunch his shoulders a bit as he fiddled with the brim of his hat over his knees.

Harry seemed a little surprised. "Ron. They put a statue of you up in the capital of Romania. You're as famous as I am now, maybe even more."

Ron's pupils went very small and he sucked in a quick breath. "Well, I..." He shuddered a bit. "It's not so bad is it? I mean, I know you haven't...for long..."

His friend slapped his shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. It just takes a little getting used to I suppose. No worries."

Ron didn't look like he quite believed him as he shifted to under his sheets as the lights in the dorm went dim. Harry was doing the same thing and closed his eyes. "You've made me nervous about hearing that."

"Sorry," was the drowsy reply.

Ron curled up a bit and dozed off as well.

OooOOooOO

Anna and Harry Potter stood face to face in the practice hall. McGonagall and Dumbledore looked on from their seats at the table with their morning cup of tea. The pair had grown accustomed to the morning workout and it wasn't much of a secret. Another new face sat at the opposite end of the table. Snape was glaring at them with a steaming black mug sitting in front of him untouched. He hadn't said anything and merely sat watching the pair with his fist in his cheek. The other two faculty didn't seem surprised to see him.

The boy was smirking at his sister and twirling his wand around his wrist. "I'm not sure this is such a good idea. I don't mind sparring with you, but you're not in the best of shape."

The girl returned a smile of her own. "We aren't sparring. I've got something to show you. I've got a few new tricks I picked up. I learned something from that Vampire." She pushed her chest out and held the palm of her left hand over her head as she ignited her own blade at her side. "Be ready, follow your instincts."

Everyone in the room had their eyes fixed on her the moment the tiny ball of orange started to form over her hand. It grew into something a little smaller than a golf ball and seemed to half burn half glow. It looked somewhat like a small weak sun had formed just above her hand. She tossed her hand forward and yelled. "Fireball!"

Harry shifted as the ball blasted from her hand at high speed. It almost impacted on the table behind the boy, but the girl narrowed her eyes and clenched her fist. Her saber was held over her shoulder and looked like she had it resting there. She gave a small chuckle as the light vanished from within the ball. A few wisps of vapor formed and a solid block of ice consumed the light. The air around it seemed to grow darker as the center of the small block of ice became as black as the night sky. The moment it impacted the table it exploded and the surface was covered in a layer of snow like frost for about ten feet of its length.

The boy almost dropped his wand as he looked over his shoulder at the table. "Wha?"

"If you can figure out how to make your wand work you can do this. The vampire was pulling heat from nearby sources and using it to superheat the molecules in the air. He formed it into a ball and threw it at things. When it hit it exploded. I achieved the same effect by compressing the air above my hand into a little ball. The harder you squeeze, the hotter it gets. Squeeze it enough and it super heats and explodes on impact."

"And the ice is the same thing in reverse?" The Potter boy looked pleased and impressed. It was easy to tell he couldn't wait to try it out.

"Right." The girl gave a small shrug. "Rather than compress you expand until you create a small void in the air. Careful with this one. Don't try more than you know you can handle. Doesn't take quite as much as you'd think to make a very big boom. You can put them out with the ice thing. Just remember it's pretty much flash freezing what you've already made. A big one will make a lot of ice." She looked at her fingers. "It's difficult to find the medium to equalize and just make the fireball vanish. Turning it into ice is easier, and I'm still working on just neutralizing them."

Harry seemed to realize there were other people in the room. "Are you feeling all right?" He looked at his sister as she noticed and didn't seem concerned.

"Sure. Ron, Fred, and the Parvati have been telling people about this anyway. I tried using it against the Vampire to slow him down a bit. You shouldn't have much trouble. Just be careful. You could easily create an embarrassing situation for yourself fooling around with something like this. It's dangerous and you could burn or freeze someone to death if you aren't careful. It could also be very useful once we learn to control it."

"Old Magic." Dumbledore was on his feet with Snape and McGonagall right beside him as the words left his mouth. He didn't seem aware of either of his teachers. Both adults turned to look at him with a bit more surprise on their faces.

The head of Slytherin turned to look at him with a somewhat surprised and horrified look on his face. "What?"

"Warlocks?" The woman was looking on with wide eyes. She didn't seem afraid. The boy already had a small dot of light glowing over his palm. "That's..."

Anna Potter was standing in front of the trio just at the base of the platform that raised it above the other tables. "Would one of you mind helping me with something?"

All of them were staring down at her. Dumbledore cleared his throat and spoke up. "What do you require?"

The girl smiled at him and glanced at Snape. "I'd like someone to stun me. I'd like to demonstrate something for my brother. The lesson will go better if he's confident about it. I don't trust his control over that enough to let him throw one at me. There is something I'd like to know as well."

Harry hit his hand against the ground in the background looking a bit annoyed. He shattered the thin layer of ice that had covered his hand. He shook it off while flexing his fingers a bit as he looked over to see what the girl was up to.

Snape pointed his nose high and grabbed his wand. "I see no problem. As head of your house, I feel I should handle it." It was obvious he was jumping on the opportunity.

Dumbledore gave a small frown but said nothing as the man strolled around the table with a dark looking smirk on his lips. He was flexing his wand hand as he flipped his cape away from his side.

"What are you doing?" Harry looked alarmed, but didn't move up to do anything.

"Watch. Whenever you are ready professor." The girl didn't look the least bit afraid.

The man didn't waste a moment. His fingers wrapped around his wand and he thrust it forward. He knew how to duel and brought his fill skill to bear on the young girl. "Stupefy!"

Anna's arm moved and the edge of her blade met the spell. It flew off and knocked over one of the Hufflepuff benches.

"Whoa." Harry walked over and kicked the fallen bench with his foot.

"You did request that I stun you, not just make an attempt." Snape cast another thinking she wouldn't be ready. It flew away and hit the floor. He repeated and followed with another. Each missed shot seemed to draw him in deeper as he focused on what he was doing. He was muttering the spell under his breath in a slow mantra and stepping around to try and find a better angle.

The first year girl deflected each one and was making a bit of a mess of the hall, but doing no real damage. The table cloths on the tables were a mess and a few benches had shifted. Anna was wearing down and backing down from the barrage to give herself a bit more time to react. Snape started moving forward, but the girl spun into a strike that hit him dead in the chest with his own spell. "Sorry Professor. My arm was getting a bit tired." The girl was gasping and looking up at him with a rather wild stare. She was pretty much telling him that she could have done it with any one of the spells he'd sent at her. "I wasn't sure how well it would work against spells cast from wands. The Vampire's magic was more difficult to push back. I imagine that the stronger the spell is the more difficulty pushing it away would be." She had her hands on her knees and was still catching her breath. "I appreciate the help." She gave him a wry looking grin as Dumbledore released him.

Snape gave a sneering growl but put his wand away. He'd been made to look bad and wasn't happy. "Quite." He brushed his cloak off with his hand and turned to move up to the table again.

"What should we do?" McGonagall was looking at the girl and her brother with a bit of worry on her face. "This is..."

"Are you all right?" Harry had walked over to his sister's side with a frown on his face. He gave Snape a glance while his back was turned.

"I'm fine. Come one we should get started. We're going to play tennis. No letting it hit the ground or anything else." She looked up at him and smirked. She was still breathing a little hard but it was clear she felt good. She looked over at him with her eyes narrowed just as he tried to speak again. "No, you're not throwing one of these at me until you've had a bit of practice. I'll make them this time."

He hung his head a bit and nodded. "I guess so."

Dumbledore slumped down into his chair and put his fingers against his forehead. "Do?" He looked at the female teacher by turning his eyes towards her a bit.

"Professor, these children are..." McGonagall was flustered and looked confused about what to do with them.

"...very special. More than any of us ever imagined it seems. I've a feeling even their current enemy may pale in the significance of what these two might do to our world. I'm afraid in terms of Wizarding, there is only Hogwarts and our rivals abroad. I for one, do not intend to send them elsewhere. Their facilities would be no better than ours in this regard. We are the best place for them, and there is little we can do to stop them. I take it you understand that breaking those wands might prove more difficult than you might imagine."

"It could help reign them in." Snape spoke up. He had his arms crossed over his chest and a deep scowl on his face as usual. "I doubt it is necessary at this point. Still..."

"You misunderstand. I do not believe they need those little toy lights to make their wands. I believe it is merely more convenient, and I think that girl knows it." The old man sipped at his tea and seemed quite amused at the reaction of his faculty.

"What?" Severus went rigid as his eye twitched a little.

"We cannot strip them of their magic. I do not believe either one would allow us to seal it away, and I think there is a very good chance they could stop us if we tried. Our only course of action against them would be to destroy them. If what I suspect about them is even close to true, sticking either one of them into a place like Azkaban would be a very unwise thing to do indeed." Dumbledore didn't seem upset or worried in the slightest as he said it.

The other teachers looked up at the students. Out of the corner of her eyes, McGonagall noticed something in Snape's face she'd never seen there before. She could not identify what it was, and it vanished as he looked back at the old man. As near to impossible as it might have sounded to her, it looked almost like the faintest hint of worry.

Snape turned away and started to walk off. "I see." He paused and looked back over his shoulder with a somewhat cold smile on his face. "I'll be removing her from my class schedule. There is no need for it."

"What?" Dumbledore seemed a little surprised at the announcement but didn't seem upset. The woman at his side looked a bit miffed.

"We seem to have taken a liking to obscure rules as of late. I'll be taking her on as my personal apprentice. She's shown more than enough aptitude for it, and as the head of her house it is my right. Is it not?"

Snape's motives seemed clear to McGonagall and she nodded. "I suppose that would make it easier to keep an eye on her."

"Yes, it would." The female teacher narrowed his eyes as she realized it was not the only thing on his mind. If the man was serious, and she had little doubt of that, she would be spending a portion of her evenings with him during the week.

Dumbledore nodded. "It is your right." He did seem curious, but not concerned. "Might I ask?"

"I'll be able to keep a closer eye on what she might be brewing up. I let my guard down and it almost destroyed Hogwarts. She's skirting dangerously close to the edge of the rules in that regard." He whirled around with his cape fluttering in a rather dramatic way as he walked off with his firm frown in place.

"That worries me." McGonagall sat down beside the Headmaster and watched him leave.

"I see no reason for concern." He brushed it off and sipped at his tea as he thought to himself before continuing. "He needs to keep control of her if he is to keep his house in order. She has shown exceptional talent, more than enough to qualify her even at such a young age. I admit, he's breaking tradition a bit. It's common to wait until the fifth or sixth year, but not specified." He didn't think he'd need to speak with the man of it later, but it would be something to keep a close eye on. He wasn't sure how much his Potions Master knew about the girl. He'd gathered their relationship was more than either let on. It was as if they both harbored a respectful, and somewhat resentful, grudge with each other.

"So what do we do?" McGonagall pressed him a bit, but seemed a little more reserved.

"Nothing. Quite the tennis match. I do look forward to seeing them play Quidditch. They have such a wonderful time competing together." The Headmaster seemed quite pleased with the pair as they swatted the little ball of light back and fourth at each other from either side of the Gryffindor tabletop. They were shifting about while diving and darting around to keep up with the 'ball'.

"Nothing?" She seemed to chew on that for a moment and sighed after a long pause of thought. "I suppose you are right. There isn't really much to be done at all is there?"

OooOOooOO

"Ah. Potter." Severus Snape didn't have a frown on his face as she walked into his office.

Anna had found herself summoned to the man's office early on that morning. He was sitting behind a desk stacked high with papers. The look in his eyes told her he would be enjoying whatever squirming he meant her to do. He looked serious and reserved but not angry. It was setting off alarms in her mind.

"You will not be moving forward next year. In fact, I am taking you out of Potions for the remainder of your time at Hogwarts." He sat back in his chair and a sour frown formed on his face.

She was just looking at him without expression. It was obvious she was waiting to hear more.

"Nothing to say?" He leaned forward placing one of his arms across the desk in front of himself.

"Um, thank you?" She looked confused and cautious.

He leaned back while growling under his breath. "Starting next year I'll be taking you on as my apprentice."

That got something of a reaction from the girl. Her entire body went tense and her eyes narrowed to thin slits.

The man rolled his eyes. "You may breathe if you wish."

"What did I do to...deserve this?" She seemed to be at least making an attempt to sound civil.

"Your little experiment worked." Snaped tossed a piece of paper into the air. A black bunny skittered across the room and caught it in mid air with it's open maw. It slammed into the side of a book shelf head first. Three books belted it across it's skull just after it landed on it's rear. The creature fell flat on it's back for a long moment. After that, it sat up, shook it's head, and hopped up to put the books back on the shelves. "I suggest you prepare for next year. I am not planning on wasting my time. As of the day you set foot in this school next year, you belong to me, Potter. I suggest you remember that."

The girl frowned at him for a moment. "I see." Her eyes relaxed and she gave him a smile. "If you think I'm afraid, or even a little worried, but you're mistaken. I know more than you imagine, not only of the future, but of the past as well."

The man jumped to his feet and pointed a thin cruel finger at her. "You know nothing."

"I know who sponsored my mother. I know why you hate my name." The girl stood in silence after she almost whispered it. Her eyes were to the ground and a dark looking smirk had formed on her face. "The relationships of those involved with this are an open book to me. They've haunted my mind for years. I knew exactly who you were years before I ever set foot on these grounds. I know the end of what only begins now in great detail. Do you really think I didn't see this coming? I was thinking the end of next year though, no matter." She was bluffing. She was doing a passable job of hiding her discomfort and disgusted surprise. Her eyes went hard as she gave him a bitter snarl. "Maybe you do control my schedule, but I belong to no one."

"Get out of my sight. Potter." The man was seated again, he'd pushed his chair back into the shadows and she could still see his face regardless. He was enraged, and shock was clear on his face, his lips were an angry snarl.

She glanced back at him with a blank expression on her face as she walked out of his office. She leaned against the wall outside the door for a moment and took a few gasping breaths. "Shit. He's got me cornered. Bastard." She looked up with a dark smirk growing on her lips and started back to the dorms. "Won't be pleasant. I've a feeling I'll be needing what I learn."

Severus Snape was impressed with her display. He'd never admit it. Defiance was about the last thing he'd expected from her. He still had a scowl on his face and it was clear she wasn't planning on being subservient to him. He doubted she'd fight against him, she did take well to the course and he didn't think she'd have difficulty learning. She'd probably continue to be the model student she already was. Still, hearing her declare that she did not belong to anyone was unexpected, and he realized he should have expected it. She was as fierce and defiant as her mother, though not nearly as sane. He glanced down at the 'bunny' and his frowned deepened a bit more. Only a mad genius could have created such a thing, and it was serving her well. A cure for vampirism wasn't something that anyone really thought was possible, but her madness ignored such doubts. It was both a strength and a weakness of the girl. He relaxed and closed his eyes. It would be interesting if nothing else. He wouldn't admit it of course, but he very much wanted to see just how much she was capable of. He also had a feeling that sooner or later he would find out.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was walking through the halls with Ron and Hermione at his side. The had a bit of a break between classes and the students were milling about towards their next class at a lazy pace. Many had stopped to chat with friends and stood along the walls in clusters or groups. "No. There are a lot of things my sister talks about that I have no idea about. I've got no idea why she thinks the answer to the great question is 'Forty Two'."

The frazzle haired girl was holding a thick book in her arms close to her chest. "Well, there's a lot of mention of 'the great question', but nothing says what it is. She could be right, but there's just no way of knowing."

Ron blinked and said something bright. "Maybe that's the point?"

The girl's eyes went wide and she worked her jaw open and closed as some of the color left her.

"I don't know. Maybe we should ask one of the teachers?" Harry shrugged at her.

"Maybe Professor McGonagall might know? She likes making us write all that stuff down all the time. I feel sorry for my wrist just thinking about it." Ron shook his hand a few times and looked somewhat sullen.

"I guess she would be a good person to ask. I've found more about that than anything on this Flamel person. No mention of any Philosopher's Stone either. Are you sure about this Harry? Maybe she's got it wrong?"

"Maybe. I doubt it though." The boy who lived shrugged his shoulders and looked like he wasn't planning on putting much thought to it. "She seems to be doing little more than poking us in the right direction. I think it's something she expects me to take care of on my own. I can't rely on her. I love her and all, but I want my own house when I leave school."

The girl seemed surprised at the answer but didn't push the subject further.

"Potter. How have you been?" Clause had walked up and started speaking German.

Harry blinked in surprise. His friends seemed to become alarmed by the larger Slytherin student before them. "Hey. What's up?" He gave the boy a welcoming grin and stopped. He'd seen him hanging around with his sister between classes on occasion.

"I was wondering where you got that?" Clause kept to his native tongue as he pointed at a golden insignia pin holding his cloak together.

The boy looked down and pulled it up to show it. "My sister got it for me for Christmas. She's got one like it as well. Hers is made of ebony. That might be why you haven't noticed it. I've noticed she's taken a liking for black and green. Makes me wonder why her wand is red. She could make a green one if she wished."

That caught the older boy by surprise. "Really? She's been reading about some of the wizards from my school. Then again, you were raised by Muggles. Perhaps she was unaware of what that symbol is?" Ron and Hermione had moved away a bit, but were looking on with suspicious looks on their faces. Clause noticed this but didn't act as if he had. "Your friends are suspicious."

"Of anything wearing silver and green. Yes. Slytherin has developed a reputation amongst houses here. Don't worry they'll get over it. What's this about my pin?" He was fingering the surface and looking up at the older boy.

The older boy looked a little uncomfortable. "This symbol is Grindelwald's mark. He shared many beliefs of those who would see you harmed. I don't know if you understand what wearin..."

"Huh? This is my family seal. We've used it for centuries. It's on our coat of arms. Anna looked it up in the library before the break. Isn't he the guy Dumbledore defeated a long time ago?" The younger boy pushed his glasses up his nose and didn't seem upset about the matter.

The older boy's eyes went wide. "It...it is? Grindelwald used it as his mark and carved it into one of the walls at Durmstrag. There are many who would take offense to seeing it brandished in such a way."

"I think my sister mentioned something about that now that you mention it." He held it up to let the boy have a look at the design to show him. "Look, it's my family crest. These are the Deathly Hallows. See, the Elder Wand, the Stone of Life, and the Cloak of invisibility." The young boy pointed out each one to the wide eyed older boy. "Grindelwald was supposedly obsessed with the legend. I'm not sure if it's really true or not, but I think I'm supposed to be a direct descendant of the surviving brother. Anna used to tell me the story sometimes when we were little. She's got quite a few." The boy shrugged and stared at the dumbstruck boy as he scratched the back of his head. "It's just a legend, but it was my family's first."

"Are you putting me on?" Clause looked a bit put off.

"No." Harry and his sister had been using it for years. If he found something with the symbol written on it he knew it was from her.

"Huh. The Deathly Hallows?" The older boy looked thoughtful. "That's interesting. None of the staff at my school could say what it was."

"Really? Well, I suppose they'll be pleased to find out then." The younger boy gave a small shrug.

"I suppose so." Clause turned away after clapping the boy on his shoulder. "If you must you must, but be careful. There are those who would not react well to seeing it worn so openly."

"What was that about?" Hermione and Ron moved up to his side.

"Nothing important. He wanted to know about my cloak pin. My sister got it for me over the holiday. I forgot I had it. I didn't have much use of a cloak at home." His mood went up as he thought about it. "He seems to get along with my sister. I've seen him and a few others hanging around her."

At that moment a bucket flew across the room bouncing off a wall and almost landing upended on top of one of a young Hufflepuff student moving by in the hall. Everyone was startled except one boy.

Harry blinked in surprise as Ron Weasley grabbed the bucket in a one handed catch just before it landed. He put his fist on his hip and glared up at the nearby ceiling with a frown on his face and a surprising firmness to his tone. "Cut it out, Peeves."

The fat ghost appeared out of thin air with a frightened expression on his face as he rushed through the wall behind him as fast as he could fly.

Everyone in the hall was looking at the red haired first year boy with a somewhat slacked jaw.

Most of the older students started clapping and cheering. "All right, Weasley! How did you do that?" Oliver Wood had been standing near by and walked over beside the pair.

The boy shrugged. "I..."

As if to save him from answering the question another ghost waltzed into the middle of the hall with a huge grin on his face with his arms spread wide. "Oh! I was hoping to meet you Ronald! So good to see you again. I just wanted to thank you! Thanks to you, I've finally been accepted to attend the Headless Hunt! Look!" He popped his head right off and tucked it under his arm. "Isn't it wonderful?"

The boy looked somewhat disgusted and gave a short nod. "I guess."

"Well, I just wanted to take a moment to show my gratitude my boy." Nick walked away with a huge grin on his face.

"Thanks to you?" Hermione looked as confused as everyone else.

"It's nothing." Ron had failed to mention Nick had been inside the armor he'd faced on his way to the battle with Dracula.

"Come on then. We've got Charms next." Harry decided to step in and move things along before his friend grew too uncomfortable.

"Wait, what was Nick talking about?" Hermione didn't want to give up.

"Ask him later." Harry replied with a smirk on his face. "No need to worry about it now. I've got to keep working on a way to find out about our other project."

"We've got a lot of work to do still." The girl moved off the subject and nodded as she found another frustrating unanswered question to turn her attention away. "We've got more reading to do tonight. There are a lot of books in the library."

"We'll probably be there until they close the place for the evening again then?" Ron didn't look like he was going to enjoy the experience.

"You promised to help." The girl locked her eyes on him and pointed her lower lip at him as she pushed it out a bit.

"I didn't say I wouldn't. Just that we're gonna be there a while." Ron shrank back a little.

"Likely." Harry nodded but didn't look as concerned. It was obvious he'd rather be doing other things as well.

"Well, the sooner we find it the sooner Ron Weasley can get back to sitting around the dorms instead of studying." The girl gave a satisfied looking nod.

"He's not that bad. Besides, he has you around to help him." Harry was chuckling at the look on the redhead's face. He wasn't speaking but didn't look pleased with what the girl had said.

"Well, I won't be much help if he doesn't put a little effort into it at least." She pointed her nose into the air and moved ahead of them a bit.

"She's impossible some times." Ron shoved his hands into his pockets and frowned at her back a little as he trailed along after her with Harry.

OooOOooOO

It was the last class on Friday evening. Anna Potter was sitting in Divination. She was with a third year group consisting of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and about four older Slytherin students. She was sitting on her own with her nose in the large book she'd gotten for the class at the back of the room. Trelawney had passed out decks of Tarot Cards and hers was sitting on the corner of her desk untouched. She had her copy of 'Interpretations and Symbols, a Guide to Analyzing Tarot Cards' open to the right section, but wasn't paying much attention.

The woman was floating around the room like a flower child who had until recently, owned a large bag of pot. Her beads clacked and crackled together as she moved through the room. Most of the other students were inspecting the cards and trying to lay them out as instructed with varying success.

The teacher floated over to her desk and she shuddered and put her head a bit deeper into the book. "I'd rather deal with Snape." The other Slytherin girls were sitting closest to her and the girl nearest to her glanced over with an amused looking smirk. They were content to ignore her with everyone else in the room.

"Miss Potter? Why don't you demonstrate for the class?" She turned and waved her arms to gather the attention of the room.

The redhead wasn't flustered by the attention and set her book aside with a small irate sigh. "Yes, Professor."

"Remember, you must feel the cards! You must hear their voice as they speak to you of the shadows of the future! The cards should react to your will and give you a glimpse into the mists of time. It will be cloudy and difficult to see at first. Clarity only comes with years of experience! My own sight is almost as clear as it is as I look at you now!" Trelawney was wavering her voice as she said it as if telling a ghost story to young children. Anna narrowed her eyes at that. The teacher was wearing thick glasses that made her eyes look very large. She had doubts about how well Trelawney could see the students in the room and even more doubt that her 'clarity' was anywhere near even that.

Anna put her index finger on top of the cards. Everyone near her desk jumped a little as they snapped together into a neat pile on their own. She lifted them off the corner of her desk as if they were a solid block of paper and rolled her eyes. She placed her hand on the book and closed her eyes. "What am I doing again?"

"Miss Himpleton, if you would?" The teacher turned to look at a nearby student who promptly froze up. She practically pulled the girl from her seat and shoved her into the chair opposite the young redhead.

She was one of the Hufflepuff girls and gave a small irate sigh as she accepted her fate. It was obvious she didn't think much of the class. Most of the students there just saw it as an easy credit. Much like how muggle students saw art classes as an easy course. Taking Divination was seen as a bit lazy and most wizarding students didn't take it seriously. Most assignments could be successfully completed by making random stories up about a subject and extra credit was usually given if some sort of doom was prophesied in whatever type of reading they gave. Anna seemed cynical as well and it was what the girl was expecting her to do.

The woman put her arm across the Hufflepuff girl's shoulders and gently sat her down in front of the redhead. The slender student had freckles on her cheeks and slightly frazzled hair pulled up into a bun on the back of her head. "Um...hi." Anna had a bit of a reputation, but she didn't seem upset. The older girl just looked irate that she had to put up with being put in the spotlight with her. She looked a bit sympathetic to the redhead as the teacher had put them both in a similar position. There were a few snickers in the room that Trelawney either didn't notice or completely ignored.

Anna looked up at the teacher as the cards laid themselves out. She started talking and was using the book under her arm to guide her. The cards shifted positions a few times as she gave her reading, forming different types of patterns on the desk. Different formations supposedly told different things about who you were focused on reading. "Well, you're not going to marry your boyfriend. You'll be broken up by the end of the week...no, today. Won't meet 'him' till about two years after you graduate. You'll take over the family business and make a good living. Your older sister doesn't want to, but you're secretly pleased about it. You do pretend to worry to keep your mother happy. Two boys and a girl is what you want, but you're getting three boys. The Trasfiguration paper you're worried about will go fine, but you'll have a bit of trouble on your next Potions exam. You're having trouble with identifying spores, molds, and fungus. Yes, Marlina a bit more than kissed Maxwell just like you suspect. I'm afraid that it will end with a trip down the isle for them, but it won't last but three years. Too early for those two, and they'll find other people later." The little redhead leaned forward a little to peer at the current layout of the cards a bit closer. "Your brother's been sick recently. It's pretty bad, but you shouldn't worry. You'll be getting a letter tomorrow at breakfast telling you he's been to St. Mungos and it will be gone by Wednesday. Oh, and your favorite Mad Magicians poster, the one on the wall behind your bed. It was ripped in half by your mother. It's enchanted so she won't be able to repair it. Your mother did it by accident while cleaning. She'll replace it before you get back, but you'll notice it because she'll hang it a bit too high." She turned her eyes up towards Trelawney. "Is that right?"

The Hufflepuff girl's eyes rolled up and she fell out of her chair in a dead faint. Trelawney watched in shock before falling to her knees to help the girl. She was fanning her face with a few pages in her hand while holding her head off the ground. "Very good! You didn't mention the dark shadow looming over..."

"Nah. She'll be fine. She'll graduate on time and have a nice family. Well, according to these little pieces of cardboard anyway." Anna didn't look impressed and wasn't expecting anyone else to be. "I didn't mean to embarrass her that much. I was using what I read in the book to make it up as I went."

The Himpleton girl's eyes fluttered open and she sat upright in a sudden jerk. Trelawney backed away to avoid getting hit in the jaw by the girl's forehead just in time and patted her shoulder to make sure she was all right.

"So. How did I do?" Anna was looking at the girl over her desk. "This stuff is crazy, bet you've never even heard of..."

"You've got to be kidding me!" The girl cried as she jumped to her feet and took a step back. Her eyes were wide as she almost fell over the student and desk behind her as she moved back looking surprised and alarmed.

Anna's face fell. "Uh oh." Everyone in the room was looking at her with rather wide eyes. the Slytherin girls were whispering to each other in a hushed manner and huddled around their table. Even Trelawney looked a bit speechless.

"How did you know all that?" The girl she'd given the reading to seemed to calm down a bit and moved forward again with a blush on her face. Have you been spying on me or something? "My boyfriend...that jerk! I knew that wasn't juice on his collar...but I didn't say anything...I can't believe...he said he got that bruise on his neck from horsing around with..."

The youngest girl in the room felt her back grow rigid and looked around the room. "Um...I was right?" She seemed as surprised as anyone else.

The Hufflepuff girl looked half amazed and half horrified. She seemed to realize the girl wasn't putting her on. "About everything." She had tears running down her cheeks. She turned and ran over to her seat and put her head into her arms as the girls around her tried to comfort her. Trelawney was regarding her in a way she'd never seen before. She had her finger on the corner of her lip and a zoned out expression on her face with a light smile.

Anna was working her mouth open and closed as she looked at the book under her arm. She'd just followed what the book said about how the cards had landed. The symbols on the cards were important, but it also mattered how they landed and where they sat in the particular formation. By the time she'd finished there were about twenty five cards on the table arranged in different patterns. They slid themselves back into a deck as she looked down at them with her eye twitching a bit. She didn't look very upset, but was expecting to guess wrong. She wasn't pulling information out of the girl's mind either. She'd was expecting to be inaccurate. "I'm sure it was a fluke."

"Well, it seems you've taken to this method. Everyone may keep their cards. Miss Potter, perhaps another demonstration? It pains me to admit it, but I've not been able to use Tarot Cards so well myself. Though, I have come close." Trelawney was beaming with joy.

"And monkeys might fly out of my butt." Anna grumbled it under her breath as the instructor forced a Ravenclaw boy into the seat in front of her. She had a feeling she was going to have to do it to the whole class before the end of the period. She didn't move for a long moment. The boy went quiet and looked a bit nervous.

"Is he real? Did I ever read a series of seven books...or can I really do this?" She sat down and frowned at the boy in front of her. "We'll find out." She'd only spoken the last phrase out loud.

The boy gave a small swallow. Anna didn't know it yet, but he was about to lose his girlfriend. She was looking on with interest from the table he'd been dragged from.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter found herself standing in the hall. The students leaving Divination behind her were giving her a wide berth, some with more disturbed looks on their faces than others. She was looking at the ground while clutching a deck of cards in one hand with her other arm holding the book to her chest. Her eyes were vacant and it was easy to see she was a bit spaced out.

She moved at a slow pace across the polished tile looking at her own reflection in the floor as she moved. "What am I really?"

A card fell to the floor from her deck. She didn't bother to bend down and lifted it up into the air in front of her without touching it. She pulled it out of the air and looked down to see the Grim Reaper's cold dead eyes looking up at her.

"Curious." She looked ahead again and started walking towards the dorms again. The band had practice soon. She wasn't sure she wanted to think about it much, but during the class she'd realized that her dreams looked right. Snape appeared as Snape really looked and Dumbledore did as well. Everything she'd encountered so far looked exactly as it had in her dreams. All years before she'd ever really met them. None of them looked very much like the actors or special effects in the films either. She almost zoned out again but picked up her pace purposely. "So what?"

One dream pushed itself to the front of her mind. She wasn't sure what had brought it up. Her book and cards hit the ground at her feet as she stopped dead in her tracks. It was of a man in white in a beautiful bright garden. "No. That one was just a dream. It had to be a dream, I was in..." Another, of Sirius Black and Lissa Parkinson came to her. "I..."

No matter how hard she tried she wasn't able to convince herself that they were just dreams.

The book lifted itself off the floor and back into her arms. The cards put themselves inside her robes. "I'll worry about it later." She had a feeling she was going to lose sleep over it in the near future. "Doesn't change anything anyway. I'm not staying like this forever." She glanced into a mirror hanging off one of the walls and kept moving.

OooOOooOO

A few days had passed and the students had returned to a normal routine and milled about in the hall a few hours later. Anna Potter was standing with Fred, George, Cedric, and Clause. They were speaking and grinning at each other in the middle of the hall. The girl hadn't spoken of her first Divination class to anyone and had pushed it aside for the most part. The rumor mill about the school had sent a few discounted rumors about the class around. Few really believed any of it. Trelawney and just about any odd story about her or her class seemed to repel belief.

Pansy and Margaret were further down the hall talking with girls from other houses. Many of the girls they were standing with were almost burning with envy at the company the little redhead was keeping as of late. Pansy looked over her shoulder and frowned a bit. "You know, I've noticed whenever we talk to someone about the subject of cute boys that she wanders off and finds some."

"Yes. Strange isn't it?" Margaret rolled her eyes a little with a tiny bit of sarcasm in her reply. "She's anything but shy."

A first year Hufflepuff girl with her brown hair tied back into a ponytail shifted with discomfort. "I don't see how she talks to them. I couldn't work up the nerve to..."

Pansy gave a small shrug. "I'm hot too. I can get through a conversation about a cute boy without feeling the need to seek one out though."

"I think her ego is rubbing off on you." Margaret quipped back as she leaned into the blond girl's shoulder a little.

Pansy grinned. "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to have any trouble attracting cute guys when I'm older."

"You're so lucky." Another girl with them from Ravenclaw spoke up with a somewhat jealous tone.

"It has it's down side." Margaret glanced towards a group of boys she considered undesirable for superficial reasons. There were a lot of younger male students keeping an eye on them since the holiday. Far more than before the holiday. The other eight girls looked at them all at the same time. All of the boy's heads shifted away as they backed a bit further down the hall. "It's more work than you might think. I didn't think of playing in a band as exercise until I joined one. I could barely move after that concert. It left me sore for days."

"Still," grumbled another girl. "My mother wants me to get a job with Flourish and Blotts."

OooOOooOO

"How did you manage to freeze the lake over yesterday?" George slapped the smallest redhead in the group on her shoulder.

"I'm curious myself." Clause had a silver ring with runes carved into the surface around the band on his right hand. He had a grin on his face as he looked down at her from the corner of his eye. He'd gotten it after he'd returned from the Holiday break with the bulk of the students and it allowed him to communicate with the other students.

"The look on Kettleburn's face was priceless! We were supposed to be learning about aquatic magical life." Fred seemed just as pleased with the story as his brother.

"It was amazing seeing Filtch stuck out on the lake. I think Dumbledore chided him for his language once he came out and cleaned the mess up." George looked like he was enjoying the memory.

Cedric rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "How do you know it was her anyway? I haven't heard that version of it. It was just frozen this morning."

"Yeah." Anna looked miffed. It had been Harry. They were training outdoors that morning and he'd tossed about twenty ice balls into the water while learning to control it. They varied in size and the first few only made a few big blocks of ice. He'd gotten carried away trying to see how large an ice chunk he could make. The entire lake had been covered in six inches of solid ice when he'd made one about the size of a small beach ball.

"Not much of a prank." Cedric seemed to enjoy backing the pair down a little.

"Unless you consider the fact that Filtch was out fishing this morning." Fred pointed his finger in the air as if he'd just solved some sort of mystery.

He was on the opposite end of the lake about a hundred yards or so off shore. His boots had gotten frozen deep enough in the ice at the bottom of his boat that he'd been unable to reach the laces. She hadn't thought anything of it at the time and blushed a bit as other's spoke of it.

"It was you then?" The German boy gave a small chuckle and shook his head. "I never thought the most interesting person I'd meet here would be a first year."

"I'd say something, but I don't like Filtch. No one does." Cedric gave a small sigh and shook his head.

"I never said it was me." The girl crossed her arms and frowned at them all.

"You also didn't say..."

"...it wasn't you." Fred and George switched the sentence between each other.

George slapped her back. "Come on..."

"...don't be like that." Fred nodded in agreement with the sentence he finished.

"I've had enough of this!" An irate but loud mutter came from the right. A group of girls could be heard trying to talk her down. They didn't follow Cho Chang as she stormed up to the scene with a scowl on her face. Her eyes were locked onto the redhead at the edge of the group.

"Huh?" George whipped his head around. "Oh. H...hi. B...buttercup..."

Fred's eyes went wide as he looked at his brother. "Buttercup?"

George slapped him on the chest. Fred was chuckling, but seemed to be able to contain his laughter. "We'll talk about it later."

"You bet we will." Fred realized that Cedric and Clause had backed away from the pair as if a skunk had approached them and pulled George away with him as it seemed a wise move.

"I don't know who you think you are. I've had enough of this." The Asian girl looked angry.

Anna looked around as if trying to find someone standing next to her. "Enough of what?"

Cho leaned towards her and jabbed her finger into her chest. "You know exactly what I mean. You thing you can have anything you want, don't you? You think you can just walk up and take it."

Anna smiled at her and looked up at the ceiling with her eyes for a moment. "Not really no. Is there some sort of social rivalry I'm not aware of, or..."

"Shut up! I challenge you to a fight! No magic!" The dark haired girl stood tall and pointed at the smaller girl's nose. "I've heard you can fight. I'm going to prove I can beat you once and for all."

George looked about to step forward and had a frightened expression on his face. He was about to say something when Cedric grabbed his arm and shook his head back and forth as he looked a bit alarmed. "Just let it go. It's not worth it."

"You do martial arts then?" Anna was being far more pleasant than anyone in her position should have been. "Some form of Kung Fu, or something?"

"I'm Asian." Cho snorted and looked the girl up and down with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Well, not every Chinese girl trains in the martial arts. I'm also unsure if you're good at math or not. I'm afraid if you want full contact we'll have to meet over the summer. I don't mind setting up a sparring match. We'll do it in the morning if you'd like. I'll meet you by the lake then. Should be fun." The little redhead seemed quite pleased, much to the surprise of everyone around her. More because no one had understood her than the way she was handling the challenge.

Cho Chang looked a bit more surprised than around her. The girl had started speaking Mandarin to her out of nowhere. "You..."

"Yes. One of your parents taught you?" Anna was speaking to her as if she was a friend of hers and smiled in a warm manner.

"My Grandmother..." Cho didn't seem to know what to do and was trying to decide whether or not to cross her arms. "I'll show you! You're not going to get your claws into my boyfriend, you already..." Her face went hard as she steeled herself to argue for the fight.

The redhead cocked her head. You mean George? Ugh. No. I'm not so cruel as to burden my children with that much red hair and freckles. George is a nice guy, but I think I'd end up killing him. It wouldn't work out." Anna didn't seem concerned with the Asian girl's paranoia. "Trust me, he's safe from me. Well, in that regard anyway." She was waving it off as if they were discussing each other's clothes and took the girl's arm to walk with her down the hall a bit.

"It's a challenge then?" Cho was confused and allowed herself to be moved along. "No magic. I'm not asking for a Wizards duel."

"Sure. It does get a bit old just training with my brother all the time. I could use a fresh challenge." The redhead seemed happy with what was happening and switched back into English again.

Cho was flustered and blushing as she pulled her arm away and stopped. "I'll meet you in the morning then."

"Right. See you then." The younger girl gave a small wave and grin as she went off about her own business.

OooOOooOO

Anna stood across from Cho in front of the lake. It was early morning and a foggy haze still floated in the air around them. Anna was dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a spandex top with a sports bra underneath. She didn't have much of a chest, but there was just enough to push the flexible fabric on her chest out a bit. Chang was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a gray pair of sweat pants. The hood was hanging behind her head with the zipper halfway up revealing a T-shirt underneath.

Cho looked at the crowd around them. There were about twenty five students standing in a half circle around them. Harry was looking on just inside the clearing they would be using to fight with a smirk on his face. Both girls seemed to be surprised at the attention the match had gotten.

"So, the winner gets to go out with Cedric or something?" Margaret looked at Pansy. The pair were near the front of the group with Cedric and George beside them. Fred was a little farther away standing with Ron.

"I think so. I'm not sure what this is about. Anna said something about Cho being upset with her about boys. She didn't say what in particular." The blond girl gave a small shrug. "Getting her to talk about this sort of thing is like dragging a werewolf out if its den by the tail."

"That's not what this is about!" George looked a little miffed.

"This is awesome. Two girls fighting over you?" Lee Jordan slapped the flustered twin on his shoulder as he walked up to them.

"I don't think that's right either. I'm not sure though." Cedric glanced at Lee and shrugged. "I don't think either of us is getting a date out of this. At least, not that I've heard."

"What's this about then?" Lee was pulling George's leg and not bothering with trying to hide it.

"I'm not really sure I want to know." The Hufflepuff student shrugged and looked back to the pair in the ring.

"Well, both of them are cute..." Lee was shaking George by the shoulder.

"Let's just say they're girls and leave it at that. I'm not sure I want to know either." Lee let him go as his housemate glanced over at him with a look that promised revenge if the teasing continued.

Pansy sucked a bit of air between her teeth in a displeased manner. Margaret turned her nose into the air and both of them moved a little further away.

"Hey. I didn't say anything!" Lee looked a bit concerned as they moved off.

"Traitor." Cedric smirked at him and gave a snort of laughter.

"Hey. None of them look bad and they're all rich. I wouldn't mind a date myself." He shrugged at the pair and turned his attention back to the center of the improvised ring.

"Do you need to warm up a bit?" Anna was leaning back and fourth on her legs stretching herself a bit. She arched her back and put up her arms before hopping up and down in place to loosen herself up a bit. She was quite flexible and there were surprised mutterings in the crowd of students around them. Three of them were much older girls whose boyfriends thought of the event as a date. Pansy and Margaret were the only other girls to show up.

Harry glanced over his shoulders and gave a small chuckle before looking back at his sister with a mischievous looking smirk.

Cho pushed the surprise of the audience away and frowned. She noticed the redhead seemed surprised to see so many as well. "Karate then?"

Anna stepped back into a ready stance and put her fists up. "It's called Terras Kasi."

"Never heard of it." The Asian girl snorted and looked unimpressed and a bit grumpy.

"I'm not surprised. As far as I know my brother and I are the only ones who use it." Anna flexed her arms and spread her fingers.

Cho narrowed her eyes. She had never seen the redhead without her robes. Her clothes were rather form fitting. The smaller redhead was in much better shape than she'd expected and it was obvious she was very flexible. Her build was small, but her muscles were defined and firm and not overdeveloped. She had a flat solid stomach and her legs would be something to watch out for as well. Just seeing the girl stretching a bit told the Asian girl she'd have no trouble kicking at her face. It was obvious the redhead had warmed up before the fight and she looked ready to go. "I will defeat you." She found herself wondering what her brother might be hiding under his robes and got quiet smile as she allowed herself a moment of distraction before they started.

Anna stood up straight and bowed. "I look forward to finding out if you can."

Chang returned the courtesy almost out of habit. She didn't seem to realize no one else had understood the conversation. A small growl formed at the back of her throat as she realized a lot of the boys were staring at her and the little redhead and seemed to focus anywhere but above their necks.

"We'll be competing for points. No full force blows." Anna seemed pleased and excited as she continued to jump in place. "Harry will keep score. He's the only one here I know can keep up."

Cho nodded. Harry had a good reputation. "I trust he's not taking sides."

"No. I'll be making fun of her if she loses." The boy was quite cheerful and was keeping back to stay out of their way.

"How many to victory?" Chang seemed to get her focus and put her open palms up one in front of the other as she took up a stance.

"Let's say ten. Don't forget that this is a test of skill, not strength or endurance." Anna stopped moving and stepped back into a stance with one hand in front of her open and the other balled into a fist in front of her chest. "We've gotten all the formalities out of the way. Shall we start?"

OooOOooOO

TBC...


	16. Chapter 16

A matter of force.

Part 16

Hermione's turn.

OooOOooOO

Cho Chang growled as she charged forward. The redhead didn't move from where she was standing as she put up her arm to block a kick aimed at her head.

Cho grunted in mild surprise but thrust out her palm as she pulled her leg back aiming for her opponent's belly. The Slytherin girl shifted a little to the side, wrapped one arm around her strike, and planted her knuckles against the Asian girl's ribcage just between her breast with the other.

"Point." Harry was leaning over with his hands on his knees watching the exchange.

Cho jumped back and put her hands forward as she leaned back into a more defensive stance.

The redhead narrowed her eyes. "Well, now it gets interesting."

Harry had a smirk on his face as he stood behind his sister. "What do you know? She really is playing fair." Anna wasn't using the Force. It was nothing more than physical training at that point.

Harry's sister ran forward and spun into a sliding sweep. Cho lifted her foot over it, but the redhead scooped her palm under it. The Asian girl flipped off her hand rather than fall. She hit the ground a little rough and grunted as she staggered to keep her balance for a brief moment.

Anna stood up and dusted her hands off. "No need to fight injured just for practice. If you need a moment..." She had a dark looking smile on her face as she said it.

The Asian girl's eyes went wild. "Shut up!" The other girl was forced to jump back and swat a few fist away. Cho pushed herself forward and tagged her opponent in the gut with her knee.

Anna grunted and staggered back for a few feet. She stopped herself by taking a defensive stance. "I suppose I should be more careful. I can't afford to lose this fight."

Cho smirked back at her. "You're not so tough. Just like I thought."

"Tough is a mentality." The girl brushed her hair away from her face. "I don't care about being tough. I only want to be strong."

George and Cedric were almost clutching each other and watching with wide eyes and slacked jaws.

George looked at Cedric and swallowed. "Well, if Cho wins she can have you back if she wants."

"What? This is over you! Isn't it?" The Hufflepuff boy looked a bit alarmed.

Melvin laughed. "No way Anna will lose."

Margaret frowned at him. "I'm not so sure. She seems to be taking it easy on her. I can't imagine why."

"Hey. She's winning isn't she?" Pansy looked a bit confused about what was going on. "Why are they fighting again?"

"No, she's down by two now." Harry took the time to glance back and tell her.

"Really? Why?" The girl looked confused.

"She's playing fair." The boy didn't look back, but grinned as both girls gave him small frowns.

Anna growled through the grin on her face as she and Cho circled one another in the center of the ring. The redhead was tender in a few places. She'd taken a shot to her jaw and four to her chest. The only blow she hadn't felt was the one the Asian girl had gotten by touching the back of her head with her foot. She'd not been able to move out of the way in time.

"Still having fun?" Cho was glaring at her with a hateful frown on her face.

Anna only grinned back and wiped the back of her chin with her hand. Her new rival had decided to abandon the rules of engagement from the start. She was going all out. Playing fair put her at a disadvantage. "You haven't beaten me yet."

"It won't take long!" Cho charged forward fully confident in her victory.

Anna grabbed her fist and touched her toe against her belly. Her opponent spun around into a back handed strike. The redhead ducked under it and pushed the other girl away with both palms against her belly.

Cho stopped and wiped her hands across her belly with an irritated expression on her face.

"Seems we're even." Anna called the girl towards her with her fingers from her stance. "Shall we finish it?"

Harry gave a small sigh. Both girls charged forward and Cho was intent on attacking all out until the job was done.

Anna had other ideas. She spun around the girl and put her palm into her back. Cho stumbled into the crowd. The students parted for her and she turned to look back while wiping her chin with her wrist.

"I hope you don't think me foolish enough to waste so much energy." Anna narrowed her eyes as the girl charged her in an all out sprint. The Asian girl dove into a flying kick aimed straight at her opponent's head. Anna shifted her neck but Cho caught part of the heel on her cheek. Her brother hadn't missed it and Cho had another point.

"Even again!" The Ravenclaw student put her fist into the back of the other girl's skull after a skillful landing. Anna wasn't expecting it and lashed out with her leg catching the girl with a light touch on her belly.

Cho snorted and balled up her fists. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

Anna was on her feet and in her face before she could react. "Have you?" The redhead had her finger against the girl's forehead.

Cho was looking at it cross eyed. "What?"

"You just lost. You weren't even counting. Sorry, the time for free shots is over. Hit me again and I'll let the staff deal with you." Anna snorted and rubbed on her jaw for a moment. "I didn't need to cheat to win." She wasn't pleased with the girl at all.

The Asian girl's jaw dropped. Her eyes were angry and she worked her jaw open and closed a few times. "I almost had you."

"So what?" The redhead gave a snort. "Maybe next time, Chang." She turned away and walked through the crowd with no resistance.

Harry gave a small sigh and shook his head with a smirk on his face as he ignored Cho and walked up beside her. "Well, I'm quite proud of you."

Cedric moved up beside her with George gripping his shoulders behind him. She continued to stroll forward with a glare in her eyes and seemed to ignore all of them. Cedric staggered a little to keep up beside her for a moment and tried to avoid getting in her line of sight. "Just to be clear here. Neither one of us has to date you or anything, right?"

"Not that it's a bad thing mind you! We just want to be clear!" George was torn between finding out and going over to see how the other girl was doing.

Anna snorted at the older redhead and turned her angry stare towards him. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Right!" He rushed away looking a bit relieved, but still high strung and uncertain.

"What about me? Am I off the hook as well?" Cedric was shying away from her a little.

She grabbed him by his shirt and almost put his nose to hers. "Hmm...What should I do with you? I suppose I have won after all." She pretended to think about it and enjoyed the wide eyed dumbstruck expression for a moment. "I suppose I can let you go this time. After all, I don't think you'd be all that useful in that regard for several years anyway. I just really don't have the time to deal with it. Oh well." She let him go and rushed over to Margaret and Pansy looking quite proud of herself. Doing that had made her feel a little better.

The boy was confused and somewhat blank. "What? Wait! What does that mean?" He stopped and thought about it. She seemed to have left him be. Though he wasn't certain there was a wager to begin with. He glanced back to see Fred walking away with Cho. She was huddled under his arm and looking a little zoned out. The Asian girl was crying a bit as well.

The rest of the crowd was dispersing and Harry had caught up to Ron and jogged along beside him towards the dorms.

"Are you sure that was all right? We're not going to get in any trouble or anything?" The Weasley boy seemed a bit disturbed by what he had seen.

His friend just shrugged. "I don't see why. We got proper permission and everything."

Ron yawned and scratched at his forehead just under the brim if his hat. "Do you think we'll be able to get a bit more sleep? Classes don't start for a bit."

OooOOooOO

Anna was a little annoyed. She was sitting with her two girlfriends and talking with each other in the common room. They were along one of the walls with a few other students who had decided to stay up. "I was jerking his chain a little...so?"

"Why can't you admit that you like him?" Pansy had her nose almost in her face and narrowed her eyes at the girl.

"I'm not interested in any boyfriend, much less him." The girl turned her nose away and crossed her arms.

Margaret leaned into her shoulder and looked at her fingernails as she spoke. "Well it doesn't look that way to us."

"I was just teasing him a little." Anna sucked in a breath as she realized how that sounded. "Not like that either."

Her friends had almost predatory looking grins on their faces.

"You're turning red." The blond girl teased.

"We're not stupid. We're girls too you know. He is rather nice." Margaret was leaning against the redhead's shoulder looking a bit smug.

"Fine. I'm still not dating him." Anna gave a heavy sigh and seemed to relax.

Melvin walked up with his hands in his pockets and a huge grin on his face. "Hey. I hear you won yourself a boyfriend then? I don't think any girl in Hogwarts will go near him now."

Anna's peace cracked and a pair of bloodshot eyes glared at him. "You're not getting any before you graduate. Just to let you know. It doesn't matter how hard you try, you will...fail."

The boy looked confused. "Huh? Hey! That's not a nice thing to say!"

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sitting in Snape's class and missing his sister. He'd yet to screw up one of his potions completely but the man would latch onto any mistake made.

"Bat wings are easily over roasted, Potter. The edges of yours are burnt and it will effect the potency of this...concoction." It was a potion that would settle down an upset stomach. A muggle would just take a few antacid tablets. Snape knew the potion would work, but dipped his finger into the now cool liquid and let it drip off with a disgusted frown on his face. "It's also not thick enough. You added too much Elmwood juice. I'm afraid you've failed this exercise."

The boy who lived wasn't pleased with his grade. The man had praised Draco Malfoy, who appeared to have a talent for roasting things. He could see the man was right because Hermione's potion had come out the way it should have.

Ron Weasley's was a light purple in color and still bubbled despite having been off the flame for more than twenty minutes. The teacher hadn't even bothered with informing him directly he'd failed miserably. "I expect a ten page essay on the correct way to prepare this potion the next time I see the both of you."

Harry gave a small sigh. "Yes sir." He knew he wouldn't have done any better if his sister had been around. He glanced over to Pansy and Margaret as the man turned his back away.

It was easy to see they were struggling a bit more without the redhead around to help them. They had both done better than he had and the Professor had given them a remark of 'passable' before leaving them alone. Melvin had ended up slightly better off than Ron, and had been given a two page assignment similar to the two Gryffindor students. Pansy and Margaret had both been ignored beyond a glance into their respective cauldrons.

The boy who lived started gathering his things together as the class ended. A feeling of relief washed over him as he strolled out with the others.

"I can't believe he gave you two ten pages! It would only take two to copy the instructions in the textbook down!" Hermione seemed appalled and sympathetic.

"I'll say." Ron looked horrified with the thought of all the writing he had to do. "I'm not so sure how much use I'll be in the library."

"We won't see him again for a week." Hermione seemed annoyed with the redhead. Harry didn't look to be bothered by his punishment one bit. "It's not fair the way he treats you. No one else..."

"He hasn't punished me once when I haven't done something wrong. Snape is mean, strict, and enjoys making the three of us miserable. As odd as it sounds, I wouldn't call him unfair beyond reason."

"Are you joking?" Ron was looking at Harry as if he'd grown a second head. Hermione was flushed and just as shocked.

"He wouldn't have given anyone else a ten page report. You did better than most of the class." The girl seemed a bit put off.

"Maybe. Professor Snape will take any opportunity he can to punish us. He won't do it without a reason from what I've seen though. The best way to deal with him is to be careful to not screw up in front of him." The boy who lived pushed his glasses up his nose a bit as he put his arm across from Ron's shoulder.

"Harder than it sounds." The redhead seemed to get a bit depressed at the thought of it.

"It's too much! He shouldn't have given you as much as Ron. He screwed his up completely even with me warning him. Your potion would have worked at least." Hermione was insisting and being a little pushy with the boys.

"What? Are you saying I deserved ten pages?" Ron was horrified and looked a bit angry.

The Potter boy spoke up before she could respond. "Maybe, maybe not. He's not torturing us Hermione. Maybe he is a bit vindictive but he seems the type who sticks to the rules. I don't think he's done anything that's outside his rights to us. I don't think he will either." Harry was becoming annoyed, he didn't like defending Snape. He didn't think the man was being fair, but he wasn't exactly being unfair either. Harry knew he had messed up, and he'd discovered very quickly that the man would single out any small mistake he made. As much as he hated to admit it, it was the man's job to do just that. "I'm not sure why, maybe because of my sister, but he seems to expect more from me than other students."

"Sticks to the rules?" Ron's eyes went wide as he clutched his book tighter.

Harry looked at him and nodded. "Probably more than any other teacher in the school."

"Acting like that to children shouldn't be legal." Hermione found herself a little surprised at the Potter boy's attitude. She found herself walking between the two boys again in silence. Neither one had responded to her comment and both were much more relaxed outside the dungeon classroom.

The girl became a little self conscious at her position between the pair. She looked over her shoulder and noticed they were passing by the Transfiguration class room. McGonagall was wiping off her chalkboard as the last remnants of her third year class left her room. "I'm going to ask Professor McGonagall about something. I'll meet with you later."

The two boys looked at her from either side, Harry nodded and Ron shrugged.

"Sure. We'll see you before dinner then?" The red haired boy seemed a little surprised.

"It won't take long. I'll meet you at the dorms." The girl moved out from between them with a flustered look about her.

"Wonder what that was about?" Harry seemed confused. "It's like she got embarrassed about something suddenly."

Ron seemed a bit relieved. "I'm not sure. Come on then. You've got a bit before you get with the band don't you? We can get in a bit of something that's not the library. I'm sick of that room."

Harry gave a small chuckle as Ron pulled on his arm to escape the frazzled haired girl while he had the chance. "I suppose so. We can't put it off forever, though we are running out of books."

Hermione missed the conversation as she was standing beside the door to the head of Gryffindor's class room waiting for a few stragglers to pass by. She was clutching her potion's book in her arms and trying to look small.

Ron and Harry were nice to her. They were the two most famous and popular first year boys in school. She'd come to realize why they stood that way around her over the past few days. She'd almost been shoved aside more than once when a large crowd had swamped the pair. There were times she wished the boys had let it happen to her. To their credit neither one had allowed it. They seemed to go out of their way to keep her around. It left her feeling a bit like a third wheel though, but she did feel she contributed something. Ron Weasley was the worst studier she'd ever met. The boy wouldn't crack a book if it was made of glass and belted over his head.

There was something else about it that got to her though. They both seemed to want her around. Ron was insulting and oblivious at times, but he looked out for her as much as Harry did. She was helping them both with their studies and researching Nicolas Flamel. She'd never hung around with the cool people in school before. She'd fallen into it by accident, and she found herself wondering if they'd keep her around if she wasn't useful.

McGonagall turned to notice the girl moving into her room. She gave a faint smile and turned her attention towards the girl. "Ah, Miss Granger. May I help you with something?"

The girl blinked and looked a bit surprised at how quickly she'd been noticed. She pulled herself together quickly and shook off the feeling she'd gotten while walking with the boys. "Yes, Professor. I was wondering about something I've seen mention of in a few books."

"What would that be?" The woman seemed a bit more interested, but not by much. She dusted off her hands and took a few steps towards the girl.

"What's the ultimate question?" The girl's voice wavered a little. She didn't look comfortable about the subject for some reason. "The big one?"

The woman pursed her lips together. "We don't start teaching about such advanced theory until your sixth year. You've been reading a bit about Magical Physics?"

The girl blushed as she realized the woman sounded a little impressed. "Just a bit. I was studying in the library and I came across mention of it. I was just wondering what it was. It never says."

The woman gave a small polite chuckle. "It's a bit long winded. No one has yet been able to solve it. It has gotten rather long over time as more discoveries have been made. We aren't sure how close to finished the question even is." She looked serious and a little wary as she spoke. "Do not be alarmed as it is a very complex issue. I'm still a bit in awe of it's complexity. It is an excellent way to keep ones thinking skills sharp. Though you should be mindful of dwelling on it too much. There are those who have gone mad obsessing over its secrets." The girl was still much more interested than she'd been expecting. "If you become the student I think you might quite possibly be you may be able to grasp the beginnings of some of the theories involved by your third or fourth year of study here at Hogwarts. Classes at Hogwarts will have several lectures devoted to the subject in your fifth and sixth year." She flicked her wrist and waved her wand speaking a few muttered words under her breath. The chalk began scratching out a complex equation on the board. "This is the question as we currently understand it."

It started out with "6X9" The rest was a complex web of numbers, letters, brackets, and equal signs. The last thing in the equation was an equal sign at the very bottom corner of the board.

The first year girl cocked her head and stared at it. McGonagall was standing behind the girl watching with her with her fingers on her chin. The girl proceeded to stare at the board moving her eyes about across it for a few moments.

"As you can see it's quite complex." The woman put her nose up and looked quite pleased with the girl's interest in a rather reserved way. "I've studied this formula since my third year at Hogwarts. Many great wizards spent years of their lives just getting this far."

"It looks a bit like algebra." The girl glanced up at the woman.

"Well, it's an advanced magical formula. It should explain everything about the universe once it's been answered. I'm afraid neither of us will likely see it in our lifetimes, but it is a rather interesting curiosity."

The girl wasn't sure what did it. She was looking it over, and without realizing quite what she was doing she wrote down a single number at the bottom of the equation. "42."

"I've got to see for myself. There's no way she'd know..." The girl went white as a sheet as her eyes settled on a ten in the middle of the mess of brackets. "Wait a minute..."

McGonagall looked amused and strolled over to the girl's shoulder. "There's no need to hurry. It is quite a fascinating subject. I'm surprised you had the nerve to try it at all."

The girl was working her mouth open and closed. "I solved it." She gave the woman a blank expression and pointed at the board. "It's base thirteen. Look." She pointed out a pertinent section of the equation and changed a ten into a thirteen. "It fits now. There's just no way! I don't believe it." The first year girl looked quite shocked and dropped the chalk on the floor as she backed away from the large complex problem.

McGonagall didn't look concerned, but as the girl stood against the front of a desk after running out of room to back away with, her face became more and more a rather blank expression. "What?"

Unbeknownst to the two people standing in the class room staring at a chalk board, or anyone else for that matter. The Earth had been saved exactly five minutes earlier by the Greatest Band in Rock History, with a bit of help from Ron Weasley.

A large fleet of Vogon ships had been scanning the world to be demolished. They quickly vanished back into the far reaches of the galaxy. They had discovered a planet with more than fifty percent of the population carrying towels and left as fast as their engines would allow. After all, it would certainly be less expensive and less dangerous to build around such a well prepared population.

None of the children were yet aware, but the popularity of the band, along with Ron Weasley's long winded praises to the Wizarding world of such a fashion statement, had caught on like wildfire. Towels were now a popular fashion statement amongst Muggles as well, as Anna had been sure to bring up how important having a towel could be during their televised concert. They were already getting kickbacks from the re-airing of the concert the world over.

Disaster was averted, but Hermione didn't feel like it. Professor Minerva McGonagall was flat on her back. Her eyes had rolled into the top of her head, and she had hit the ground right in front of the girl.

"Uh oh." The young frazzle haired girl squeaked in fright and looked around. "Professor? Are you all right?"

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was sitting in front of Dumbledore. "Huh?"

"Miss Granger told us that you gave her the answer." He cleared his throat and looked down at her through his glasses. It was no more than half an hour later and the girl was staring at him in confusion.

"What? She figured the question out?" The girl's eyes were wide and her jaw was hanging down. "That's..."

"Pardon?" The old man was looking down at her with more than a bit of surprise.

"You're...not kidding are you?" Anna seemed to realize she wouldn't be sitting in his office if he was. Dumbledore didn't seem the type for that sort of prank. "That's amazing. Was it six by nine then?" She was looking at his expression with a sort of wonder on her face. It was clear she wasn't joking with him.

"Ah, yes." He nodded.

"Wow. I knew she was smart, but figuring out the ultimate question? I suppose the mice will be pleased."

Dumbledore gave a small snort as he jerked a little in surprised confusion. "Mice?"

"Yes. They're studying us. The whole planet is a giant computer designed to calculate the question to the ultimate answer. Not that it matters much. I don't suppose we're of any interest to the rest of the galaxy any longer. Seeing as she's gone and figured it out." The girl gave a small laugh that didn't sound quite normal. "Are you sure?"

"There seems to be no error in her calculations." The old man looked a bit wary and confused. "I admit, it might just take a bit of time to be certain."

"No. She's right." Anna nodded and she still hadn't regained all the color in her face. "I didn't help her really. I just gave her the answer. Well, maybe a bit, but she figured it out on her own otherwise though. The ultimate question? Really? All I knew was 'six by nine equals forty-two'. I couldn't really explain why though. I don't deserve any credit as I was just using it to pull her leg really. This really is her discovery. Maybe this will help her insecurity? She's been feeling that way a bit of late."

The old man gave a small chuckle. "It seems so."

"Well. I'm not sure what to say to that." The redhead gave him a shrug and a wide eyed open mouthed stare. "I told you it can be a bit strange at times. I never thought she'd go out and find what the question was really. I was going to save it for a special occasion. You know, drop it on her when she wasn't expecting it when she wouldn't really believe me. It's fun, she's quite excitable."

"I see." Dumbledore gave a thoughtful looking nod. His new batch of students was turning out to be much more than he'd expected.

"Pansy mentioned something about it too her and she started asking me about it. I've been teasing her with it a bit. She'd get worked up and start going on about 'the answer to what?' and I'd leave it at that. A pity, it was fun for a time." The redhead shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "Is that all? I really can't take any credit for this one. I could have told you that the answer was forty two, and that the question was 'what is six by nine', but I wouldn't have been able to tell you why. She really figured out out? I knew she was smart and all, but an eleven year old girl doing that? It gives me a headache just thinking about it. Though, I suppose she'd say the same thing about advanced chromatic and hormonal alchemy, or chemical curse bonding principals." Anna filed the new development under 'things that aren't my fault, and don't really effect me' in her mind.

"Oh, yes. It had almost slipped my mind. I was told to inform you that you'll be receiving a Gold Medal for Ground-Breaking Contribution to the International Alchemical Conference in Cairo. There will be a ceremony in the Great Hall in a few weeks. Ron Wesley will be receiving The Order of Merlin, First Class, along with you at the same event."

The girl had her hands folded into her lap and stared at him with a rather blank expression. "Ceremony?"

The old man seemed to realize she didn't seem pleased. "These awards are Great Honors and you have earned them. I'm afraid you'll have to be still and quiet for a short time for the sake of formalities."

Anna cringed a bit. "Well, it's nice they like me I suppose. I was a little worried I'd get into a bit of trouble over it. I really can't say it wasn't my fault. Only that it wasn't intentional. Who decided torturing someone with formality was a good reward anyway?"

The old man seemed to think on that. "I feel as if I should say something. Forgive me, but I am not certain if you understand the significance of these achievements. I think perhaps it is something time will show you. It is quite the mark on your resume. I imagine you'll have your own chocolate frog card when time allows."

"We were already booked for that actually. We are a record breaking wizarding band and we've done just as well with the muggles. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I do wish awards weren't so damn formal. I'm not much for ball room dancing and frilly dress clothes with too many layers. I also hate uncomfortable shoes." She realized the man looked a little worried. "I'll behave, don't worry. I can put up with it for a little while when I have too. I don't want to look like a jerk or anything."

"I suppose that it is enough." The girl tended to make it harder to get more information the longer she spoke with someone. She seemed to enjoy being secretive. "I understand you are doing quite well in Trelawney's class?"

"I guess." The girl got a rather blank expression on her face and squirmed a bit in her chair.

The old man seemed to find it amusing. "I've not seen you without those cards in your hand since your first class."

The girl gasped and looked down at her right hand. One of the cards fell out onto the floor and she frowned down at it as she picked it up and inspected it. It was a picture of two snakes twisted into an infinity sign eating each other's tails. She'd taken much longer than she'd intended to do it, and found Dumbledore looking over her shoulder at the card she shook herself out of it.

"What does this card mean?" The old man put his hand on her shoulder.

"On its own it is a sign of an event repeating. I imagine Hermione will be getting an Order of Merlin as well. It is a rather important discovery after all. You could even say it's 'the' most important discovery." She shrugged and tucked it away into her deck. She kept her eyes locked on it. She'd not put them down unless she needed both hands. She'd taken to fiddling with them by flipping them around her fingers and shuffling them around. It had been a week and a half since she'd put them down to do anything but sleep. "Where did she get these cards?"

The old man looked a bit surprised and a little bemused. "It's not the cards. I'm afraid they are printed in bulk by Flourish and Blotts."

"I don't get it. I never really noticed, but..." She looked up at him with a confused frown on her face. "I've not been more than two feet from this deck since I got it. It's almost like I can't put it down for anything but rock, food, and sleep." The girl seemed to realize she kept them in her pocket for anything but sleep as she put her free hand into the empty pocket on her robe.

"I think..." He looked up at the ceiling and closed one of his eyes as he tried to remember something. "Ah, yes. I'm afraid I've never had much of a gift for it." He walked over to his desk and rummaged around in one of the drawers. He seemed pleased as he found something and put it down on his desktop. A small cloud of dust rose as the gray covered cardboard package hit the wood. "These are a bit more valuable than those cards. I'm afraid they are only a bit older, a hundred and seventy years or so. They belonged to a Great Aunt of mine and I have little use for them myself, nor does anyone else I know. You may have them. I've heard that aged cards often enhance the readings a bit. She made me promise to give them to someone who had a gift like hers. I never imagined it was a vision. I'm still not certain of that."

The girl nodded as he handed them to her. "I, uh, thanks?" She wasn't sure what to do and almost looked afraid to take them.

Dumbledore placed them into her palm and smiled at her. "Consider it a reward for braving the formality of a ceremony. I've a feeling you'll be spending a bit of time braving through such events. I also feel it is appropriate as you had a hand in saving us all. Now, I believe I've taken up enough of your evening."

The girl blushed and nodded as she turned to leave.

Hermione Granger was standing in the hall glaring at her as she walked past the stone gargoyle. The girl had her arms crossed over her chest and didn't look pleased at all. "This is your fault!"

"How do you figure?" The redhead was a bit disoriented and didn't seem to notice herself handing the deck of cards Trelawney had given her to the frazzle haired girl as she put her new deck into her pocket.

Hermione took them and looked confused for a moment. "Stop that! Can't you hold a normal conversation? Why? Why did you..."

"I did squat." The redhead brushed off the other girl and looked a bit shifty eyed.

The girl got in her face and narrowed her eyes. "You gave me the answer!"

"So? That's been known for billions of years. Figuring out the question, that's what was important here." The redhead gave a small sigh and looked at the back of her nails.

"That's stupid!" Hermione stomped her foot and balled up her fists as she moved closer to the irritating girl. "I can't take credit for this. It's..."

"Not mine. Look, I gave you a hint and you put it together on your own. You're getting the credit because you deserve it." The redhead gave her an evil looking grin. "Oh, I can't wait! A muggle born wizard girl discovered the truth about the ultimate question! It will drive those Death Eater jerks mad! Isn't it awesome?" She clapped her hands together and looked pleased. "Oh! I'm so proud of you!" The Slytherin girl was almost jumping up and down as she grabbed the Gryffindor girl by the shoulders and shook her a little.

Hermione looked mortified. "What? I'm supposed to talk to some people soon about what I did! How do I explain...I mean, they're all...what do I tell them?"

The redhead shrugged. "Show them what you did? That's pretty much how it works."

The Gryffindor girl wasn't pleased with the sarcasm. She turned her nose up and turned her back to the redhead. "Well, of course, but..."

"That's pretty much it. Really." Anna had cheered up and seemed pleased with her.

"They'll probably tell them I'm wrong." Hermione lost the heat in her voice and hung her head a bit.

"No. You're going to be very famous." The redhead shrugged at her. The frazzle haired girl wasn't even paying attention and was looking at the floor just over the tips of her shoes with her finger on the corner of her mouth. She seemed to be thinking very hard and was a little wide eyed.

OooOOooOO

It wasn't long before Anna was sitting in the Great Hall with a frown on her face. Her mother's glasses hung around her neck on a strap. Whe was fingering the corner of the frames with her left hand and looking at what her right hand was doing. She was flipping the deck of tarot cards around her fingers rolling cards over and onto the back of the pack. It was kind of irritating as the face card showing in some way represented whoever she happened to focus on. Looking at her brother or Ron would draw a Knight, Snape brought up the two headed Snake, Dumbledore came up with Death. She'd noticed her brother's female friend was still missing. Hermione had yet to return to Gryffindor's table, but McGonagall was absent as well.

The little redhead found herself staring at a card with an owl on the front standing on a large open book. Nevill Longbottom drew a squire hung by his ankle, Pansy drew a minstrel card. Draco Malfoy drew the apprentice card. George and Fred she could do as a pair for some reason, they both came up as the fool. Margaret drew a duchess sitting on a throne with her nose held high, and her brother was a card with an old man peering through a key hole.

"Potter. I asked Gregory Litchen about that class you're taking with him. He clammed up tight along with everyone else who takes it with you." A slap on her back startled the little redhead just enough to drop a card.

Clause and Cedric were giving her mischievous looking grins. Both boys had put their hands on her shoulders on either side. "Oh, hello. What are you two up to?" She straightened the deck in her hands a bit gathering the card that had fallen and holding it in her free hand. She wasn't sure which one had spoken to get her attention.

Cedric peered over her shoulder. "Tarot cards? You got them from Trelawney's class?" He could see two naked people holding hands on the visible card.

The girl frowned at him and glanced out of the corner of her eye towards him. "Yeah. I don't know why they bother teaching it as a class. My experience is it's not something you can learn. You've either got it or you don't."

Clause had his arms folded across his chest and looked quite confident. "I was thinking of taking Divination next year. None of the girls in Slytherin taking the with you will speak of it either. I usually don't have trouble getting them to talk. Then again, most of them don't seem to care much for you."

"What's that card mean?" Cedric pointed at the visible card.

She frowned at it and her eyebrow twitched a little. "It's the lover's card. It means a few different things." She shifted her fingers and found that two cards were stuck together. She felt something grow tight and cold in her chest. She'd only needed to see the corner of the other card to realize it was Death. She put them back into the deck before the boys noticed there was more than one.

"Give us a reading then?" Clause leaned over her other shoulder.

"Maybe another time. I'll be glad when we move onto another subject. All Trelawney's been doing for the past two classes is make everyone give each other readings. I'm a bit sick of doing it I'm afraid." She wrinkled her nose and put the deck down beside her.

"Fair enough." Clause shrugged and moved to a seat next to her.

"She won't give us readings either." Pansy's lips turned down into a half frown as her eyelids grew droopy. She had her fist just below her chin in the table and was watching the scene with a rather pleased expression. Anna suspected she was reading too much into her relationship with the pair of older boys.

"I asked her about the class and she says it's boring and stupid." Margaret gave a lazy looking reply and shrugged her shoulders.

"It is, but I'm just not feeling a reading for you guys. Sorry." The redhead didn't look worried about it.

"Feeling?" Cedric looked a bit surprised as he stood behind the girl and shrugged. "You'll do me later then?"

"Whenever you feel up to it." Clause was nodding and looked to agree. He gave a glance to four girls a bit further down the table. He'd seen her classmates in other classes as he was attending with the rest of the third year students. "Cartomancy isn't even included in the divination taught at home. I've heard the professor there thinks it's rubbish. It's got me a bit curious."

The red haired girl blinked and glanced at him. "Really? I'm to understand it originated somewhere in Eastern Europe. I'm not sure I put much stock in it myself."

"You must be joking! You've not been wrong yet!" One of the third year girls in her class had been close enough to hear. She gasped and put her hands over her mouth as she forced her eyes down to the plate in front of her.

Anna looked a bit surprised. "So...you mean you..."

"Yes." The girl was flushed. The other girls from the class weren't next to her, but they were close enough to have overheard at least the last part. They were looking away with frowns on their faces and red cheeks. "He did what you said he would. Exactly. My foot is bandaged in case you haven't noticed, and this..." She pointed to a zit on her forehead. "I worried about it for hours but he never noticed." She didn't sound pleased but angry and embarrassed. "They won't talk about it but I've seen you've been right about all of them as well."

The redhead had grown an interesting shade of red herself as she realized just how many people were shifting about around her while giving her glances and looking less than comfortable. "No one else has mentioned it." She turned her nose into the air.

"You get a little personal." The girl gave her a hard stare and snorted before turning away.

Anna kept her nose into the air and growled a bit under her breath. "Fine. I'm not feeling any readings right now though. Maybe later."

OooOOooOO

The knight on the chess board between Harry and Ron squawked at his master from it's place on the board. "It's about time you've gotten a victory." Harry blinked as the pieces moved back to their places as the game ended.

The Potter boy had gone to practice with the band already. They had almost finished when Anna had been called to the Headmaster's office. His guitar was sitting in it's case beside, and a little behind his seat.

"It only took twelve tries." Harry seemed pleased with himself though.

Ron didn't look displeased with his loss. "I almost had you."

"Yes, you did." The Potter boy was sitting in the common room. Students were milling about around them. The boys were seated around a small round table in small arm chairs against one of the walls. They were leaning over the arms and watching the board.

Ron lifted a chocolate frog card off the table. One of the corners was tucked under the edge of the board. He flipped it over and looked a bit wide eyed. He'd gotten the shocked look on his face every time he'd looked at it.

"I heard you're the youngest one ever to get one of those." The redhead took his eyes away and shook it off. "You beat us by a nose. The band is booked this summer."

"I still can't believe it." He tossed it face up on the center of the board and Harry chuckled. The face on the card had a smirk on his face but his eyes were wide. Ron had crossed his arms to keep them from shaking. He had his hat and whip on with his towel was hanging from his shoulders and pulled tight by his arms. It made his chest look bigger. He'd managed to accidentally look cool. Ron had told him how nervous he'd been and that he'd worried through the whole thing. The image was looking around a bit and pacing around a little but never leaving the frame as Ron's image seemed to inspect his surroundings. He looked pleased but a bit embarrassed.

"Actually, I was talking about the Order of Merlin, First Class no less. I hadn't heard about the chocolate frog cards." The Potter boy seemed even more impressed. "I'm surprised you haven't shown me." He was teasing Ron a little. His friend had carried it around with him since he'd gotten it.

"Well, I'm played out. Now what?" Ron looked up at his friend. "We've got a bit before she comes back and drags us to the library again I suppose. She's been gone for hours. I heard she was with McGonagall."

"I'm pretty sure we're not going to find it in any of the books we're allowed to read." Harry scrunched his nose up. "I've a feeling this is important enough to risk it. I'm not taking either of you with me. I don't think Hermione will like it but I don't actually have to move anything to find what we're looking for. It will be easier to get in and out."

"What are you talking about?" Ron looked surprised.

"We'll talk about it later. I want to talk with Hermione about it anyway. We'll have plenty of time later. We won't make it tonight but tomorrow we'll probably be in the library for a while. I doubt she'll be gone that long." Harry smirked at him and turned to look at Oliver Wood.

"Let me hope." Ron buried his head in his arms on the chair's arm. He looked up as he noticed the older student standing over them.

"Harry. Your sister will have her first match in a few days. We'll get to see her in action." He looked quite serious.

"I'm looking forward to it. I haven't actually seen her fly yet. I've heard she's quite nimble. Well, I saw her take off on the train, but that's it." The young Seeker gave him a reserved grin and scratched the back of his head. "I'm betting it'll be quite a show. Ravenclaw is tough and they beat Hufflepuff pretty bad."

"Slytherin is favored and everyone knows it. Anna being Seeker isn't exactly a secret." The team captain smirked at Ron. "Just make sure you pay extra attention when we see the match. We won't play them again until next year but we need to be as ready as we can."

Harry nodded and jerked his thumb towards the dorms. "I'm planning on taping it. I've gotten a camera for it. I'm sure she'll want a copy. I've gotten a couple of enchanted cameras and they'll work with any magical display device. They've both got a tracking spell on them so they both work hands free. All I'll need to do is set them up somewhere on the sidelines before the match."

Oliver worked his jaw a little. "Those are expensive." He frowned a bit. "We'll have an advantage over other teams."

Harry looked a bit surprised. "I'm a rock star." He shrugged and looked over at Ron. "I already asked McGonagall about it and we've got to make copies for the other teams. I'll have two cameras, one for the Quaffle, and one for the Snitch, or my sister. They'll be set up before all the matches. I had to or they wouldn't let me. I promised Uncle Sirius I'd send him copies as well."

"Drat." Oliver looked a bit disappointed, but cheered up after a short moment. "It will still help with practice."

Ron looked quite confident. "I'm sure Harry will beat her."

It was obvious the Potter boy wasn't sure of that. "I'm looking forward to that match more than any of the ones I'm playing this year. I'm not so sure I'm going to want to practice with her this year or not. It might be better to just wait and have it out on the field first." The boy had a huge sunny grin on his face by the time he'd finished speaking. "It'll be great."

Oliver looked pleased with his newest teammate. "Right. Don't lose focus though. Keep it up Harry, you've been great for moral. I've never had an easier time of practice. If it was any one else I'd be worried about saying it. I hope we can keep it up if we take a loss then?"

"I'd love to find someone who can beat me." Harry look a bit surprised at the question.

"Are you joking?" Ron looked a bit disgusted and surprised.

"I doubt it." Wood rolled his eyes and threw his hands up a little. It was a comical gesture and he ended by slapping Harry on the shoulder as he turned away.

"Don't worry. I'll be watching my sister in the match. She's likely to steal the spotlight anyway." Harry had a smile on his face as he looked over at Ron.

"So now what?" Ron had put away the chess set while Harry had been talking to Oliver.

"Harry, Ron." Parvati and Lavender walked up side by side in front of the two boys.

Ron flushed a bit and pulled the brim of his hat down a little as he realized the Patil girl was looking at him more than Harry. He squirmed a bit under her gaze. "H-hi."

Harry smiled at them both. Lavender was almost giggling and biting on the end of her thumb as she smiled at the both of them. "Hi."

"Would you mind playing something?" Parvati had turned her attention towards him. She couldn't see Ron's face under the brim of his hat. He'd almost curled into a ball under her gaze. She looked pleased with it.

The mouse haired boy pushed his glasses up his nose a bit and gave Ron a nervous looking glance before turning back to face her. "I suppose so. We were supposed to study with Hermione tonight, but I don't think she's going to be back for a bit." He stood up and grabbed the neck of his guitar. The case had opened itself and had a small built in amplifier under the neck. "What do you want to hear?" The chord plugged itself into the amplifier and the guitar, and the power chord wrapped around Harry's leg near his ankle.

"Do you have anything new?" Percy had moved up to the back of the group near the twins.

Harry nodded. "Why not? I've got a few of the new ones down already."

"So you wrote this one then?" Lavender hopped in place as her grin went a bit wider. The interest of everyone else had gone up as well, everyone hanging around looked more pleased.

"Yes?" Parvati seemed to like that idea. They had attracted the attention of everyone in the room, and the students moved in as if pulled in by a magnetic field.

"Anna writes everything. She's got upwards of five thousand songs written. She keeps them in notebooks. She's written quite a few symphonies and marches as well. She's talked about getting an orchestra together for it someday. She's already written a lot of music. She used to do it to keep herself busy at home. I used to see her making notes in one of those books all the time when we were little. I didn't know it was music until she started the band. She's got a stack of those notebooks that's about eight feet high. She writes small too." Harry strummed on the strings and coughed a bit as he realized everyone was looking at him with a somewhat stunned expression.

After a few bars of 'More than a feeling' by Boston. His housemates looked pleased, but they had lost the stunned slack jawed expressions they used to get. It was common knowledge that the Potter twins were the greatest guitar players anyone had ever heard. There was a bit of a debate about which of the two siblings was better, but Harry stayed out of it. He honestly thought his sister was the better player, but he didn't want to admit it out loud. The group was pleased with the song and cheered when it ended.

"Play us something else. Something for the guys this time!" Fred and George traded the sentence between them. They were standing behind a row of about five first years. The room had become a bit crowded. With about twenty students grouped around Ron and Harry's seat. Parvati and Lavender were standing on either side of the chairs. Harry looked over his shoulder at Ron. The Patil girl had her hand on the redhead's shoulder and was right next to him. He looked frozen and had his eyes on the girl's fingers without turning his neck.

"Sorry, Ron." The Potter boy felt a pang of sympathy towards his friend and muttered it under his breath. "Something harder then?" He nodded his head once and started playing what sounded sort of like a motor revving. After that he started playing a fast riff. He slashed his way through Montley Crew's 'Kickstart my heart'.

It was pretty much what the boys had wanted to hear. The girls didn't seem displeased either. "Give us another one then?" An excited looking fourth year girl chimed in over the growing crowd. About ten more students had come down from the dorms since he'd started.

The mouse haired boy sat down on the edge of his chair with his guitar on his lap. "I'm still a bit worn out from practice. I'll do one more." He started plucking out the chords for Led Zeplin's 'Stairway to Heaven'.

The song ended and he looked around the room. It had gotten a bigger reaction than he'd been expecting. He got a loud cheer and found himself swamped with attention. People telling him how awesome he was. Hogwarts was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He turned a bit pink as he found himself surrounded by girls again. "Uh oh."

"Hey. I really liked that one." Ron grabbed his shoulder and shook it. "I almost thought you were playing something for the girls again at first." He was glad for a distraction from the cute girl who had been touching his shoulder.

"Well, if I keep going my hand will fall off." Harry shook his wrist and flexed his fingers. "Should have picked a shorter one. That's all I know from the new set so far though."

Some of the girls looked a bit disappointed as he said it and a few turned to walk away. All of the younger girls, fourth to first year girls, stayed around him.

Ron seemed to realize he was excluded from the attention. His face seemed to flood with relief until he turned and realized Parvati was still leaning against the edge of the chair next to him. She had her arm across the top of the chair. Ron didn't look far enough to see her face. It was a good thing because he might have noticed her looking off any girl who seemed like they might be interested in speaking with him.

She put her hand down on his shoulder again and leaned in a bit closer to his face. "So, how have you been Ron?"

The boy swallowed. "Um, fine. You?" He couldn't turn his head to look at her and he couldn't hide his face with his hat.

"I'm doing pretty good." He couldn't see the grin creep onto her face.

"Yeah. I um..." Ron managed to turn his head towards her. She was giving him a warm smile. He couldn't think of a reason to escape.

"Ron! I think I just remembered something incredibly important that we need to do upstairs!" Harry had just figured out that two of the girls in the crowd had their shirts unbuttoned far beyond the acceptable limits of the dress code under their robes. They were leaning over him just to his left and right.

"Right! I know what you mean!" Ron agreed vigorously with his head whipping around the moment Harry started speaking. "I'm glad you remembered! We shouldn't forget!"

The both of them rushed away and up the stairs to the boy's area of the dorms and were almost tripping over each other to escape.

"I wonder what was so important?" Lavender seemed confused as she watched the pair move off with the rest of the crowd. The girls moved away in various states of disappointment.

Parvati was pouting a little. "Rats. He got away."

"Isn't he Anna's boyfriend or something?" Lavender looked up towards the ceiling in a rather vacant way with her finger against her chin.

"No way! She and Cho were fighting over Cedric Diggory, remember? She's just using George as an excuse." Parvati clenched her fist and looked very determined. "He cries like a baby but he's the bravest person I've ever met. He may not look like much now but I'm betting he'll be worth having when he's older. Think of it as a future investment. I will have him."

"I'm not so sure I like that look." Lavender stepped back as she watched the grin on her friend's face as she thought about the Weasley boy. She looked wary and nervous. "Come on, Parvati, cut it out. You're scaring me."

The girl gave her friend a sweet and somewhat fake looking smile. "Don't worry. It'll work out fine. It doesn't seem like it'll be that hard. Trust me."

Lavender gave a sigh and it was obvious she wasn't convinced. "If you say so."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was sitting in the lab with a small frown on her face. One of the walls was nothing but a series of racks filled with small bottles of ingredients. There were some things the students couldn't handle in the dorms, but any common ingredient used in potions was available. She was looking for something on the ingredients rack. The label was smudged and worn looking. She was having a bit of trouble making out the description of the jar's contents.

The girl squinted her eyes at the partial lettering. "Great." She frowned and stepped back giving up in the hope of finding 'bat fangs' readable on one of the more legible jars. The jar in front of her was questionable and could have been 'rat fangs' as well. It was another common ingredient she was having a bit of trouble locating. Even touching the label didn't help. The faded word was no more legible with her powers than with her eyes. As she stood up she felt the glasses hit her chest. She'd been wearing them around her neck, but more as a necklace as she'd yet to put them on as more than a curiosity since she'd received them. They had yet to prove themselves anything more than ornamental.

Despite being almost certain it would do little good she put them onto her face anyway as she stepped up to try and read the label. She gave a small gasp as she found she could read it quite easily. The jar looked backlit somehow and she could see the letters as if someone had shined a dim light yellowish light onto the back of the label. "What the?" She took a few steps back as she looked at the shelf in front of her. Each jar was giving off a light as if each was full of a black light sensitive material. All of them were different colors, some similar to others, but each type of ingredient was a different shade.

The girl pulled the glasses off her face and peered at them. "Whoa." She put them back on and started looking up and down the shelves. "Glasses for potions? Interesting." The value of what had been hanging from her neck had jumped beyond sentimental. It didn't take long for her to realize that the colors seemed to shift more into the red spectrum depending on how toxic the ingredient was. There were no bright or completely red jars on the racks, just a few orange and pinkish ones.

She pulled what she needed from the shelf and walked back to her work area. Within a few moments she was working on a potion that would make curly hair straight for a time. It was a small project. She still did a bit of innocent busy work so she could continue to hand things in to Snape. If she was using the lab she had to be producing something she could turn in.

She'd finished in about fifteen minutes and was peering at the jar in a curious way. Her potion was a swirl of glowing colors. She could see each ingredient color represented in the mixture. Even the small particles of dry ingredient were sparkling like colored glitter inside the jar.

Her face became serious as a small frown formed on her face. She took the glasses off and gripped them in her fingers. She'd have to start using them, and it was obvious talking about them with anyone might be a bad idea. She wasn't sure but glasses like hers were probably very rare. Keeping the secret meant she'd need to start wearing them outside of the lab. She suspected that other wizards brewing potions might take offense to her using them. They were useful for picking out ingredients, but from what she was seeing along another nearby shelf they would also be useful in decoding the ingredients in a brewed potion. There were several projects on shelves with labels and the names of other students on them. She had a small selection of potions there as well. She suspected they may have been originally enchanted for the purpose of espionage. Another possible use was as a magical poison detector. Any potion or poison put into food or drink would likely be highlighted as well.

The girl took them off and smirked at them. "Interesting. I wonder how mother got her hands on these and how she was using them?" They wouldn't be useful for cheating in the class. The only use they would have in a Potions course would be to make ingredients easier to pick out in the same manner as she had just used them.

She turned out of the room carrying the jar of finished potion with her. The mess had cleaned itself up around her as she moved away. A quarter of the way down the stairs, the well turned and a mirror was hung on the corner. She stopped and peered at her face in the mirror. The glasses were thin and looked like reading glasses. She cocked her head a little and pushed them up just over the scar across the bridge of her nose with her first two fingers. "I still look good. Bother that." With a small sigh she continued down to the dorms.

OooOOooOO

Next: Anna plays Quidditch, Harry sneaks around, and sees stuff in a big mirror.


	17. Chapter 17

A matter of force.

Part 17

A moment of reflection.

OooOOooOO

Lissa Parkinson was smiling at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a form fitting black dress with a low neck line, and was adjusting her bust to push them out a little more. Her home was new and a radio was playing one of the songs from her daughter's band in the back corner of her new bedroom. She'd rented a nice flat not far from her ex-husband's home. She was by the window next to a dresser looking into a full length mirror that was up against the wall. She picked up a glass of half gone red wine and sipped at it before smiling.

Her husband hadn't even tried to stop her. He'd even gone so far as to tell her to her face that she'd come crawling back with a young European tart on his arm. He'd come back long enough to sign the paperwork. The only thing she'd asked for was her daughter, and as far as she knew he still didn't know. His own daughter was world famous, rich far beyond him, and he'd not even noticed. His job was more important and his real life was across the pond now. She suspected he had a family there and not just a girlfriend or two.

She snorted and looked herself up and down in the mirror as she took another sip of her wine and seethed about it for a moment. "Crawling back indeed." No, she had her sights set much higher.

Sirius Black was free, and so was she. She'd not had the nerve to speak to him when they had attended Hogwarts. She'd had a crush on him for years. She turned and smiled at the radio. "Thanks dear."

She turned and looked at her rear for a moment. She smoothed out a few wrinkles and frowned a bit. The woman looked somewhat dissatisfied at the reflection before walking over to the bed to fetch her handbag and put on a pair of high heels. It wouldn't do to keep him waiting too long. After all, she wasn't a shy teenage year old girl anymore. The forbidden fruit of the Black family wasn't so forbidden anymore, and she wanted another taste.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter had a smirk on her face as she looked at a few frowning students on the Quidditch team. She was sitting on her broomstick high above the pitch in full uniform. There was a group of three of them hovering nearby that included Draco Malfoy.

Marcus Flint flew up beside her. One of the students who had stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays was hovering about behind him along with a girl with brown hair and a darker complexion than most of the team. "You should stop worrying so much about things that don't relate to Quidditch." He was looking at the group and they all glared at him at once.

The redhead snorted as they flew towards the others. Two of the group still plotting against her had stayed behind as well. They had taken a defiant route and flew around the both of them keeping their eyes on the group of them as they went by. The two with Flint flew off with the rest of the team looking indifferent about the whole mess.

"I'll have to be mindful of them during the match. They wouldn't mind taking a loss just to make me look bad." The girl kept her eyes on them longer than the team captain.

"I don't like hearing talk like that. We have to be a team." Flint was giving her a firm and intimidating frown.

"I'm empathic. It's not something that's in question. I can tell they're planning on making some sort of move. I'll just have to deal with it if I don't want to lose half my team. That would leave us short. We need them whether they intend to be stupid or not." The girl was unimpressed.

"Well, this is my team Potter." His glare didn't soften.

She leaned towards him over the end of her broom handle and narrowed her eyes at him as she poked at his chest with her finger. "It's my neck. I'm not sure you understand what a loss can mean for me. We can't just beat them. We have to be putting points on the board. We can still outscore Gryffindor. We need everyone for that, and I need to be able to trust them enough to pay attention to what I'm doing on the field."

"What do you suggest?" The older boy didn't look very impressed with her attitude.

"You're the team captain. This is your problem. You can't trust them to do what they're told and leave me be. What do you think will happen if I have to dodge my own team? I'll be forced to catch the Snitch. The other team will rout them if they're more worried about me than the game. They've not taken their eyes off me yet through the whole practice. There's always at least one of them watching what I'm doing."

As if to prove her point, one of the boys on the team tossing the Quaffle about took a shot on the cheek. He managed to catch it and put it back into play.

The older boy had his fist clenched as he glared at the boys. He could tell she was right. Not one of them was giving the practice more attention than it required to seem busy. He growled through his teeth. "If they aren't doing their job, we'll be losing ground instead of gaining it even with a win." He growled and clenched the handle of his broom hard enough to make his knuckles go white. "Everyone, brooms to the ground now." Flint called it out in a firm but calm voice. "We've got something to talk about."

OooOOooOO

Anna was a little perplexed and wasn't quite sure what to do. Marcus Flint was beating the living tar out of three boys. Not one of them fought back. The other girl and the only boy aside from Flint who ignored her were standing behind the group looking on. Neither looked upset about it as Slytherin practice was often a rather rough affair anyway. Such scenes weren't that unusual. The other girl was another late addition to the team after another member had quit during a recent practice because of the redhead.

"I told you already. I want everything." Flint was breathing haggard and wiped a bit of blood off his cheek with the back of his hand as he stepped back. He'd busted a couple of lips and some of their eyes and cheeks were getting a little swollen. "You think I didn't notice your attention on other things? The only life you have here is your position on the field." He was snarling and jabbing his fingers at them with a wild eyed stare on his face.

"Gone to her side have you?" The tallest of the three spoke up. His cheek was bruised and he turned and spit as he said it. He had black slicked back hair and a darker complexion. He was a fourth year and had a bitter snarl on his face as he leveled a glare at the team Captain. He had his hand on Draco Malfoy's shoulder as he spoke and the younger boy puffed his chest out a little.

"The only side we have on this field is the team. I want a shot at that cup and we need her for that. That Potter boy destroyed us on a school broom! If she is to be destroyed, then I see no reason to not make use of her while she still lives. Unless you'd rather see Harry Potter's name on the Quidditch Cup every year until whatever prophecy comes to pass? I don't. I want my name there. Our house should claim it, even if it means sharing it with her. Even if it means waiting until next year and getting a little payback from Gryffindor." Marcus still looked quite angry and jabbed his fingers at the whole group. Anna was behind him looking rather reserved and quiet.

The Potter girl wasn't sure how pleased she was with what was going on. They were all glaring at her now even the pair who mostly ignored her as she was the source of the incident.

The team captain rushed forward and slugged the ring leader across his jaw again. "I won't tell you again Cretus. She's on the team now. Let someone else deal with being rid of her. There are enough of you out there that you shouldn't need worry about it yourself."

The redhead didn't look smug and looked on with an emotionless expression as she straddled her broom and hovered just above the ground nearby. The rest of the team had backed away. She was far from being threatened and seemed relaxed and interested.

Malfoy was enraged. "I'm not so sure you know where you stand!"

The older boy snorted and crossed his arms. "I owe her enough to leave her alone. Let others deal with their own business."

The blond boy lowered his eyes and clenched his fist.

Anna narrowed her eyes. It wasn't a reaction she was expecting from him.

"Everyone, back into the air. I expect to see some work. After all, we've only just started practice now, haven't we?" Flint waved his arm upward. Everyone listened, and for the rest of the practice the little redhead noticed her shadows had gone missing.

"Well, we'll see how long that lasts." She couldn't quite tell how things had settled yet. She'd earned some respect, but it was going to take a lot more to relax her guard any.

OooOOooOO

"Potter." Draco Malfoy came face to face with Harry Potter in the hall between classes. "I've just come from practice. Seems the team doesn't care much for your sister. It would be a shame if anything were to happen to her during practice."

Harry noticed three older students move up to flank Crabbe and Goyle. All of them were trying to look intimidating. "Oh. I feel sorry for the team then." He seemed almost pleased to hear it. He pushed past Draco and spoke to him in a quieter tone as he passed. "You'd better hope she doesn't figure out what I overheard on the train. She's not as forgiving as I am."

The boy's eyes went wide as he sucked in a breath and held it as the boy who lived touched shoulders with him gently as he passed. He patted his shoulder as if greeting a friend and continued on his way. Michale Cretus put his hand across the young blond boy's shoulder. "Flint won't be captain forever. It would be best to bide our time for now. You did well."

A fourth year Chaser spoke up. "He's no different than his sister. He didn't bat an eye even when we threatened the brat to his face."

"I hate them both. I think it would please the Dark Lord. I want to see them both destroyed just for me." Draco glanced down the hall in the direction his second most hated rival had gone. He turned away and walked off from the rest of the team, with his two lackeys stumbling a bit to keep up.

OooOOooOO

"You've lost your mind." Hermione was looking at the boy who lived with her jaw hanging a bit. She was sitting with Ron and Harry in the library at the end of a very long table. They were a good distance from anyone else and all had at least two open book in front of them.

"We've gone through every book in the whole library. It's not here." The Potter boy was leaning across a book and talking in a hushed tone. "It's the only place left to look."

"It's against the rules." She glanced around before leaning towards him so they were almost touching noses.

"If you two start shlogging, I am so out of here." Ron looked a little disturbed.

"You'd be welcome to leave if he does!" Hermione spoke up first and looked about as annoyed as the boy she'd been arguing with.

Harry was a bit put off by the answer and was glad to change the subject. "I know. That's why I'm going alone."

"What? You can't do that! You'll get caught!" The girl slapped his shoulder.

"I know what we're looking for. I don't have to move anything to find it, and it would be easier to get in and out on my own." He shrugged and scratched the back of his head. "Calm down. You're drawing attention."

The girl breathed through her nose and sat back down. "Look. You can't do this on your own."

"It would only make it harder as a group." Harry seemed insistent. "I appreciate the help, but I can handle the field work on my own. I've got a good head for it."

"I'm with him on this one." Ron looked back and fourth between them. He didn't like the idea of sneaking around the school at night again.

"Of course you are." Hermione rolled her eyes. "It makes you a bit wiser than me. Now that I know I'm not going to talk him out of it I think I should come along. Just to make sure we get what we need." She thumped the open pages in front of her with her forehead. "I'm supposed to get an Order of Merlin for being so smart too."

"Yeah. Good job with that. Wish I'd gotten mine with something like that. I still can't sleep in the dark. I've got a night light." Ron looked a bit mortified and wide eyed. He didn't seem to pay much attention to the pair sitting with him for a moment.

The girl looked over at him with a disgusted looking frown. "I still think that his brat of a sister set me up."

"She's not often dishonest with me. She said it was all you. She was hoping to tease you with it for years. You've sort of crimped her fun." Harry patted her shoulder and grinned.

"Well, that does make me feel a bit better." She gave a reluctant smile as she looked up at the ceiling. "Still...the idea of it isn't that far off. She's so strange. I've never met a girl like her. It's almost like talking with an arrogant pig headed boy."

Harry was trying his best to hold in his laughter, his face had gone red and tears were streaming down his face. He bolted upright and rushed away. As soon as he cleared the doors a loud fit of laughter could be heard just outside.

"What's with him?" Ron seemed confused.

"I don't know. All of us are famous now. I didn't think just hanging around with you two would rub off that way." The girl had a wistful grin on her face as she looked at him. "You've both been good friends, even if you are a jerk quite a bit."

"Um, thank you?" Ron wasn't sure what to say and looked like he might have been insulted a little. "I take it we're done here then? We did run out of books."

"I suppose you're right." She gave a heavy sigh and stood up. "I'm still not sure I like the idea of him going about it alone."

"Well, if anyone I know can do it." Ron shrugged at her.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was watching the rain hit the pane of glass in front of her. The pitch was soggy but packed. The rain was light but constant, and a dull gray light shined from between the clouds above the stands. She was seated in a high window in the girl's changing room. There was only one other player in the room with her. A fourth year chaser named Maria Colbera was watching her. Both of them were in full gear but had a few minutes before they reported to the field.

Maria was one of the people who never seemed to care much about her one way or the other. "You don't look nervous." She had her leg up on a bench and was enchanting her laces tied. She took her eyes off what she was doing and looked up at the girl in the window. She seemed to dislike the younger girl a little, but more because the rest of the team seemed upset about her than any direct reason.

"Should I be?" Anna kept her eyes on the rain outside. There was a shower and a few toilets and sinks in the rooms beyond the lockers. A door lead to a small ramp that would take them to the field entrance.

The older girl snorted and didn't look impressed. "It's our first match. Quit playing tough. I know you've got to be nervous. I'm a complete wreck."

"I promised to crush them and I will. Do your job like we practiced and we'll be just fine." The younger girl hopped down to the floor and landed easily. She reached out and her broom hovered into her hand on it's own. "If you think I'm going to let the chance to play against my brother slip between my fingers you're mistaken."

The older girl's eyes went a little wide. "You seem confident, but you've never played before. I've seen you fly during practice, but what he did was...impossible, really impossible."

"Who do you think taught him how to do things like that? Those muggles we were staying with?" She looked over her shoulder with a confident smirk on her face. "I can't afford to just win this game. We've got to crush them. It's the only way I've got any hope of competing with him this year." The young redhead clenched her fist and glared at it with a mad looking stare. "I just want to get started. Are you ready for this? Don't worry, I've got a much better broom. I wasn't foolish enough to run my mouth and give up the advantage. Expect to be up there a while as we've got to pad the score to keep up this year."

The girl stepped back and gave a small swallow. "Yeah. Sure." She looked over her shoulder towards the exit. "Cut it out would you? You're giving me the creeps."

"Sorry. I'm trying to save that for the other team." The girl scratched her head and blushed a little. She'd gotten a bit carried away again. The younger girl gave her teammate another glance as she started walking towards the field.

Anna was feeling a bit disappointed in herself. She'd had the perfect opportunity to stare in a lewd way at her fellow player in the shower several times since practicing with the team. She'd tried, but found her eyes wandering away. She was always more interested in the tile and what she was doing at the time. She'd had an attractive girl alone and in the nude, and hadn't even been able to conjure up the necessary concentration to watch her shower for a few moments. Maria wasn't the prettiest girl in her class, but it wasn't an opportunity most boys would have missed given the chance. "Crap. This sucks." She gave a small sigh as she staggered to the exit. Once she passed the door she was fine, picking up her pace and glaring forward at the opening to the field with an ever widening grin on her face as she drew closer.

The crowd roared as both teams took the field. There were very few at the school who didn't attend that day. Marcus walked by the redhead towards the center of the field and frowned at her. "Do you remember your job?"

Anna was seated on her Nimbus with her eyes locked on the other team's seeker. He was a smaller seventh year boy with matted brown hair. He was glaring back at her with a frown on his face. "Seek and destroy."

Marcus glanced over her shoulder and noticed the exchange. He was smiling as he took the Ravenclaw team captain's hand as they met in the center of the field. Professor Sprout was the referee and stood beside them with her arms crossed. "I want a clean game." She was looking at Marcus.

"We'll see how your new 'secret weapon' pans out, Flint." The Ravenclaw team captain was a handsome young man with his long black hair tied back behind his head.

The Slytherin boy squeezed his hand a bit more than he should have and snorted as he leaned over the other boy's shoulder. "I must break you."

It was Harry's turn to work up the crowd, and 'We Will Rock' you was being stomped and clapped by the fans in the seats. He was standing between two independent cameras on tripods with his guitar near the edge of the field. Both cameras moved skyward as the song ended and both teams took to the air.

He sat down next to Oliver Wood, Ron, Hermione, the Weasley twins, and Neville Longbottom. He smiled and waved at the rest of the band across the field in Slytherin's seating area. Pansy and Melvin both waved back, Margaret had to be slapped on her shoulder by her brother before she noticed him. He waved at her as he sat down as she responded. "Well, it'll be interesting if nothing else."

The match started and Anna shot forward like a rocket. She buzzed by the opposing team's Seeker and looked over her shoulder with a mad eyed grin. "Think you can catch me? Come on now, we've only just started." She was riding the broom Sirius had gotten her for Christmas, and it was much better than the one her brother had used. She was the fastest thing on the field and it was obvious she knew it.

"Damn." The unfortunate player grumbled as he turned his broom to follow her.

The girl lifted her fist into the air and kicked her legs out as her team scored almost right away. The other Seeker pulled up behind her and started to close in as she moved between the Chasers and Quaffle. One of the Beaters didn't even notice her flip her broom upside down and pass under him with no more than two inches of clearance for her fingertips.

The Ravenclaw Seeker almost collided with him and veered a little to the right. His head whipped around as he growled in frustration. He'd lost her.

"I hate to break it to you, but you're in for one wild ride." The boy gasped as he turned his head and realized she was keeping pace right beside him. She ducked her head as one of the Bludgers passed through the tail end of her ponytail. It slammed into the rear of the other Seeker's broomstick sending it spinning away from her.

The redhead pulled herself upright on her arms and kicked her legs up as the other Bludger shot past where she'd been seated. She dove down to where the other team's Seeker was and laughed as she moved past him. The girl kept herself slow enough to be easy to catch. "Take a bit of a spin did we?"

"You're not going to beat me you brat! I don't care what I have to do!" He was enraged and focused on her.

Exactly the way she wanted it. The longer she could keep him focused on her and not the Snitch the better. If she had her way she'd keep him chasing her about until Slytherin had surpassed Gryffindor in the standings. She wasn't sure if Harry would be gone for the final game or not. Quirrel was still lurking about, and she wasn't sure if she'd trained him well enough to keep him from passing out for a while when things did pan out.

He was right on her tail and she was going full speed when her broom jerked to a stop. She was forced to stand on the broomstick and perform a flip as the other Seeker passed under her. She growled as she landed hands first and gripped the jerking stick in her hands. "You dirty son of a..." She was moving about in a violent manner and unable to focus on much of anything at distance. She let go of her broom and went into free fall. Her eyes locked onto Quirrel. He was sitting with Gryffindor near to her brother. The man had his eyes on her and his wand hidden inside the long sleeves of his cloak. He was whispering something under his breath. Anna had about four seconds to the ground. She had been lifted high above the field by the jerking broomstick. Her hand was kept pointed towards her broom open and waiting.

The look on Quirrel's face had changed and jerked in shock a moment before everyone else did. His mouth was open wide and his hand was up near his throat just before she was halfway to the ground.

Anna's broom stopped shaking about and shot towards her like a bullet. It dove down at her and she gripped it in her hand just in time to keep her shoes from scraping the grass. With a simple roll she dodged one of the Bludgers and seated herself back on her broom. She spun around long enough to get a bead on the other Seeker. It didn't take a moment and she growled in anger as she realized he was closing in on the Snitch at halfway across the field right towards her.

She charged towards the other Seeker head on at full speed. He noticed her ahead of the Snitch and pushed his broom a bit harder. He focused on the ball and touched it with one of his fingertips. "I've got you!" A sudden and unexpected blur of motion jolted him into shifting aside as he saw the redhead mounting her broom again as she curved back around to his rear. The Snitch was gone and he had her shadowing him on a much faster broom. "Great." The worst part was that he had no idea what had happened. The crowd was roaring with noise. One of his classmate's voice clued him in as he passed by the announcer's booth. The older boy's jaw dropped as he heard it. "Amazing, Potter knocked the Snitch away using her broomstick like a Beater before catching herself in a near foul collision! Is that even legal? An underhanded play from Slytherin's Seeker, but should we expect anything more?" The boy in the booth realized Flitwick was frowning at him a little and had his arms crossed. He caught the hint and moved on.

"I'm waiting. Shall we continue? Come on, I'll give you a head start!" The first year girl was taunting him as she flew around him. He had to jerk by one of the Bludgers as the circular path she was taking around his broom kept his speed under control and his nerves on edge. She was moving between the bludgers and his line of sight, and it was obvious her own teammates didn't seem to mind sending them right at her. One in particular was aiming it at her even when she wasn't near him. He had to react quickly to avoid another one and growled in frustration as she moved in front of him to keep him from rushing forward.

The redhead had the poor boy unable to concentrate on his objective. He was cruising through the field more worried about losing her and dodging the Bludgers than finding the Snitch. No matter how sharp he turned she was on him. She was keeping position about nine feet out in any direction as if she had some sort of tether keeping them together.

OooOOooOO

Draco Malfoy was drenched. He'd taken a few shoulders and his ribs were hurting. Under his arm was the Quaffle. His bloodshot eyes glared at the goals more than half way across the field. Ravenclaw's Keeper was floating nearby keeping an eye down the field towards him. He'd noticed that he'd become the main focus of the opposing team's Keeper.

The blond boy's nostrils flared as he pushed his broom as hard as he could. He growled as one of the Ravenclaw Chaser's slammed into his right shoulder. He could see another Ravenclaw uniform curving in towards him and reaching for the ball in his hand.

The young boy reared his arm back and kicked the rear end of his broom to the side giving more leverage to his shot as he sailed the ball over the Keeper's head and into the center goal. It was his ninth of the day. He turned his head to look back at the cheers of his team and classmates. He was hurt more than he'd ever been in his life. He would have bruises on both sides of his ribs, his stomach, and both shoulders. A spot of color was forming under his eye and his nose was bleeding a bit. The rain was washing it from his face so it appeared as if he had one red nostril.

Anna buzzed by. Her team was pleased with the way the match was going, but Ravenclaw was starting to answer back. Slytherin still had the lead by a hundred and ten to thirty. "That puts us ten points ahead in the standings. It's about time." Draco watched her pass by just below him and frowned down at her comment.

"Do your job." He flew off as the Quaffle was put back into play.

"Fine." She took a sharp right turn that the other team's Seeker couldn't duplicate. He veered off to the left in a sudden rush almost as soon as he took his eyes off her to navigate.

"There!" He could see the Snitch flitting about nearby in the rain. He forgot about everything else and pushed his broom as hard as he could as he gave chase. His fingers reached out and he stretched himself out as he drew near. He could feel the beating of the wings in the air against his palm as he started to close his fingers.

His fist closed but he jerked and almost fell forward. He could see a dark blur in the air that he passed by out of the corner of his eyes.

He turned to look back knowing the Snitch was gone again.

Anna was grinning at him. She was hanging off her upright broom with a smile on her face as if it were a pole. Between her fingers was the Snitch. It was clear she'd been there for a moment, and had snatched it from his grip just before he'd had it. She'd been hanging there waiting on him to drive it right by. "Thanks for bringing this to me. I'm supposed to be looking for it I understand." She peered at it and floated away towards the ground with it held high over her head as the crowd roared.

"You..." The boy was looking at her with wide eyes as he swooped in behind her. "How did..."

She looked over at him and shrugged. "Sorry. You were easy to distract. My whole game plan was based on that. If you had been paying attention I'd have been forced to catch the Snitch much sooner."

"You cheated!" They landed and he rushed up to put his face into hers.

"Good strategy isn't cheating last I checked." She didn't look worried about him and stepped around him without breaking her stride. The redhead ignored the celebration on the field and turned towards the locker rooms with a frown on her face. She handed the ball to the Ref and went into the changing rooms right away.

Severus Snape was standing there looking down at her as she turned into the rows of lockers. "Don't worry, Potter. I've no intention of staying long." He looked up as Maria started out of a smile and laughter as she walked in. She took a moment to look at the both of them and turned back out the door.

The redhead was glaring at him with bloodshot eyes. "I'd destroy him if I could prove it."

"Who?" The head of her house looked calm and collected.

"Quirrel." She growled the name with rage clear in her eyes.

The man nodded. "You're sure?"

"I stopped it myself by closing his throat long enough to keep him from chanting. I can't prove anything though. Slippery coward." The girl went about taking off her pads and some of the more cumbersome safety gear as she spoke. "It almost cost me that match." She clenched her fist and growled. "Why be so stupid though?"

The man had just been starting to turn away. "Pardon?"

"After the jump my brother took during his match? He should have known better. Doesn't seem like him to want to fix a game of Quidditch just to make me look bad. Especially considering the risk involved. Why bother with hexing my broom at all?" The girl had her finger against her chin. "He should have known I wouldn't get hurt at least."

Snape turned away from her without a word and took a few steps towards the door. After a moment, he stopped and appeared to shudder before he spoke. "It is possible that he was 'trying to make you look bad' as you put it. He has more to gain in ruining your reputation than in ruining your brother's. Yes. I know about your supposed 'title'. I'm less than impressed, Potter. People who claim it often vanish while attending Hogwarts."

"Yes, Professor. I've moved past that one already though. I'm on a new one now. Quirrel is dangerous, and I think he means to harm my brother in more than reputation. He wouldn't exactly mind getting his claws into me either, especially now that he knows I'm onto him. There is no mistaking that. That conflicts with both our agendas doesn't it?"

He left the room after giving a short nod without another word.

A moment later Maria walked in. "What was that about?"

The redhead shrugged. "Well, I suppose I could tell you..."

The other girl seemed a bit more interested as she took her eyes off the door the man had left through.

The redhead seemed to be thinking about it. "...but then it wouldn't be a very good secret. So, I suppose I shouldn't." She shrugged her shoulders and tossed a towel across the bench as she started to disrobe.

The other girl looked confused and lost interest as the redhead moved into the shower ahead of her. Anna looked a bit angry and turned about before reaching them. She almost stomped over to her locker and shuffled about inside after tapping it open with her wand. "Malfoy." She spoke his name aloud and reached into the pocket on her robe. When she came up with a single card she glared at it for a long time.

"Are you all right?" Maria looked a little worried. They'd won the game in a huge victory, but her teammate had rushed off the field right away. Draco Malfoy had been the game's top scorer and was being carried around the field as they left. "I heard they put you in Divination instead of Potions. It's strange. You were doing well from what I heard about it. No one knows what's going on."

Anna glanced up and saw her looking over her shoulder. The Apprentice card was in her hand, but the other girl only seemed mildly interested. She'd put her in a good mood by almost handing them the win on a silver platter. "Yes. I've got something of a gift it seems. I'm to be Professor Snape's Apprentice next year." It wasn't something she needed to keep secret. She didn't expect the head of her house to say anything himself but it would be difficult to hide.

Maria's jaw hung a little more. The girl seemed to be paying more attention to what she was thinking so hard about than her. She backed away a little as the girl turned about again and went into the showers. They could hear the boys hooting and hollering through one of the walls as the team entered the locker room on the whole. "Must have been bad news then." She gave up and left the redhead alone.

OooOOooOO

Anna was one of the last two people to leave. She sat on the bench and brushed her hair as she stared up at the opposite wall in a rather vacant manner. Her fellow female teammate had left as soon as she'd cleaned up. She stood to her feet and started walking towards the exit to the school. Her things closed themselves up in her locker by themselves as she opened the door and walked up behind Draco Malfoy. The girl grabbed him by his throat and slammed his back into a nearby wall with enough force to keep him stunned for a moment.

"Who, is your master?" The girl was glaring at him with wild, angry, and bloodshot eyes as she held him just off the ground by his jaw. She squeezed her fingers and forced him to purse his lips as he fumbled and struggled against the wall. "Tell me."

The boy was glaring down at her. She jumped away as the dirt on the floor outside the locker room skittered across the floor as if something heavy had been dropped where she had been. He landed on his feet and rubbed at his jaw as he glared at her. "What are you...?"

She raised her hand and bolts of energy slammed into his chest. He writhed in pain for a moment before she let up and stood over his crumpled form with the angriest look he'd ever seen her with.

"I'm not stupid Malfoy. You should have know I'd notice. Where did you learn!?" She punctuated her last word with another bolt of power.

The look of anger on her face fell away. She'd thought him crying for a brief moment and took a step back as she started to look a bit confused. He was in obvious pain, but chuckling.

"Do you have any idea what my Master would do to me if I told you? You can't hurt me. You need to protect your stupid brother." He pushed himself back onto his feet with his wand gripped in his hand. He didn't point it at her and leaned against the wall clutching his chest a little and giving her a rather dark smile. "Can't do that if you're expelled can you?"

She returned his smile. "No. I don't. Harry doesn't need me to complete his destiny. There is nothing you or I can do about it." Her wand was in her hand, but she went no further than that.

"Well, I suppose you'll have to keep me around if you want to find out who my master is then? Won't you?" He gave her an unimpressed snort and looked her up and down as he walked away. He was staggering at first, but regaining himself as he went.

Anna was stunned and her jaw was hanging a little. "Another Sith? Shit. No way?! Who the hell? What...now? How did? Shit." It was a serious problem. She clenched her fist and narrowed her eyes down the hallway. "This needs to be dealt with. I need to be keeping my eyes out for opportunities. I've got to figure this out." She was going to have to tell her brother, but he had things of his own to worry about. "I'm going to have to try and deal with this on my own for now. How is this even possible?" She closed her eyes and thought hard. No explanation was presenting itself.

She started to turn away and move down the hall, but was so engrossed in her new problem that she didn't notice the plant vines growing around the suit of armor to her right. She gave a squeak of fright as the vines pried themselves from the wall and latched onto her. The unfortunate redhead gasped as she found herself face to face with a swollen pod filled with some kind of spores. "Weasleys..." She closed her eyes as the pod exploded in her face.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter had a frustrating trip to the dorms. The tentacle like vines that now replaced her hair were wrapping around her face and arms, and anything else that happened to snag them as she stormed up the stairs and into the lab with an angry frown on her face. There were a lot of snickers, but for the most part everyone was just in a state of mild surprise.

Margaret and Pansy rushed into the room just in time to see her down a small bottle she'd made. There was an open book in front of her and the tentacles growing from her head were putting everything back in its place. It had taken a few minutes for the pair to find out. They had both been in the dorms together and were waiting on her to get back.

The short redhead relaxed as her stool set itself on the ground again. The vines on her head turned brown, shriveled, and seemed to separate into strands of red as her hair fell back around her shoulders. She gave a heavy sigh and her bunnies cheered around her while waving their arms about and jumping up and down. "Waaaaaahhhhh!"

"Are you all right?" Pansy spoke up and put her hand on her shoulder. She sounded a little worried and had rushed up to her right away.

"We'd just heard about it. We were been starting to wonder what happened to you." Margaret took a bit more time moving up beside her and looked down as the shorter girl glanced up at her.

"The match was fun. I've had a rough day otherwise." She shrugged as one of the bunnies pulled a small rectangle of plastic about the size of a book out of it's mouth. "Thanks." Hang about for a moment. I'm working on something but it won't take long. Should be interesting."

"What is it?" Both the girls looked confused and a bit surprised when she flipped open the laptop PC. The weren't the newest technology and had been around long enough most wizards knew them when they saw them.

"I think I've seen Muggles with these things." Margaret looked at the blond and nodded. "Yes. I'm sure of it."

"What is it? I've never seen a witch with something like that." Pansy was perplexed and a bit in awe of the muggle thing in front of her.

"It's a small computer. I've modified this one a bit. Took a bit of time and I had to use my wand to do a bit of soldering. I was waiting on this." She popped a disk into the drive and grinned at them both. "It's got a magical display now." She showed them the screen with runes carved into it. "It'll send messages as well. I've not worked all that out yet though. The muggle technology has limits. For example you can't really store much information onto one of these. The processing power is limited as well. Well, thanks to things like pocketspace enchantments I've got a way around those limitations. Battery life isn't much of an issue anymore either. I've been sending a lot of mail out in case you haven't noticed. I ordered an operating system, but told them to make all the calculations base thirteen. It was kind of expensive. I told them it was for some sort of computer research program for the school dealing with advanced math and physics research. Anyway..." Anna looked down and saw the installation bar had already filled the screen. "...I've got a serious problem. There's another Sith here."

"What's that mean?" Pansy was confused. Margaret seemed to be losing interest as the redhead was once again going on about things that only made sense to her, and maybe her brother. He was often just as lost as the rest of them in that regard.

"Someone has been training Draco Malfoy to use the Force the way my brother and I do. I know it's not Harry and I know it's not me. I've got to find out who and put a stop to it before it's too late." The girl looked very serious and put her hands on the tabletop on either side of the screen. "There's nothing I can do but wait for the opportune moment right now. Frustrating."

"We have no idea what you're talking about." Margaret put her hand on her shoulder and simply stated it as she shook her head a bit.

Anna seemed to relax. "Don't worry. I'm just getting myself worked up over something I shouldn't. We need to start keeping an eye on Draco Malfoy when we can. I want to know who he's hanging around. Don't go out of your way to follow him or anything. Just tell me if you notice anything unusual about what he's doing. He's more dangerous now than you think."

"Dangerous?" Margaret seemed a bit surprised at that. "To you?"

"To all of us." She gave them a serious frown. "If we do not find his master soon he will only grow stronger, and there will be little we can do to stop him. Sith Lords are not to be taken lightly, and he'll have no problems hiding in the shadows and using the rules of Hogwarts to hide behind." She rubbed at her nose as how deep her problem was became apparent. "Shit. This is going to take some time. I can tell already. I suppose that means I shouldn't worry much."

"I don't like the way this sounds." Pansy was pouting a little as she clutched on Margaret's shoulder.

"I hate to say it, but I agree." The dark haired girl nodded with a more cautious look about her.

"Well, It doesn't matter anyway. This thing isn't going to help me out with it now anyway. I just wanted to get it finished is all. I just got the operating system disk in by owl this morning, but I was busy with the match. I'm not really sure what I can do with it yet anyway." She handed it over to the nearest bunny. The creature stored it away by gobbling it down. She leaned over the bunny and made sure to get it's attention. "Be a dear and put that in my trunk."

She kissed the creature on the forehead and it gave her a salute before dashing away yelling. "Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"So? Now what?" Pansy looked confused and a bit worried.

"Well, I guess we can hang out. I've got to plot my revenge on the Weasley boys again. Can't forget about that either. Boy, I sure am busy since I've come to Hogwarts." She took her friends by the shoulders and walked towards the doors to the dorms. "I'm gonna have to talk to Harry soon. I didn't get the chance to talk with him after the match was over. I'll talk with him about it later."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was a bit surprised when her owl plopped a rather thick letter in front of her. She had been glaring at Draco Malfoy while her friends ate nearby. She was working her jaw a bit as she lifted the letter and read the address. The street address itself was less than important than the origins of that particular letter. She sat there holding it and looking at it for a very long moment.

"What's that?" Pansy seemed a bit surprised. All of their fan mail was taken care of with other arrangements. They got large bags addressed to the band at the end of each week. It was addressed and post marked as if a Muggle had sent it.

"An unexpected response." Anna had sent a package to Willow Rosenberg in Sunnydale California with her owl. She'd been expecting it to be returned and her private joke would be satisfied. Instead she had a thank you note, a rather long one. "Oh my." She'd even added a bit about a cure for werewolfism being in the works.

"What is it? You know someone in California?" Margaret seemed interested in what had distracted her.

Pansy leaned in over her other shoulder without saying anything as she seemed to notice the redhead was looking a bit dazed.

"I do now I suppose." She kind of wished she'd watched more Buffy in her past life. "Her name is Willow. She's an American Witch who is living in a vampire infested portion of the country. I sent her a few vials of Anti-venom and instructions to make more. It seems to have gone well. America allows self taught witchcraft it seems. She seems to be getting ahead of herself though. I'll have to order her a few first and second year textbooks."

Melvin was almost leaning across the table. "Is she cute?"

"Yes. Very. Why?" Anna gave him a rather vacant look.

"R-really?" The boy was a little surprised at her response.

"Well, she's a bit old for you. Not that it matters considering. You'll never touch her, trust me. I'm not sure, but I think she's dating a werewolf. If not, well let's just say you've still got no shot. Anyway, I suppose I should write back." The redhead shrugged and ignored the boy as his forehead hit the tabletop.

"A pen pal then?" Pansy seemed pleased with the idea. "That could be fun."

"Maybe. She agrees the Yankees suck at least." Anna didn't know if she wanted to include Sunnydale in the tour scheduling. She was thinking it would draw trouble if she ever did meet any of the group from that particular region. It would be best to avoid direct contact if possible. She'd signed the original letter with her first name and last two initials.

"Might be interesting to talk with a witch from America for a bit. Sounds to be a bit of fun then." Margaret gave a small nod.

"Yeah. You never know when having a friend might come in handy." Anna glanced over her shoulder and smiled a bit. Fred and George were sitting at their house table with beet red faces. She'd turned all of their hair into tentacles, and they'd hit puberty around their second year of Hogwarts. It hadn't worn off yet, and they were still in an uncomfortable position because of it. She'd turned her tentacles pink and used a different type of spore in her trap. It almost looked like they were covered in living strands of pink noodles. There were even a few smallish ones on their faces and poking out the neck on their robes. It was entertaining to watch them squirm about as some of the less visible ones crawled around under their clothes. Hers had been a more discreet bud hidden above one of the secret passages in the school just inside the door frame and out of sight.

She hadn't expected Professor Sprout's lecture on magical effects and spore pods. Spores were easy to enchant with just about any effect. It had come the day after the Weasley boys little prank and she was pretty sure it was the cause for it. All of them knew the Weasley brothers were the cause of most of the practical jokes getting tossed about the school. Proving it was another matter. As far as the redhead knew everyone knew about what had happened to her. It wasn't a large concern for her as most everyone also suspected her in the Weasley boy's current condition. Neither one had mustered up enough humility to ask her how to get out of it.

"I do enjoy your choice in color. Getting you right after you won the match was taking it a little far." Margaret took note of where her friend was looking. The seating at the house table had settled back to normal long before.

"The nerve of those jerks." Pansy snickered at the unfortunate pair. Pomphrey had given them an ointment that would remove it overnight.

Anna smirked to herself as she looked back at her plate. "I haven't gotten them back for right after the match yet. This is just for the tentacles. They caught me on a bad day." She looked pleased with herself. There was a way to cure them both in as little as fifteen minutes. Pomphery had elected for the longer method. Anna was sure the woman knew of the quicker fix. She didn't seem to appreciate the number of visitors she'd gotten from the pair's escapades in the past.

"You're brutal." Melvin was looking a little nervous.

"I'd heard about it, but everyone says you took care of it yourself." Clause was seated next to the drummer. He seemed amused himself.

"I've been keeping track of what's been going around. I've got a Weasley index, a list of cures for common prank spells. Sooner or later they'll hit me with something and I'll have to go to Pomphrey." She nodded and shrugged. She was finished with her food and pushed her plate forward a bit. Without thinking about it she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cards, flipping them around her fingers and shuffling them with one hand.

"Sounds useful." It was nearing the end of the meal and a few students were wandering about the tables by that point. Cedric Diggory walked up with Lee Jordan standing with him.

"Yes, extremely." The redhead nodded her head a bit to greet him.

"Hey. I heard you were banned." Lee pointed at her deck and looked like he was a little surprised.

"I'm not allowed to do readings for groups anymore. I can only do them in private sessions. Dumbledore got a few complaints about me in Trelawney's class. She kind of got in trouble with a few parents for making me read them during class so much." The girl didn't look very concerned and shrugged.

"Well, will you do us at the dorms later then?" Pansy jumped on the opportunity to breech the subject.

"I suppose it could be interesting." The raven haired girl was having trouble masking her interest.

"Leave me out of it." Melvin didn't look up from his plate. "I don't care for that kind of stuff. I know enough to be happy."

"I'd like it if you'd do me as well." Clause was teasing her and jumping in because everyone else was. "Seriously. They don't teach it at all in Durmstrag. I might not get the chance again."

"Well, I guess I'll have to grab you some time." Cedric shrugged. "Bound to find sometime this year I can get you on your own for a minute, right?"

Anna was looking up at him and twitching her eyebrow a bit. She already knew she'd be dreading his presence and dodging him for the rest of the year if she kept avoiding it. "Screw it. Come on then." She stood up with a frown on her face and grabbed his shirt. "I guess we can get it over with. I'd rather not have to dodge you all year. I've a feeling that's what would happen."

He seemed surprised and annoyed. "Hey! If you don't want too."

Lee Jordan backed away a little at the scene. He put his hand up and mouthed 'Good Luck' to a confused Cedric as he moved off and put his thumb up behind her back.

The girl glanced at her shoulder and rolled her eyes just before putting her finger up to his lips. "Stop talking, this is your only shot at it." She jabbed his chest with her finger. She was thinking of ways to get creative and talk around it. "I'll just tell him what I want him to know."

It was most unfortunate, because when she came around she was sitting across a small round table in one of the rooms just off the great hall. She shook her head and put her palm against her temple. "Ouch." Her head was throbbing a little but it was starting to fade. "Where? What happened?" The room she was sitting in was almost a sitting room with four armchairs and a fireplace. There was a small round table between the chairs that had her cards spread out it in a chaotic mess. She froze and looked at the boy in front of her.

Cedric Diggory was as pale as a ghost. He was looking at her with wide eyes and his mouth was hanging open. "Did you say that..."

The girl leaned in a bit. "Huh?"

"N...nothing." He stood up and backed away a bit. "It's nothing." He seemed to notice she looked a bit dazed and was slouched in her chair.

"Wait. Are you all right?" She arched her eyebrow as she straightened herself up a bit more. She seemed confused.

He looked flustered and nervous. "I um...I'm fine. Well, as well as I can be...that's not what I mean. I um, are you sure?"

"I have no idea what I said to you." She was giving him a rather blank expression. "I'm sorry. I mean, you look like you didn't care much for it." She put her eyes on the cards in front of her. She had a feeling she knew what she'd told him. "Maybe it will help if you know ahead of time or something?"

"Um...yeah. Thanks." He still looked a bit pale and nodded before backing into the door and rushing outside. He pushed past Clause with his head low and his eyes on the tile. Anna walked out, but she was being very quiet and looking at the ground as she closed the door behind her with a soft click. "I promise I'll get you before the end of the year if you'd like. No more readings today though. Sorry." Margaret and Pansy walked up to her on either side and put their hands on her shoulders as they moved up around her.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Both girls looked worried, but Pansy seemed more comfortable with voicing her concerns.

"A little bad news." The redhead was shaking a bit and keeping her gaze low. She looked like she didn't want to open up much. Her heart was pounding and her eyes fixated on the pattern of the tiles in the flooring. She didn't like what had happened one bit. She'd lost control and blacked out for however long she'd been in there with him. Blackouts were not a good thing at any length. "Why now? What's going on?" She muttered it to herself as the girls ushered her away.

Clause followed, but more because he was moving in the same direction. He gave the girls plenty of lead and made his way back to the dorms at a lazy pace. He was looking down the hall over his shoulder at the direction Cedric had taken. "My God. She's real. The rumors are true." It was something else the headmasters at his school would find of great interest. He'd been praised for his accounts of the Potter twins at Hogwarts. He'd even managed to send a copy of Anna's Quidditch match back in his last package home. His discovery of the origins of the mark had sent waves of excitement across many wizarding circles back home. "I'm glad I came. I'm starting to regret going home, but there's nothing to be done about it. I'll spend a bit of time wondering what I'm missing."

The girls ahead of him kept silent as they walked back towards the dorms. Anna looked angry and flustered.

"He didn't try anything did he?" Pansy whispered with an angry sound in her voice.

"It doesn't concern him as much as you think. I blacked out. I've got no idea what I told him." The redhead looked annoyed. "I didn't like it. It's not happened before."

"You blacked out?" Margaret gripped her arm a little tighter.

"I don't even remember going into that room with him." She was growling and whispering at the same time. "Whatever I told him I doubt he liked it." She was telling herself she'd told him he'd die before he graduated. It was the only thing she could think of that would cause such a reaction in anyone.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was standing in the middle of the restricted section of the library and running his fingertips along the edge of the rows of books in front of him. "Hmmm."

"Hey." Anna was standing beside him after seeming to melt from the shadows to his right. "That Flamel thing?"

"Yes. You?" He nodded and wasn't startled by her entrance. Both of them spoke in whispers.

"Werewolves, and changelings. Magical transformations, that sort of thing. I'm doing some research before I see Uncle Remus again." She didn't mention anything about her real motivation behind transformation magic, potions in particular. They were both hidden well behind several shelves of books. The lock on the gate to the section wasn't difficult to bypass and wasn't even enchanted. Despite being 'restricted' there wasn't much of anything truly dangerous there. It was a lot of magic more complex than the majority of students would be able to handle, demonology, mild mind control spells, charm spells deemed inappropriate or too powerful for students, addictive enchantments such as glamorie, and books with useful sections mixed with errors and misinformation.

"Well, good luck with that." The boy only seemed to be half attentive to her as she ran her fingers along the shelf opposite him. "Man, still nothing."

"Didn't bring your cloak along?" The girl was looking over her shoulder at him. "I wasn't expecting to find you so easily if we did cross paths."

"What do I need that thing for?" The boy paused and his head turned towards the library entrance. "Oh."

Mrs. Norris, Filtch's cat, took two steps into the room. It sniffed the air and took two more steps into the room. In an instant reaction the cat's back arched and it tore from the room as if its tail was on fire. A crooked arm reached into the room brandishing a lantern.

Harry and Anna were outside the gate to the section in plain sight as the man leaned in and looked around the opposite side of the library. The boy was looking at his sister with his arms crossed and an irate frown. She ignored him and pulled him along towards the nearest wall by his sleeve.

Filtch staggered into the room muttering to himself. "So, them's the ones what got you so scared Mrs. Norris? No worries, Ol Filtch'll show ya there ain't nuthin ta be scared of. I'll do horrible, terrible things to em. Show you. Heh." His eyes went a little wide and crazed as he looked about the middle of the room not noticing the two children slip out behind him through the ajar door.

A short distance down the hall Harry pulled them aside and ducked into a doorway leaving it cracked a bit as another set of footsteps could be heard joining Filtch's. "You told me to tell you if anyone was about at night, Sir."

Snape's voice drifted, quiet and firm. "Where?"

"The Library. Restricted section I'd say." Filtch was almost dancing with glee at the thought of catching students with Snape at his back. They were all terrified of him. The look of abject horror on a student's face when caught screwing around by both of them was a joy for the man to behold.

Snape sounded a little disgusted as he replied. "They can't have gone far."

Anna shut the door all the way without making a sound and turned. "Close call I suppose."

"Mum? Dad?" Harry had left her side and was staring into a tall mirror. It was set in a heavy wooden frame full of intricate carvings with claw like stands to hold it up.

Anna was a bit surprised. She hadn't been expecting to run into her brother at all, much less stumble across the enchanted mirror with him. "What?"

"Look! I can see them! Our parents! You're there too," Harry was excited, but had enough of his head to keep his voice down. He waved her over and stood her in front of the mirror. "Look."

Anna turned to face him and brought his arm down. "It's called the Mirror of Erised. It shows you what you want most. I'm glad you can see them, but..."

The boy's face fell a little. "What?"

"It's a magic mirror. It's not really dangerous but you shouldn't come looking for it again. It can be bad for you if you look into it for too long. Have a good look, but don't get too excited." She seemed to be chiding him in a light manner and wrapped her arms across his shoulders.

"Are you sure?" He looked a bit put down, but still interested in the image in front of him. "Is that what they really looked like?"

The boy realized he'd not yet gotten an answer. His sister was looking at the mirror with a rather blank expression on her face. "Are you all right?" He waved his hand in front of her, and she snagged it to stop it as she let his shoulders go and looked up at the glass.

A woman with red hair was smiling at her with a child wrapped in a blanket in her arms. She was wearing a simple white dress and standing in a field that was in full bloom in the spring. She had a pair of thin framed glasses resting on her nose and three distinctive scars on her face. "What the?"

The image shifted as if someone had hit a camera on a tripod and recovered. A man dressed in black with a firm frown on his face was glaring at her. He reached out towards her with a black gloved hand and gave a dark grin. A lightsaber was gripped in his other hand and pointed down towards the ground at his side. The blade was red and the ground under his feet was a dry dusty orange. Tan and gold colored clouds flashing with pops of blue white light replaced the blue sky above. The world in the mirror shifted again and Darth Vader was looking down at her with his arms crossed over his chest. Diagon Alley burned behind him as he simply stood there cold and unfeeling, and alone in the darkness.

A lump formed in the girl's throat as the glass cracked and split shattering down to the ground at her feet. She could see each of the three images in the shards moving together. The woman was on her knees in front of them facing her with an emotionless expression on her face. She looked into the young girl's eyes as both men drove their lightsabers into her back.

Anna Potter hit the floor. Her brother managed to catch her before her skull cracked on the marble, but only just so. "Anna?"

Her eyes fluttered as she looked up at his face. "Wha?" She jerked upright and looked over at the mirror. It was sitting as it had been when they had found it. She gasped a little and stood up with a bit of help from her brother. "Come on. We should go. Don't come back here Harry. That thing isn't good for you." She looked nervous and was almost pulling him towards the door.

He looked over his shoulder catching one last glimpse of the family waving back at him as she dragged him out the door by force. The boy took it all in silence and took a few steps into the hall. "Are you all right? What happened? You saw our parents?" He seemed confused.

"What you saw in that mirror is only for you." She glanced at him with a firm and serious looking frown. "Don't come back here. We've got more important things to worry about."

He started to turn away but was stopped as she grabbed his shoulder.

"I'm not finished." The girl looked like she wasn't pleased at all.

"Enough about the mirror. I won't come back. I promise." He seemed irate.

She scowled a little more and shook her head. "Draco Malfoy is learning about the Force from someone. I need to find out who. I need you to be mindful of this."

"What?" Harry rubbed at his eye under his glasses a little. He wasn't sure if he'd heard her right.

"We need to find out who his Master is. Harry, there's another Sith. We're going to have to deal with it." She pulled him a bit further into the shadows along one of the walls.

"Are you sure?" The boy seemed a bit put off.

She looked very serious. "Be mindful of him, Harry. I'll be keeping an eye on things, but there's not much we can do right now. We've got to figure out where he's learning. It's more important than dealing with him right now."

The boy nodded with a frown on his face. "How do you know?"

"He was using the Force in our last match. In a way much to advanced to blame natural talent. He was guiding his shots through the goals from halfway across the field. I can't believe you didn't notice. He's a first year and he was far too good in that match. I couldn't throw the ball that hard and fast without my power any more than you could."

"Maybe he's picking it up? You've been pretty hard on him." The boy shrugged. He seemed serious and thoughtful.

"No. Someone is teaching him. I've spoken with him about it, and he took it better than he should have on more than one level. He's got a master and we've got a problem. Another Sith will want to be rid of both of us as much as Voldemort."

"Rid of both of us?" Harry was looking at his sister with his fist on his chin as he seemed to think about what she'd said so far. "I'll be mindful, but perhaps I'm not the one who should be more careful. You'd be quite a prize for a Sith Lord wouldn't you?"

The girl lowered her eyes a bit. "I know. I'm planning on using that to my advantage. I've got a better shot at finding out about this mess. Then maybe we can figure out what to do about it from there. That doesn't excuse you from keeping yourself unaware of it either. A Sith can be a dangerous and cunning enemy. We cannot appear weak and Malfoy or his master will take any opportunity to strike at us. Don't expect a fair fight."

"I usually don't with you. I'll be keeping an eye on things, but I've still got nothing on Flamel." Harry nodded as he became serious and thoughtful again.

"Well, good luck with that." The redhead backed away into the shadows, and her brother followed suit in the other direction.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sitting with his friends in the Gryffindor common room. There was a bit of buzz regarding the upcoming match with Hufflepuff. He was feeling a bit grumpy as he'd been having bad dreams since his encounter with the mirror a few days before. As it was he had to put up with Hermione fussing at him. "If Filtch had caught you..." she'd been telling him for days now.

Things had gotten pretty quiet, and they'd run out of books to scan through. Harry knew he'd seen the name before, but it was long gone from his memory. He'd just returned from Quidditch practice with the rest of the team. Everyone looked down but him, and all of them were still a bit damp from the weather.

Ron and Hermione were playing chess in one of the corners when he walked up and sat down with them.

Ron was focused on the board. "Don't talk to me right now. I need to concentrate."

Hermione had a smug expression on her face and waved at him. "What's with the team?"

"I'm not sure. Everyone seems upset that Snape is going to referee the next match." The Potter boy shrugged and looked at two somewhat stunned expressions.

"Don't play." Hermione spit the words out before anyone could speak.

"Say you're ill." Ron seemed to agree.

"Pretend to break your leg?" The girl was brainstorming.

"Really break your leg?" Offered the redhead.

"Huh? Why? Snape isn't going to hurt me. Besides, there isn't a reserve Seeker. If I don't play the team will have to forfeit. What's the big deal?" Harry sniffled a bit as he was still feeling a little chilled from the shower he'd taken after practice.

"Harry." Oliver walked over to his side. "We need to take the Snitch early this match."

The boy looked a little surprised. "This again? If we do that my sister and Draco Malfoy will put their team way ahead of us in the next match. You saw the last match. They'll crush Hufflepuff. We're going to have to put up points to offset penalties. I don't like Snape, but I don't see him as unfair. I think it's more likely he'll overlook a few small fouls on Hufflepuff. He'll be watching us close. It's important we play a clean game. Remember?"

"I know I said that. Snape knows he's ahead on points now. He won't like losing ground. I'm not sure I trust him enough to drag the game out like we planned." The older boy looked pensive.

"You're the Captain, but I can give us enough time. We'll have to work hard to offset any penalties with scores. We don't have Draco Malfoy playing chaser either. He's only going to get better at it. Call it a feeling. We're going to work hard to beat them next year. It won't be an easy match." The first year was almost glowing with confidence and cheer. Wood had been working the team hard, and Harry thrived in an environment like that. His upbeat attitude made him almost as valuable to the team as his broom riding skills in Oliver's mind.

"I hope you're right. I just hope we won't lose ground." The older boy gave a heavy sigh and patted Harry on the shoulder. "I suppose we've got to take the risk. Not much choice in the matter."

"Harry would catch the Snitch before that happened." Ron looked certain as he gave a firm nod.

"I didn't think I'd get this into sports here. Kind of odd." Hermione looked thoughtful as she looked at the group she was sitting with. "I don't see how you can lose. Harry is riding the Nimbus this time right?"

"You make it sound easy." Wood snorted a bit and seemed amused at the first year teammate's friends.

"It's only fun because it isn't." Harry loved broom riding. It was his absolute favorite activity. It didn't matter what the weather was like. He always looked forward to practice.

All of them turned and watched Neville Longbottom crawl into the room. His legs were bound up by some sort of curse. Most of the room chuckled at him, but Harry was on his feet and rushing to help before the boy came into view. He was on his knees beside the boy helping him roll over onto his back and lifting his shoulders to sit him up.

Hermione countered the curse and grabbed the boy's other arm to help Harry carry him over to where Ron was still sitting. Most of the room was laughing at the unfortunate boy. "What happened?"

"Draco Malfoy." Neville was shaken up and shaking a bit. "I met him outside the Library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."

Harry gave a small sigh. "That jerk. It's bad enough he runs his mouth so much."

"Report him! Go to McGonagall!" Hermione pushed the larger boy and gripped his shoulders to shake him a bit.

"I don't want to cause anymore trouble." He sniffled a bit. "There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor. Draco's already done that."

Ron looked miffed. "Hey. That jerk. Where's he get off...?"

"He's not one of us, Neville. What would he know of it?" Harry nodded and handed him a Chocolate Frog from his pocket. It was the last one from Hermione's Christmas gift for him. "I'd rather have you at my back than him any day. It's best to avoid him if you can. I don't like running into him either. Always unpleasant."

The girl seemed to agree. "Still, maybe someone would do something if we reported him."

"Dock a few house points maybe." Ron seemed a bit annoyed at the thought of it.

"Thanks. I think I'll go to bed." Neville had unwrapped the candy. "Here you go Harry. You collect them don't you?" He walked away looking like he felt a bit better and left the group with a weak smile. The mouse haired boy was adjusting his glasses and looking at the picture.

Harry gasped as he looked at the face on the card. It was Dumbledore. "That's it! I've found it!"

"What?" Hermione and Ron both said together. Neither one knew what he was talking about.

"Nicholas Flamel. Look!" He turned the card over and moved over between them. "I knew I'd seen it somewhere before."

Ron was amazed. "No way! All this time..."

Hermione had rushed off and returned from the girls dormitories with a large tome in her hands. "I'd never thought to look in here! I got this out of the library a few weeks ago for some light reading!"

"Light?" Ron looked at the girl as if she'd gone mad.

"Quiet. I've got to look at..." The girl trailed off as she flipped through the pages. "Ah! Nicholas Flamel, the only known creator of the Philosopher's Stone!"

Harry was looking down at the page over her shoulder. "It turns things into gold and can make you immortal. Well, that explains why it's so valuable. I can guess why Voldemort wants it. Now what though? We still don't know who we're looking for."

"Well, It looks like your sister was right again. Irritating that." The girl gave a small sigh. "Is she really always like that?"

"I don't know why she likes you so much. She teases you almost the same way she does me." The boy shrugged and looked up at Ron.

"It makes you immortal and can make gold? Anyone would want that!" Ron seemed relieved. It was obvious he was overjoyed at being free of the library for certain at last. Hermione had suggested having another round of it just to be sure. "No wonder it wasn't in Recent Developments in Magical History. It's not really recent if he's six hundred and seventy five!"

Harry started pacing a little as he thought about it. "Well, we know what the dog is guarding. Now all that's left is figuring out who's been trying to get to it. I doubt Flamel would have asked for help in keeping it if something wasn't up. He was nervous enough to pull it out of a place like Gringotts after all."

"Well, good luck with that!" Ron was beaming over the mystery finally being solved. "What would you do with that stone Harry?" He put his arm across his friend's shoulders.

"Do? What do I need it for?" The boy who lived seemed confused.

"Well, I'd buy my own Quidditch team for one." Ron nodded to himself. "You'd be my Seeker wouldn't you?"

"Well, I guess we could adjust the touring schedule if that was the case." Harry seemed to take it in good humor. Hermione rolled her eyes and seemed a bit disgusted.

"You wouldn't mind having something like that?" Ron seemed sure she was bluffing him with her reaction. "Come on now."

"Well, I suppose I could have my own horse ranch." She put her finger on her chin and thought about it for a moment. "There must be something, Harry?" Both of the boy's friends were looking towards him.

"I'm not so sure living forever would be a good thing. I don't need money." The boy seemed to think about it. "It can't give me what I really want."

"What's that?" Hermione seemed more interested.

"Well, he's not going to tell you. That's private, right?" Ron seemed a bit irate she didn't seem to already know that.

The boy put his hands behind his head. "Not really. Just a peaceful afternoon, with nothing to worry about." He grinned at them both. "Come on. We've had enough of this for tonight. We can worry about who's behind this later. It's someone in the school. I'm sure of that. No idea who it might be right now. I only know that it's not Snape, Dumbledore, or Hagrid. I'm pretty sure it's a grown up."

"Right. I hate to admit it, but I could use a bit of a break myself." Hermione blushed a bit as she said it. "I can't believe I had to give a lecture in my first year. I had no idea how to prepare for it. I can't believe I pulled it off."

"Like it was some sort of magic trick." Ron rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm sick of adventures myself. You should be glad you went home over the holiday. I could have done without a statue and an Order just fine." They'd learned something would be going on in the Great Hall near the end of the year to officially award them their respective medals.

"What do you mean? Are you saying you wouldn't have protected me?" Hermione turned her head away and crossed her arms. "Parvati Patil seems to think you did a fine job. Lavender seems to have noticed as well." She walked away with the book in her arms flipping about the pages near the passage about Flamel.

The redhead put his palms to his temples. "Please stop. You're making my head hurt."

"Sorry Ron, but I think you're doomed." Harry slapped his shoulder and turned towards the dorms leaving Ron standing on his own.

"Hey Ron." The boy froze up as he realized someone was behind him.

He turned and looked at Parvati with wide eyes. "I uh...h...hi."

"So, what are you doing?" She was beaming and looked pleased to be speaking with him. She'd gotten a hold on his shoulder and was pulling him over to a pair of nearby arm chairs.

The unfortunate boy was looking in a helpless manner and swallowed. Parvati was pretty, but given his experience with twins in the past it left him cautious about her. "I uhh..." He had no idea what to do, how to escape, or even how to work his vocal chords.

"So, how have you been?" She inched closer to his side by shifting her chair a little so that the arms were touching. She was rubbing on his wrist with her fingertips.

"I um, I'm fine..." He looked like he wanted to start gasping but kept himself under control with a bit of willpower.

"That's good. Do you think I'm pretty?" She cocked her head and looked very interested in an answer.

"I...um, I guess, I mean, yes, uh...wait...um. Well you are, but...I'm I'm not sure how to..." The boy kept going, rambling in a valiant effort to not really answer the question as best he could. "I um...I gottago." He pushed himself to his feet but didn't see Lavender stick her foot out and trip him.

"Are you all right?" Parvati was down at his side helping him to his feet and looking at his nose with a little concern. He'd gotten a small nose bleed.

"I'm fine. I'll just go get a tissue or..."

The girl forced a handkerchief onto his nose and tilted his head back as she forced him to sit back down. "You'll be fine. Just sit here a minute."

Everything sort of became fuzzy for Ron Weasley at that point. It stayed that way for a long time as the girl continued to talk to him. He nodded, answering anything asked as best he could without speaking as he looked on in a sort of horror at her. "Now what?"

"Huh?" The girl seemed confused for a moment.

Ron blushed and continued to sit there. "N-nothing."

"Oh, anyway..."

OooOOooOO

TBC...


	18. Chapter 18

A matter of force.

Part 18

Dragons and Shadows.

OooOOooOO

Draco Malfoy was on his knees with his palms on the ground and his head bowed. He was standing in a room filled with total darkness. A window high above gave the room its only light as a moonbeam shined down on the first year boy. "Master, she knows about me."

"It couldn't remain hidden long. It is of little consequence. You must assume her brother is aware as well. Do not get caught with your guard down. You still have much to learn." A deep graveled voice spoke to him from the shadows. He couldn't tell what direction it was coming from and remained still. "She cannot yet discover me. It is still too soon. In time the girl and her brother will be destroyed. We must remain patient, my young apprentice."

The boy could tell his master had a dark smile just from the tone. "Yes, Master."

"You will grow strong." A firm and angry statement. The shadow was telling him in a tone that told him it was inevitable, but not in a way to make it sound comforting. "Do not forget. I cannot yet be discovered."

"Yes, Master." Draco didn't dare look up. He was doing his best to keep on his arms from shaking him out of his bow and onto the ground.

"Our time will come."

"Yes, Master." The sooner the better in the boy's mind.

OooOOooOO

It was a cool afternoon, the morning frost had melted only about an hour before and students could see their breath when walking outdoors. Anna Potter was still in the dorms and ready for class. She was near the window putting a letter on her owl's leg.

"Anna. Hurry up or we'll be late!" Pansy was rushing about tugging her robe on. Margaret was ready to go and looking amused at her friend.

"We'll be fine. We've got a half hour to get to the great hall." The dark haired girl pulled a brush down her hair a few times before putting it back into the drawer beside her bunk.

Anna glanced over at them both. She'd just sent a reply to California explaining a bit about her cure. Exorcism magic was something even a Muggle Priest could use, though it was a bit less potent. Her cure was half exorcism, half anti virus. A vampire was a demonic entity, Dracula himself was a rather high ranking demonic entity. He had been classified as a Hell Lord and his minions were minor demons. The cursed venom attached to blood cells and suppressed the human soul. It prevented it from escaping, and allowed the demonic entity to control the body. The soul couldn't escape, and the body didn't die, creating a nearly invincible monster with very specific weaknesses. Vampirism was a blood infection that allowed the demonic entity total control of a body and a very powerful binding spell trap to keep the soul in place and prevent Zombieism. Soulless bodies were easier to destroy and tended to decompose. It was the reason vampires could use the former hosts memories. Vampires were controlled by the former souls for the most part, with the demonic entity kicking in as new instincts and flashes of rage and cruelty more than actual full possession.

That was all things other Wizards had discovered long before. Her work in the subject confirmed a lot of it, but it was considered accurate even before then. She'd gotten most of it from her first year Defense Against Dark Arts textbook. Vampires were more a curiosity to her than anything else. Nowhere near as interesting as it had been while hanging over her head. The study of the effects on victims after the infection had only just begun. It was a very traumatic experience, and more than a few had ended their own lives after being cured.

There were still other cases where families had reunited after centuries of nights as bloodthirsty monsters. Old lovers long since separated by the solitary life of a night crawler. The reality of what they had become came crashing around some of them. A few had even been murdered by the families of former victims. Many were shunned, or found themselves with nothing to their name but an old death certificate. It was an alarming situation, and it was taking up a bit of headline space in the wizarding news outlets. Not all of them became better human beings after they had been turned back. Many felt offended and were very angry about it.

A former vampire who went by the name Angel had been asking Willow about how it had all worked. The girl had been at a bit of a loss to explain and had sent another letter asking about it after her last reply. Artemis, another resident and something of an arcane scholar had been interested in it as well.

Anna knew there was some sort of gateway to the demon plane around the area. It hadn't solved all the groups problems, but things had gotten better. There were still a few vampires about, but it was looking like a matter of time before the infection cleared up. Whoever was keeping the gate was using vampires as foot soldiers it seemed.

Willow herself was interested in Wizarding culture. The redhead was half amused and starting to enjoy the letters. She'd sent the girl a small library of wizarding books, Hogwarts text up to the fifth year of study. The tomes the girl had been working with before were a bit advanced. The sort of study a sixth or seventh year student would be using at Hogwarts. Still, what she knew of the situation told her she'd do well on her own with only that. She felt like being charitable, kind of like helping out someone she used to see around way back in her past. The oddity of her situation was made even more surreal and it hurt to think about it too much.

The redhead had been trading letters with the girl for two weeks. She still wasn't sure what the hell was going on there. It was like a soap opera with vampires. Margaret and Pansy were both better at following relationship webs than she was. Harry's next Quidditch match against Hufflepuff would be in a few days. She had plenty to occupy her mind and promptly forgot about the letter the moment she sent it. She'd run across something more interesting earlier that day.

Sitting on the edge of her bed was something that bothered her a little more than some of the people she'd met so far. She also found it a bit exciting. She'd found it in a potions book in the library. It was a web of ingredient shorthand with various lines drawn and what looked like measurements in odd looking equations to the side of each. The most interesting thing, and the most disturbing, was that it had her mother's name at the top. All of the writing was neat and it all looked very organized.

"What the hell is this anyway? What were you working on Mom?" Anna put the letter down as her eyes went down to her lap. That was exactly what was bothering her. She'd stumbled across something her mother had done. She wasn't sure how much of a coincidence it was. It was calling Lilly Evans 'Mom' that had made it hit her at that moment. "Seems I've my own path to follow. My own problems." She was starting to doubt she'd have much time to be of any help to her brother when things got busy again. "I got so caught up in getting Harry ready that I never gave much thought to what I might get into myself." She wanted to figure out what her mother was doing and she didn't want to go to Snape to find out. "I know just who to ask!" She was almost beaming as she pointed her finger into the air.

OooOOooOO

That evening, Anna Potter gave another letter to her owl. She smiled as he took off after taking a moment to scowl at her. She didn't realize he was irate with her for delaying his plans to take over the store room until late in the evening. Though, the owl treats did help his mood a little. He flew away and she watched him for a few moments as he vanished into the moon.

"Another letter?" Pansy seemed surprised. "My wrist hurt just thinking about Thursday afternoons."

"Anna doesn't have to worry about her wrist." Margaret shrugged and looked over at her from her bunk.

The redhead nodded and smiled at the blond. "I suppose it is a bit easier for me. It's to Professor Slughorn. He used to teach here but he retired. He taught my mother and I'd like to ask him about her. There's no way he'll say no. She was his favorite student."

Her friends both moved over to sit around her on her bed.

"What's the matter Potter? Do you miss your Mommy?" A brunette girl who hung around the same crowd as Malfoy almost shrieked. She got a few chuckles from about half the room, the rest seemed either unamused or indifferent.

Anna didn't even glance over to the girl as her friends gave her dirty looks. "Of course. Wouldn't you?" It didn't seem to effect the redhead's mood at all. "I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say about something I found that she was working on. I know it's related to potions, but I've not seen anything like it yet. I suppose the Force guided me to it and all, but still. I wasn't expecting there to be anything left after all this time." She seemed to be talking to herself as much as the others. "I really shouldn't think it so odd I'd find something of hers here. I do anyway though."

"Oh. Why not take it to..." Margaret trailed off as she realized the girl was rubbing her finger across the scar on her nose and looking at her as if she was having a hard time believing what she was about to say already.

Anna looked at the floor and folded her hands in her lap as she relaxed her shoulders and sighed. "I don't trust Snape with something like this. It's too personal, and he's only making me his apprentice because I'm too good for my own good. I've gone and given him an excuse to keep a closer eye on me and he's taking advantage." She wasn't going to him with something concerning her mother. There was no need to mention that though.

"Please, Potter. Everyone knows you're the teacher's pet." One of the nearby girls rolled her eyes and lifted her nose.

"Suck up." Grumbled a girl a few bunks down from her.

The redhead blinked and looked over at her. "Well, I am the Greatest Potion's Genius in the Universe. He got along well with my mother when they attended together. They both did well in potions. He hated my father though, always butting heads with him. It could be." She shrugged and looked at the rather surprised expressions on the girl's faces around her.

"Professor Snape was in love with your mother?" Pansy's jaw was hanging a bit.

"I never said that." The redhead snorted and growled a bit. "She thought as much of him as I do Ron. I like him, but I only know him because he's my brother's friend."

"Potter is in love with Ron Weasley then?" The girl who said it didn't look like she was trying to be snide despite a few snickers in the dorm.

Pansy and Margaret were looking at the redhead as if waiting on the answer.

"What? Are you kidding? Too much red hair isn't good for your children. Very pale, bad skin, lots of freckles. Ugh. Not for me." Anna shuddered a bit and cringed for a moment. "No way. Like I said, they got on well, but not like that."

Anna was very aware she was leaving Snape's side of the story out of the equation. "I'm not saying any more about it. I don't want to start rumors. As far as I know they weren't even really friends. All I said is they didn't hate each other or anything." She was wondering how she'd found herself on the subject and wished she'd kept it to herself. "I don't think Professor Snape would lie or anything. I was thinking of writing Slughorn to ask about her anyway. This is as good a reason as any."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter felt something flutter in his stomach as he watched Ron and Hermione say 'goodbye' to him before the match against Hufflepuff. He was standing in front of the entrance to the locker room and thanking them for wishing him luck just a moment before. They turned away looking sullen and worried.

As soon as he walked into the lockers Wood was at his side. "Something wrong Potter?"

The boy shook his head and chuckled. "I'm not sure, but I think my friends might be expecting me to die for some reason. I'm not really worried about it, but it's less than comforting."

One of the chasers spoke up near the back of the room and avoided Oliver's annoyed glare. "You should be. No one can prove it, but Snape is probably the leader of the Death Eater troupe. Not all of them are in Slytherin. Just the worst of them."

"That doesn't matter." The captain spoke up in a quick and sharp tone as he glared at the three girls. Alicia, the reserve Chaser, looked down and flushed a little as she took a step back.

"Right. I can handle it." Harry didn't look worried, but flushed a little as he realized Fred and George had said it with him. They both slapped him on the shoulders and started laughing.

Fred shook him as he scratched the back of his head and grinned. "You're as predictable as he is..."

"...and we haven't even known you that long." George continued to tease him.

"Grooming your replacement already?" Both twins chimed in together and looked at Oliver.

The older boy had his arms crossed and was looking away from them towards the doors. "Enough. We've got a match to play. You can tease him after the match."

"We weren't just..."

"...teasing him." The brothers passed the sentence between them.

The older boy snorted. "I know. Remember what I said, because I'm the one who decides how much you do in practice."

Both of the redheads backed off and took a step away from the Seeker and Captain.

Wood gave a speech that Harry was only half listening too. After he finished, the team started towards the exit with the Weasley twins leading the way. Wood pulled the Seeker aside for a moment. "Not to pressure you Potter, but if we've ever needed an early catch of the Snitch this is it. Finish the game before Snape can favor Hufflepuff too much."

The boy rolled his eyes a bit at hearing it yet again. "Are you sure? If I do that, we'll have to worry about Slytherin outscoring us for the rest of the year."

The older boy worked his jaw for a moment and looked rather blank. "I uh...well, perhaps, but..."

Fred Weasley was standing in front of the door looking out at the crowd. "The whole school is out there! Even, blimey, Dumbledore has come to watch!"

"Well, I suppose we shouldn't disappoint them then." Harry grinned at them with his Nimbus in his grip as he pushed past. The houses were much more mixed in the stands than they had been near the beginning of the year. Large patches of different groups dotted the stands, some brandishing banners for each team.

OooOOooOO

"I've never seen Snape look so angry." Ron shuddered as he noticed the referee standing in the middle of the field. He was shaking a bit anyway because Parvati was hanging off his shoulder. Hermione was on his other side looking at the field. "They're off! Ouch!"

"Oh, sorry Weasley. Didn't see you there." Draco Malfoy was behind them with a sinister looking grin on his face as he looked at Crabbe and Goyle. "I wonder if that weakling Potter can take a few foul shots? I don't think he'll be quite so nimble if he does. What do you think Weasley? Want to bet he gets knocked off his broom if he takes a shot?"

Ron didn't answer and turned back to the game. Snape had awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George had sent one of the Bludgers at him. Hermione had her fingers crossed in her lap and was watching Harry circle the game above. She was squinting and focused on what was going on while doing her best to ignore the irritation behind her.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" Draco spoke loud enough all around him could hear. Snape awarded Hufflepuff with a penalty for what seemed like no real reason. "It's the people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money. You should be on the team Longbottom, you've got no brains."

"Actually, the Weasleys aren't poor. There was a very large bounty on Dracula from the Romanian government." Anna was sitting a few students down with her band. Cedric, and Clause were behind her and looked like they'd been interrupted. They'd been talking to the redhead about the cameras recording the just off the field.

I-"I'm worth twelve of you, M-Malfoy!" Neville was stammering a bit as he spoke and had his fist clenched.

"You tell him Neville!" Ron slapped his friend on the shoulder as the three Slytherin boys burst into laughter.

"He's right!" Parvati squeezed Ron's arm a little more and nodded. "Malfoy is a jerk. I'd rather have you on my team than him."

The large boy seemed a bit flustered by it and shrank down a little.

Malfoy and his friends were almost roaring with laughter. "Well, I suppose if a Weasley can get rich, maybe Longbottom can grow a brain. After all, his head is full of fertilizer already."

Anna was looking at Ron and Neville with a frown on her face. "Don't do it. He's..." She muttered it out loud. Cedric and Clause looked at her in confusion.

Malfoy's arm reacted as Ron turned to jump at him with his fist balled up. He slugged the redhead across his jaw and sent him into Neville's back. The blond boy had countered without even looking at him. Parvati was trying to get Ron back to his feet, but was pushed off as he glared at the boy and staggered upright. "What was that, Weasley?" Draco looked amused. Crabbe and Goyle moved up to grab the redhead and hold him for their leader.

Neville charged to his defense. Draco stepped back and smirked as yelps and howls from the scuffle blended in with the excitement from the crowd. Ron ducked from the mess and lunged at Draco again.

The Slytherin boy never lost his grin as the boy's fist stopped in front of his face. He put his hand up on the redhead's throat and gave an angry looking half grin as he put his face up to his. "Think you're big enough, Weasley? I'll..." Ron's angry eyes looked a bit panicked as he found himself unable to breathe. He managed to pull his fist back again and slugged Draco across the jaw.

The boy staggered back and curled his fingers as he put his hand up to his jaw and started to jump back into the Gryffindor student. Parvati was pulling on Ron's arm and managed to get him back a bit while Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle continued to tussle.

Malfoy was pulled backwards just as he jumped forwards and his rear slammed into his seat with considerable force. It looked like it had hurt a bit and he struggled for balance with a pained expression on his face.

Crabbe and Goyle were glaring at Neville. All of them were red, banged up, and their robes and hair were tossed a bit. They had separated and the two larger boys moved back beside Draco, both looking at the redhead.

The blond boy glared at Ron and glanced over his shoulder at the Potter girl. She was looking at him with a tight lipped frown on her face. He glared at Ron again, the boy was giving him heated glances as well. Malfoy's anger flared as he realized the boy didn't look afraid. He looked up at Anna again. She was staring him down and shaking her head from side to side. He growled in frustration and hung his head. "Another time, Weasley."

"Well, that was interesting." Clause seemed cheerful as the girl turned her attention back on the match.

"Malfoy is always starting trouble. They should all be in trouble for fighting like that. Just lucky none of the teachers noticed." Cedric frowned at him a little.

"I'm going to have to talk with Harry about it. Ron Weasley doesn't know how dangerous attacking Draco can be. He's not all mouth, as unfortunate as that is." Anna seemed calm. She'd given those involved another frown as she said it. "Ron is more fortunate than he imagines."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter sat on his broom with a smile on his face. He was circling the field before the match opposite the Hufflepuff Seeker. The boy was tall and thin and he was looking at Harry with wide eyed fear. The opposing Seeker had seen his last match and his sister's as well. He was licking his lips and swallowed hard a few times as he adjusted his grip on his broom. The match started, and Harry sat there and did nothing. The unfortunate Hufflepuff Seeker had shot away from his starting position when George caused a rather boneheaded foul. As he returned to his position he was giving his opponent a rather odd look. The boy looked as if he hadn't realized the match had started at all. Harry supposed he could give the Weasley boy that one at least. The whole team was a bit more nervous about the match than normal.

The next time the game started, the Hufflepuff Seeker moved down into the game as Harry reacted to the start this time. He tried to follow the younger Seeker, but managed little more than keeping him in sight at a distance. The Potter boy was fast and controlled his broom in a way the unfortunate fourth year had never seen. He was zipping about on the opposite side of the field. He was about to try and move in closer, but another foul halted the match.

Harry still had the same grin on his face and cleaned his glasses with his sleeve as he waited for the foul shot. Hufflepuff had fifteen points to their thirty after the foul shots. "Good day for broom riding." Harry seemed cheerful as he dove back into the game again.

"What the hell am I supposed to say to that?" The boy blurted out. He dove after him with a panicked look on his face. He ignored Harry, darting his eyes around the field searching for the Snitch. A flash of silver caught his eyes and he licked his lips. He couldn't see the Potter boy anywhere around him as he looked back over his shoulders. His eyes shot back to the silver flashes in the distance. It was still ahead of him and he'd taken an awful risk just checking. He could see it and the body of the ball was becoming defined in the air. "I have it. Just a bit more!" It was moving straight at him.

Another foul forced him to stop. "Augh! No!" He grumbled in frustration as he started to go up. He almost choked when he noticed Harry Potter moving aside just above him to let him go by and return to their foul positions. He was hovering right over him just in his blind spot over his head. "How long have you..." He looked angry for a moment.

"Hey. Sorry. I'm supposed to catch it first you know." Harry felt a little put off by the older boy's frustration. Gryffindor had a thirty five point lead at that point.

They moved back to their starting positions. The Hufflepuff boy was looking for the Snitch again during the foul. He ignored the shots and growled as he gripped his broom in frustration. He could tell from the crowd's reaction that the foul hadn't helped them any.

Another dive into the match and Harry Potter didn't bother hiding the fact that he was following the other Seeker. "What are you doing?"

"In case you haven't noticed, neither team is willing to send the bludgers at both of us. It's kind of relaxing really." Harry shifted to avoid a tussle over the Quaffle that forced him to shift his position about two feet lower. The Hufflepuff Seeker jerked his broom up to avoid one of his own team mates after a near collision. Another silver flash in the distance gave him a glimmer of hope. It was above him, high over the match.

Harry frowned a little. "Best not get greedy." He went down and started veering to the left.

The Hufflepuff boy looked back in confusion. "What the? What is he doing?" He looked towards the Snitch and growled. It was dropping ahead of him and he stretched his arm out and cursed as he was forced to dive after it. It didn't take long for the ground to grow close. About teen feet above the ground a flash of red and gold blurred by just over Snape's head. The Hufflepuff boy managed to stop his dive and gasped for breath. He was covered in sweat and looked a bit wild eyed. "It...it's over."

Harry Potter was holding the Snitch over his head as he landed and got swarmed by his classmates. Snape landed nearby looking pale and thin lipped. Dumbledore walked up and put his hand on his shoulder. "Well done...good to see you've been keeping busy...excellent." Harry was pleased by the praise, but noticed Snape spit on the ground before walking away.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter left the locker room sometime later and made his way towards the broom shed. It was a great memory already, and he was thinking about the last hour with a grin on his face. He turned and saw a familiar prowling shadow in the distance. There was still a bit of light left, but what was easy to identify as Serverus Snape was moving away from the castle as if he did not want to be seen. Harry looked at his broom and frowned. He closed his eyes for a moment and mounted his broom before moving after the man in the sky.

He followed him into the forest and moved in to where someone else was already standing in the wood. "Who?" The boy muttered it to himself as he swooped in. He took refuge in a high birch tree just after the pair had met.

It was Quirrel, he was stuttering worse than ever. "...d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Serverus..."

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private." Snape was calm and sounded disgusted with the man in front of him. "The students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone after all."

The coward started muttering and shied away from the intimidating man.

Snape stepped towards him. "Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

"B-b-but Serverus, I..." whined the pathetic man.

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrel." Snape sounded very intimidating as he growled at him.

The man was avoiding looking at him and holding his hands up to shield himself as if he thought he might get hit. "I don't know what you..."

"You know perfectly well what I mean." Snape was glaring down at him. "The Potter girl knows about you. You should expect her brother will as well. That stupid bit of hocus pocus cost you more than you think."

"B-b-but I d-d-don't..." Quirrel seemed to relax a little more with confusion on his face.

"Very well." Snape lost patience and decided to end it. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think about where your loyalties lie." He threw his cloak back on and left the field.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was surprised at how quickly she got a response from Slughorn. It came the next evening while she was sitting in the labs at the window. She didn't bother opening the letter as she sat down and looked at the rolled up parchment in her hand. It was a long scroll with lots of small neat lettering. He went on about how wonderful her mother was and expressed condolences for her loss for a bit. Then he started in about himself, thinking his kind words had charmed her enough to read a few stories about himself. She smirked to herself as she reached that point. He was right, and Lilly Evans was a secondary character in most of what he had chosen.

For the most part it was a few amusing tales of her mother preventing another student from creating a small personal disaster in their cauldron, or coming to the aid of someone who already had. She'd mentioned she was doing well in Potions and that it was her favorite class. It was true, but she'd done it to bait him into talking. Even though she was pretty sure she didn't need to.

The redhead was still standing in the window of the lab holding the scroll and looking out at the grounds and rooftop of the castle. It was a new moon and very little could be seen at ground level. An excellent night for star gazing, but her question was answered near the end of the response.

"An index?" She said it out loud and looked thoughtful.

The man explained that some wizards believed there was some sort of order to ingredients. Something akin to a periodic table of Alchemy and Potions. The calculation involved would be unimaginable. It had been attempted many times in wizarding history, but had pretty much proven impossible. He also admitted to trying it himself on occasion just to keep his wits sharp. He said that notes she'd found were a failed, but impressive, attempt.

Anna furrowed her brow a bit. She'd found four folded pages inside the middle of a potions book that looked like it hadn't gotten much use by students or faculty. She knew enough about potions to figure out that it wasn't really much of an attempt, or it was incomplete. Either way she'd learned a bit about her mother she wasn't expecting too.

She turned away from the window and put the scroll on the tabletop. There was nothing on it as she hadn't started working before her owl showed up. She sighed as she sat down and looked at a small tabletop mirror that was sitting on the corner of the desk. The girl found herself flushed and was a bit surprised. She was glad she'd written the man and she knew what to expect of him in the future. Though, she would have to be a bit nicer than she'd planned when she did meet him.

The girl went rigid and pushed the mirror aside so she wouldn't have to look at it. "I don't belong here. Why the hell am I here? How did this..." The girl put her head into her folded arms and thumped her forehead onto the wood a few times. Slowly she raised her head with wide eyes and craned her neck around to look at the scroll with her jaw hanging a little. Something Slughorn had said sort of hit her all at once. ."Why, anyone who figured that out would be remembered as the Greatest Potions Genius in the World!"

Anna snorted once and curled her lip a bit as she turned to look back at the mirror. She turned it back facing her again. "Why not? Everything else has worked out so far. Heh. Not the 'world', The Universe."

Even though she'd not realized it at the time she had already been working on the problem. She'd been thinking of making an ingredient and potion database in her computer that she could search for easy access to any concoction she could copy from the library and into the computer. Having a linking system of, effects, potency, and mixing effects for each ingredient possible, cross referenced with each other wasn't something she'd thought of adding to it. It would create millions or even billions of possible potions with predictable results for each one. It would be the greatest potions book ever written.

"All right. Let's do this then." She still had a lot of work ahead of her. She'd be busy till the end of the year inputting all the information she needed into the computer. She was kind of glad she'd made it from a laptop, and the magic she'd added to it would help a great deal to speed up the process of inputting all the information she'd need.

"Something to occupy my mind for a while I guess." She shifted in her chair and started working. "How the hell am I going to organize all this? Man, this is gonna take a real long time." She was halfway dreading and halfway excited about it. She'd have less time to think about her personal problems and feelings while she was doing it.

She looked up and out the window for a moment as she paused before getting into it. "I suppose he's put it together by now."

OooOOooOO

Hermione was almost jumping up and down with excitement. "Harry! Where have you been?"

"We won! We won! We won!" Ron shouted and slapped his back a few times. "I punched Malfoy in the face, and Neville took on Crabbe and Goyle single handed! Everyone's waiting in the common room..."

Harry took Ron by the shoulders and pulled him aside. He motioned for Hermione to follow. He gave a heavy sigh and ran his fingers through his hair as he looked back over his shoulder and pulled them to somewhere more private. An empty room in the hall.

"What is it?" Ron looked perplexed. Harry didn't look angry, but he wasn't pleased either.

"We were right. It is the Philosopher's Stone. I also found out who's trying to steal it and that my sister already knew about it." The boy seemed a bit frustrated and glanced at Ron. "I don't like Malfoy either, but be careful Ron. He's dangerous, more than you might think."

"Wait! What?" Hermione looked a bit angry. "That brat knew all along?"

"Who is it?" Ron seemed confused.

"Professor Quirrel. He's the one trying to steal it." Harry looked quite serious.

There was a long silence from Ron and Hermione.

"Um, are you..." Hermione was a bit taken back by the announcement.

"That...well, I can see why Fluffy would be a good guard." Ron was perplexed. "Are you sure?"

Harry nodded. "I'm sure. I overheard Snape confronting him about it just a few moments ago. It's Quirrel."

"Are you sure?" Hermione was having trouble with the theory.

"It would explain a few things about him." Harry looked at her and shrugged.

"Like what? How he jumps at his own shadow?" Ron was still confused, and felt better because Hermione still was as well.

The girl was thinking very hard and looked as if she couldn't figure it out. "It can't be him, Harry. I mean, he's so..."

"That's exactly what we are meant to think." The boy nodded and glanced over at them both with a smirk on his face. "Come on. There's not much we can do now but keep an eye on things and hope for the best." He gave a small sigh and motioned for them to follow back to the dorms.

"Your sister knew all this and didn't say anything?" Hermione still sounded angry as she said it.

The boy who lived hung his head a bit. "Don't worry about it. She's got her reasons."

"This was important!" The girl insisted as she followed after him. Ron gave a small sigh as he walked up beside him. "Oooohhh. Just wait until I see her again!"

Parvati was waiting at the door to the common room. "Ron! You're back!" She moved up to his arm and grabbed him before either boy could relax. Harry backed away a bit as the room cheered and moved up around him to congratulate him on the team's victory.

OooOOooOO

Hermione was fussing at Ron and Harry in the library. Most of her attention was focused on Ron, but the Potter boy had gotten a bit of prodding as well. "We've got plenty of time." Harry didn't seem worried about her line of thought.

"Ten weeks! I can't believe I've not already started!" The girl was aghast at herself and flustered.

"Are you joking? With all that's happened?" Ron was a bit wide eyed. "Harry thinks Quirrel of all people is trying to kill him, trolls on Halloween, Vampires at Christmas, and when we finally catch a break you start in on this. Relax."

"You won't be thinking that way come exam time." She pointed her finger into his face and almost put her nose up to his as she hissed at him. It wasn't too heated, but it was clear the boy was grating on her nerves. Studying with Ron had proved a frustrating affair, and Harry didn't seem to mind one bit. She felt sorry for him as his best friend was an idiot.

"I hate to say she's right, Ron, but she is." Harry was grinning at the pair and enjoying the exchange. "You're in no position to feel sorry for me. He's your friend too and you know it."

The girl's eyes went wide. "You were reading my mind?" She seemed a little upset and said it louder than she should have.

Harry leaned in a bit when the moment of attention faded. "I did warn you about looking at me when you were thinking about me. It's the same as just telling me and I can't really do anything about it."

The girl's cheeks went red. "That is so unfair!"

"Eh." The Potter boy leaned back a bit. "Not really. People say things they don't really mean in their head too. People are a lot ruder when they think you can't hear them." The boy shuddered in his seat for a moment.

"What?" Ron blinked a bit. "That's strange."

Hermione gave a small sigh. "It's still not fair. You've got an unfair advantage."

"It gets kind of scary sometimes. I'll catch older girls giving me a look over sometimes, and I'm not sure what to make of some of it. It always starts with 'if he was just a bit older I'd...'." The boy made a bit of a face and rubbed at his arms.

Hermione was looking at him with her jaw hanging down. "R-really? What do they think after that?"

"Gross!" gasped Ron.

"Oh, I am so not going there." Harry backed away from the girl a bit and put his nose back into his book. "Hagrid, taken to reading about dragons?" The boy was glad to have a distraction on hand. The Grounds Keeper was sulking in a nearby isle.

"Eh?" The half giant froze with a somewhat dumbstruck and flustered expression while trying to slip by behind them. "What yer mean? I was jus..."

"I spent a bit of time over there myself. Anna seems insistent that I'll be running across a few. She still likes to tease me about it now and again." The boy shrugged.

Hagrid leaned over them and looked suspicious. "What are you lot up ter? Not still lookin for Nicholas Flamel are yeh?" He was hoping to turn the tables on the kids and take some of the heat off himself.

"We found out about that ages ago!" Hermione seemed cheerful.

Ron nodded and looked like he thought Hagrid should be impressed. "We already know about the Philosopher's Stone that dog of yours is..."

"Don't go shoutin about that, whats the matter with yeh!" Hagrid shushed them quickly.

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you. About what's guarding it aside from Fluffy." Harry spoke quietly and leaned in towards Hagrid a little.

The giant gave a small nod and hung his head a bit. "Listen, come by an see me later, I'm not promisin I'll tell yeh anythin, mind, but don go rabbitin about it in here, students aren s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh." With that he shuffled off.

OooOOooOO

"Hello Hagrid." Anna Potter stood in front of the man's home with a wide grin on her face. She'd had to coax him into opening the door. "I'm meeting my brother here. You're going to let me in because I know exactly what you've got in there already. We've got to talk about it I'm afraid. It will keep until he gets here. I want to have a look at the egg anyway."

The hairy man's feature's fell as his head moved back into the door and it opened wide before her. "Be careful nah. Yer not gonna go an tell Dumbledore about this are yeh?" He seemed nervous and stayed near the back of the room.

The girl smiled back at him as she knelt beside the egg. "Cool. Huh? No, don't be silly. Harry wouldn't forgive me. Besides, I like you." She had her hands against the shell and was looking into the ebony surface despite the flames that surrounded it.

The giant's frame relaxed a great deal. "Yer powers and such I'm guessin?"

"Sort of. It's best if I wait. We're going to need their help to get you out of this mess I'm afraid." Anna looked back at him with her hands still on the egg. She stood up and dusted off her palms. "I wish I could have one too."

"Really?" A knock came to the door. Hagrid looked a bit surprised and stood up to answer. He wouldn't open it until Harry called out who he was to him.

"Whoa! It sure is hot in here." Ron walked in and almost bumped into Harry. The boy had stopped as soon as he noticed his sister.

Anna walked up and smiled. Hermione looked both surprised, and unhappy to see her. "Hi, Harry."

"How long have you known about..." The Slytherin girl put her hand over her mouth and put her finger over her own lips as she gave her a small wink. Hermione growled a bit but stopped talking.

"Well, you've figured it out already. He doesn't know anything about the other traps. Don't bother asking. Our friend will try for the stone when the time is right. He knows how to get past Fluffy already." The girl looked over at the egg and back up at the giant.

Hagrid gave a small start at that. "What yer..."

"You told the man who gave you that egg about Fluffy. He manipulated you. That egg is a trap. It's a weakness of yours, something you've always wanted, and when it gets big enough the authorities will notice it and you will be arrested. A convenient way to get rid of you. Only far more effective than the last time you had an unauthorized pet. You were framed once, Hagrid, you will not get off so easily this time." Anna had her arms crossed and was giving him a rather firm frown. "Your kindness won't be able to teach a dragon to be quiet or keep it from starting very large fires. I am sorry, but you have to let it go. You can't take it off the fire so it won't hatch. It's too close now and it's going to hatch regardless. Ron, we are going to need your help with this." She turned to look at the redhead. "We can't just dump it somewhere after all. You should write your brother and ask him about transporting a young Ridgeback from here. It'll need to be done quietly, and there isn't much window of opportunity. It will get very big, very fast."

Hagrid had his head hung down. He staggered back and slumped against the wall looking at her in horror. "What?"

"Someone used you, Hagrid. You don't just happen upon dragon eggs that way. The best way to get back at them is to make sure that stone stays safe." Harry was giving his sister a look that was almost angry. He turned and smiled up at the half giant. "I am sorry." Hagrid wasn't feeling very well, his emotional state had taken a cliff dive and the boy felt awful.

"The head of each house has an enchantment to protect the stone aside from Hagrid." Anna looked at the group. Hagrid was in tears on Harry's shoulder.

"How could you? Horrible girl! Look what you've done to him!" Hermione was horrified as she move over to Harry. "You're acting like you don't even notice!"

The redhead frowned at her. "You would prefer I lied? Or perhaps let him grow his boyhood dream, and spend the next few years in Azkaban and then end up on the streets? Hogwarts can't take him back if something like this happens again."

"What do you mean 'again'?" Ron was looking at her with wide eyes. He was confused and feeling uncomfortable. He sounded very small.

"It's not my business to say. Hagrid was innocent, but I cannot prove otherwise now. Neither can any of you. Don't worry about it. That will come up again on it's own. I'm sure of it." She looked up at the rather shocked half giant's face. "Forgive me if I am too blunt. You will have time, but you must be prepared to give him up as soon as we can arrange for safe transport."

"I was framed?" The half giant gave a heavy sigh. "I...Yer should leave. I...I...I can't..."

"Hagrid! We won't leave you like this!" Hermione tugged on his sleeve and looked up at the shivering man. He'd gone pale and was sniffling.

"At any rate. I won't be bothering you about it again. It is your choice, but I felt I should warn you. I'd rather not see you in Azkaban. It doesn't suit you." She walked over to Ron. "He's going to have to hatch it anyway. You'll be needing this, put it on directly, right away when the time is right." The girl slapped him on the chest with a small bottle of purple fluid.

"What? What is it I'm supposed to do?" The boy was confused and fumbled to catch the bottle. "Wait? What is it? What do you..." She was out the door and ignoring the trio. "What the heck?"

"You'll know." It was the last thing she said as she left them. "Good luck. Try not to get caught would you?"

"Horrible girl!" called Hermione with an angry looking frown.

"Are you all right, Hagrid?" Harry slapped him on his shoulder. He was slumped down against the wall still looking rather down.

"She's right, ya know. How could I've... Look, I kinda need ter be alone. I 'preciate yer comin by, even if yeh did kind of force me." He gave a heavy sigh and sniffled a bit more. "I'll raise him real good fer as long as I can. All them other dragons'll be jealous when they meet 'im cause of it. I knew I couldn't keep em."

"We'll help if we can." Harry nodded and backed away.

"Are you sure you're all right? I can't believe her! The nerve!" Hermione was still upset, but her worry came through a bit more.

"Yeah." He grinned at her despite himself and ruffled her hair a bit. "Think I'll call em Norbert. What yer think?"

"Norberta." Harry grinned at him. "It's a girl. Hagrid, I'm sorry about...I mean, I didn't know she..." He looked a bit sheepish as his friends reluctantly shuffled out the door ahead of him.

"Don't worry about it none, Harry. I'll be jus fine." The giant sniffled and started humming a bit as he stoked the flames a bit more. "Girl huh? How about Petunia then?"

Harry gave an amused sounding snort. "That's...great, Hagrid. It really fits."

"Right then. I'll let yeh know when it's time if I can. It'll be somethin ter see." He gave a good natured wave as the Potter boy walked out.

OooOOooOO

"I wonder why Anna showed up?" Harry was walking towards the school with Ron and Hermione as they strolled along the path away from the hut.

"Who does she think she is?" Hermione glared forward as she crossed her arms and clenched her jaw. "I can't believe that girl!"

"She wants Hagrid to trust her I think. I wonder why it's so important?" Harry looked over at Ron.

"I give up on figuring her out. I can't believe she made Hagrid cry! It was awful!" Ron looked a bit sullen over the whole affair. "Still..."

"You're right. I'm pretty sure it was all true." The mouse haired boy gave a heavy sigh and nodded. "Don't get me wrong. I've not forgiven her yet."

"She didn't have to be that way about it. Just waltzing in and...oh. I hate her." The girl's hair became even more frazzled as she steamed over the redhead. "She's got no tact! She didn't even seem to notice how awful it was for him!"

"Anna can be painfully blunt." Harry didn't look pleased about it either. "I think she did what she thought was best."

"She said Hagrid was framed. What did she mean by that?" Hermione had managed to calm a little.

"No idea. Other than that, I don't think she told us anything we wouldn't have learned tonight anyway. I've a feeling she was there for reasons other than helping us out." Harry rubbed at his scar a little as they walked along one of the castle walls towards a nearby entrance.

"What then?" Ron shrugged and put his hands behind his head.

"Well, there is the question of what happened to Hagrid before. I don't think now is the best time to ask him. There's no need to rush into it." Harry opened the door. "I don't think that's it either though. If she's gotten her nose in this, she's got a reason."

"Maybe we could help?" Ron seemed to like the idea.

"I'm sure we could think of...something." Hermione was hopping on her heels a bit as she thought about it.

"It didn't feel like something he likes to talk about." Harry walked in after them. "I'll help him if I can of course, but I don't think it would be right to be pushy about this one. We should find out more first."

OooOOooOO

Harry and Anna were sitting next to each other by the pond in a meditation position with their legs crossed and their hands resting on top of their knees. There was still a haze over the water and a light dew covered the grass as the sun began to peer over the trees in the distance.

"I assume you wanted something?" Anna didn't sound very worried about her brother's mood. He was unsettled and irate with her.

"What are you up too? I don't want you..." The boy was frowning as he looked over at her.

"Up too?" The girl was almost amused by his reaction. "You're reading too much into some good advice. Every moment Hagrid has that egg he is in danger. You must understand this. He knows he's in danger, but he's so focused on his new pet that he's forgotten himself. His boyhood dream was used against him."

"Why are you so interested in Hagrid? He's my friend. You upset him." The boy seemed frustrated.

"Fine. He's a rival of mine. There are two ways to be rid of him. One is to kill him, the other is to clear his name. I can't get what I need to prove it yet. Don't worry about it. I'm not going to let that one slide. It's just a loophole that needs closing." The girl still had a grin on her face.

"Rival?" Harry was surprised and annoyed. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not going into the particulars. He's gotten entangled with something. It's not my business to give you other people's personal stories. We can help him, but not yet." The girl shrugged and continued to smile at him.

"Stop grinning at me that way. What about Hagrid? If you'd just told me, I could have..." The boy was being a bit firm.

"There are times when gentle is not the best course. Hagrid needed a good scare. He needed someone unexpected to know about his pet and give him a start so that he would realize what he was doing. He's your friend, and you're going to help him. Remember what I told you about Malfoy."

"Malfoy? What's he got to do with this? Stop jerking me around. What are you up too?" The boy gave a heavy sigh and hung his head.

"Jeez, I'm kind of sorry I told you now. Look, he needs to be rid of that thing. I've got a feeling it's going to take a while to set something up. Hagrid's new friend will be quite a load to sneak around. You're going to have your hands full." The girl gave a heavy sigh and glowered at him. "Look. I can't lay this out for you. I'm sorry I made Hagrid feel bad. I treated him like the grown up he is. He needed to know. He was so happy about finally having his dream that he never noticed he'd gotten himself caught in a trap. I'm not the one you should be cross with. Quirrel's friend is the likely culprit. Don't forget what kind of power we are dealing with. It's more than magical strength. It can be very manipulative as well."

"I'd noticed." The boy gave a small snort.

The girl put her nose up and pretended to be more annoyed than she was. "I have to be more defensive with you. I'd be helping you out with this if I didn't have my hands full already. Living in Slytherin is quite the adventure at times."

"I think it's more because you already got what you want." The boy didn't sound angry and gave another small sigh.

"I don't need Hagrid to like me. I'd prefer his trust. I was honest with him. It was something he had to face." The girl shrugged. "He's your friend."

"And if you can't clear his name?" The boy looked over at her.

"He's a rival I can live with." She shrugged.

"Ron and Hermione are angry with you." Harry glanced over at her and ran his fingers through his hair.

"They usually are at first. I'm afraid this one may cost you if you aren't careful. Be mindful." She giggled a little as she thought about his friends. "To think, after all of this they don't trust me. I take it Ron still has my bottle?"

He smirked a little and sat back in a more relaxed position. "Yes. I don't trust you either."

"Oh, you are so cute." The girl's face fell a little as she crossed her arms.

"Yeah. I've been hearing a lot of that. A whole lot of that. A bit too much, and it's your fault." He responded by doing the same thing.

"You're welcome." She laid out flat on her back with a grin on her face.

"I don't mind the help, but must you screw with us so much? You're driving my friends crazy." The boy did the same. "I'm still not completely over what you did to Hagrid."

"You do get it though?" She didn't seem worried about it.

"Yeah. I get it." He rubbed at his face under his glasses and seemed to relax again.

"Come on, we've got work to do." The girl sat up again and reset her pose to meditate. Harry took a moment and moved into position beside her.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was watching what was probably one of the coolest things he'd ever see in his life. A baby dragon was sitting on Hagrid's table. The shell was in pieces and lying about around the small creature. It looked over at him with golden eyes and snorted a small sneeze. A few sparks flew at the boy as he stared it in the eyes. "What the?" He narrowed his eyes and peered into the reptile's eyes. Something about them seemed wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

Hagrid reached out and the boy took a step back and grabbed his arm as he realized the nasty flare of bad temper the animal gave off.

"Look! She knows her mommy!" The reptile snapped at the half giant's outstretched fingers.

"I don't think she likes to be touched, Hagrid. She doesn't feel much like she likes us to me." The boy looked over at him. "I'm pretty sure this breed doesn't have much in the way of parenting instincts. I remember reading about it. A mother will feed a young dragon for a few months, then kick it out of the nest and her territory. The males leave right after mating. Be careful with her, because she won't be gentle with you."

The giant blinked at him. He chuckled as if he thought nothing of it as tears welled up in his eyes. "Don worry. I'll kip er well fed and cared for. She'll come round. Well. I suppose I should rememb..." Both of them turned at the same time to see someone darting away from the window. Hermione and Ron jumped in surprise.

The Potter boy sat down with a calm expression on his face. "Malfoy has seen the dragon. That's not good."

Ron gasped and looked horrified. "Oh no! It's going to be another week and a half before my brother's friends will get here!"

Hermione looked a little disturbed at the way the young Potter boy was taking it. He didn't seem worried at all. "How fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow?"

Ron looked surprised. "You don't know?"

She slapped his arm. "We don't learn about dragons until our fourth year! I haven't gotten around to it yet!" It wasn't too heated and she looked at Harry.

"Somewhere around two hundred pounds. I should be able to handle it without much trouble. I've got that cloak and it will cover me and whatever we move him in. I'd rather not risk trying to fit someone else into it." The boy knew he could fit another in easily, but didn't see any reason to mention it to them.

"What about Malfoy?" Ron looked pensive.

"It isn't wise to start something with him, Ron. I heard about what happened to you during the match. Malfoy is very dangerous. I won't tell you to humor him, but watch your back." The boy looked over as Hagrid sat down and looked around.

"Sounds like you've been busy." The Groundskeeper seemed to calm as he looked at his temporary pet.

"More than I'd ever imagined." The girl looked a bit dazed as she glanced at him and smiled.

"I'll say." Ron nodded with wide eyes.

"We'd better get back. We've got classes. Careful Hagrid, it's more important than ever we get rid of her as soon as possible." The boy who lived looked back at the lizard with a sympathetic frown on his face. He patted his arm as he walked by out the door.

He gave a saddened smile down at the hissing reptile. It had curled up and gone still until the Giant returned. The inside of it's mouth was a bright red color, and it's orange tongue wagged in an instinctual display. "I understand. I'll bet this li'll feller is hungry. Ain't ya? Ain't ya?" The man started talking to the reptile as if it was a baby.

OooOOooOO

Draco Malfoy had a smirk on his face every time they saw him through the next week. He never said anything, but watched them move by more often than normal. Harry didn't seem to notice, but Ron and Hermione despised it more each time they saw it.

It was close to midnight and he was sitting in the common room. He stood out and opened the portrait just before Ron Weasley tapped on it. The redhead had a frown on his face and looked surprised for a split second. He walked in and started whispering to Harry as they moved away from the entrance.

"It bit me! That thing is the most horrible animal I've ever seen!" He was shaking his hand. He'd been helping feed Petunia rats by the crate. "I'll not be able to hold a quill for a week!" His hand was wrapped up in a handkerchief with splotches of blood on it. "He was singing to it when I left. You'd think that thing was a bunny rabbit!"

Harry smiled at him with his eyes drooping a bit. He yawned and patted the redhead's shoulder as he moved him towards the dorm rooms. He paused and looked to have half a thought for a moment. "Did you use that bottle?"

"It feels worse than it did before! That brat! I think she tricked me! It stings like mad! It's driving me crazy!" The boy looked irate.

Harry nodded. "We'll see." They went silent as they moved up to the dorms.

OooOOooOO

Ron blushed as he stood with Anna Potter after bumping into her between classes the next day. He'd jogged over away from Harry and Hermione when he'd noticed her. She seemed interested in what he wanted, and hadn't spoken yet.

"I just wanted to say thanks for...you know." He was rubbing on his hand. There were still a few scabs in the shape of a bite on his hand. Otherwise it looked normal. "It still itches a bit. Harry said it was poisonous. I suppose I..."

"Don't worry about it." She gave him a small smile. "Just remember. Eleven thirty on Saturday at the tallest Astronomy tower." She was looking at him in a way that kept him from correcting her or speaking while he worked his mouth a bit.

Ron got a rather blank expression on his face. "How did...wait...um..."

She walked in the direction the boy's friends had gone forcing him to walk with her by pushing on his back. "Don't worry about the potion. You've already paid me back. Don't worry about how." She patted his shoulder after she walked him a short way and gave him a gentle shove as she turned down another hallway.

He staggered for a bit looking flustered and confused. "Um, all right. I guess."

OooOOooOO

Saturday night had arrived. Harry left a teary eyed Hagrid behind as he walked with the crate hovering in front of him about a foot off the ground. They moved in silence through the halls as he walked. The dragon moved about a little, causing skittering and scratching from within the box.

The boy stopped where he was walking as a jerky looking light moved towards him in the hall. A grin formed on his face as he watched McGonagall storm right towards him. She was dressed in a bathrobe and hair net, and was pulling Draco Malfoy by his ear. "Detention! How dare you! Wandering about in the middle of the night!"

The boy wasn't struggling much but was trying to whine his way out of it. "Wait! You don't understand! Harry Potter is coming and he's got a dragon!"

"Utter rubbish! I shall see Professor Snape about you!" The woman ignored him and continued to drag him away.

The boy stood and watched them both move by no more than two feet from him. His step picked up a bit as he continued on his way to the tower. The rest of the trip was uneventful.

OooOOooOO

A short time later, Harry looked on as four broomsticks swooped in to his position. The crate was on the ground in front of him and he walked out to meet them.

Charlie's four friends were cheerful and pumped up on adrenaline. It wasn't a legal transport. Harry met them and helped put the dragon into a harness the four had brought with them. It didn't take more than a few moments and they were on their way.

Harry gave a small sigh and started towards the stair well with his cloak over his shoulder. The worst was over and he strolled down the stairs with a relieved expression on his face. "Maybe she was right after..."

He stepped into the corridor and paused as Filtch grinned at him with wide eyes and a lamp. "Well, we are in trouble."

The boy frowned for a moment as Filtch moved closer. He waved his hand. "You didn't see anything."

With that the boy vanished. Filtch looked dazed for a moment. He peered into the ajar door of the tower and inside at the stairs. "This door wasn't open. Someone's been here!" He looked around at his feet. "Where's that blasted? Sweetie! Come sweetie!" His features twisted as he waved his hand. "No time for that! Little bastard might still be inside!" He rushed into the tower and up the stairs as fast as he could.

The boy growled a little and continued on his way towards the dorms. "That was careless of me. I should be more mindful."

OooOOooOO

"Potter. Draco Malfoy has given me quite a story. It cost the house ten points. In a turn of good fortune it was negated by Neville Longbottom's blundering stupidity when he managed to lose twenty last evening." Severus Snape was leaning across his desk to peer at the redhead in front of him with his fingers pushed together. He looked quite intimidating.

"You aren't getting into my head that way, Professor." The girl muttered it under her breath as she returned his glare with one of her own. She spoke to him directly not bothering to be respectful. "Congratulations then. That means we're ahead."

Snape didn't look impressed and leaned forward pointing his finger against the top of his desk. "Let me lay this out for you. He seems to think you told him about a time and a place. He claims to have seen Hagrid with a dragon. That would be difficult for even that hairy buffoon to hide. He also claims that your brother was transporting this animal through the school in the middle of the night."

"And you believe him?" The girl shrugged. It was obvious she didn't feel threatened by any of it. She seemed a bit surprised.

The man sat back and narrowed his eyes at her as he put his fingers together. "Draco Malfoy does not seem the type to be so... dishonest. Especially in such a wild and foolish manner. He was obviously tricked by..."

The girl cocked her head. "Yes, Professor. He's afraid of you just like most of the house. What of it? I don't see how I've been dragged into this. I didn't tell him anything. I don't like him enough to talk with him when I can help it."

The Professor's eyes narrowed at her. "Really? You've been showing him a lot of attention from what I've seen. You are watching him. I'm not stupid Potter. I know you were involved, and I don't like schemes that cost my house points." He was seething as he leaned in and spoke to her in his quiet but forceful tone.

"It didn't." The girl shrugged. "In fact, it's put us ahead."

The man rolled his eyes for a moment and stared her down over his nose. It was obvious he was unimpressed. "I have no evidence, however I do have you." He was glaring down at her. "Don't forget that Potter."

"Pardon me Professor, but even if I did know something why should I tell you? He is my brother after all, and I don't like Malfoy. This has worked out well as far as I'm concerned. Not everything that's good for me is directly my fault." The girl didn't flinch and seemed to relax a bit more. She seemed sure of herself. "If it is true, I wonder how my brother escaped?"

"I'm sure you know something about this." He stood up and walked around to the side of his desk, looking at the door. "Get out of here, Potter. We're finished for now."

She stood up and walked out the door. She cocked her head and walked towards the common area. "Hmm. He pulled it off? Impressive. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

OooOOooOO

Minverva McGonagall was sitting in her office at the same time. Trying to sort out the same mess. She had a rather shocked expression on her face as Harry had just finished speaking to her. His name had come up and she decided to question him.

"Sorry, Neville." Harry frowned at the boy. He was standing in front of McGonagall's desk with the larger boy. Neville looked close to tears, but he'd already received his punishment.

"What?" The woman was looking at him with wide eyes.

"Well, there's no more evidence. I see no reason to be dishonest. Someone tricked Hagrid into taking a dragon egg. He realized he couldn't keep it, so we contacted Ron's brother Charlie and arranged for transport to the dragon preserve. I took it up to the Astronomy tower last night and handed it over. We couldn't just set it loose, and it's endangered. Seemed the best course of action to take." The boy shrugged at her and looked very serious. "I'm wondering how Malfoy found out about it myself."

Neville was looking at him with wide eyes and had his jaw hanging down.

"What?" The woman stood from behind her desk. "Don't get cheeky with me Potter, I am not..."

"Of course not, Professor." The boy didn't look afraid and hadn't the slightest hint of amusement in his features. "I don't want Neville to get into trouble because of what I did. There's also nothing left to hurt Hagrid. I will accept any punishment you see fit to give me."

The woman sat down with a tense look on her face. Her lips were tight and her eyebrow was twitching. "Ten points, Potter. You'll be attending detention with Longbottom. I don't want to hear another word about this. Do you understand?" She turned her chair away from them.

Harry and Neville turned away and left the room. "I'm sorry, Harry. If I hadn't..."

"Don't worry, this was my fault. I'm sorry you got caught up in it. Might not be so bad. We might even be able to make a good time of it." The boy who lived tried to look supportive.

"Don't bet on it. Draco Malfoy will be there as well." Neville did look like he felt a little better. "I'm sorry, but I'm really glad I'm not going with him alone."

"I kind of wish it was just me. Sorry Neville, I didn't mean to get you in trouble. Hagrid needed the help though." The scarred boy rubbed at his forehead for a moment as he walked towards the common area with the large boy beside him.

The boy gave a sullen nod. "I understand. Still, you might have gotten away with it if I hadn't..."

"Maybe I shouldn't have." Harry shrugged and continued on his way. He'd upset McGonagall, and the woman didn't seem to want to know more about it. It left them even further behind Slytherin in House Points. He wasn't pleased about that, but he tried to look upbeat to keep Neville's spirits up.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was sitting with Clause in a quiet corner of the common room. It was getting late, and everyone else was up preparing for bed. She was sitting across from him at a small table with her cards laid out between them. "Well, it seems you've got the standard future. Wife, three children, two girls and a boy. You'll have it all within two years of graduating, quite busy... Don't worry, the boy is first. Hmm...you'll return to Hogwarts. Must be that Tri-wizarding thing? You and someone named Victor Klum, along with a few others from your school." She smiled at him. "You'll be sent because you know Harry." Her face fell a little as she looked down at the cards. "As a spy. We'll meet again..."

"What?" He started a bit and uncrossed his arms.

"Hmm. Wonder how that will go?" She looked at him with a scowl on her face. "If you choose to follow him you will be killed."

The boy was looking at her with a sort of confused bemusement. Her eyes had gone white and she was crouching over the cards. She started waving her hands a few inches above them. They shifted under her palms without any direct contact. "A gray area. A choice you've not made yet? Hmmm. You will become an agent those who would harm me, but I can't tell where your heart will truly lie. Interesting." She sat upright and took a few breaths and leaned onto her fist as she looked at him with a rather calm and lazy expression. "Well? I suppose you'll be interesting if nothing else. You've got a future beyond your death, but it is still a shadow."

He looked a bit pale and swallowed. "What's that mean?"

"You can get out of it." She shrugged. "That goes both ways though. You should be careful who you give your loyalty to."

He frowned at her. "How?"

"Don't be an asshole." The girl stood up and her cards floated into her hand. "She's blond by the way. You won't know it at first. Very particular are we?"

The boy flushed and scratched his head. "I uh...is that all?" He didn't know what to say.

The girl's eyes had cleared up and she smirked at him. "Yeah. Pretty much. Not so bad after all."

"You said I'm going to die." He looked a bit pensive.

"I said you might. Knowing the future doesn't give you license to be a moron." The girl slapped him on the shoulder and walked away. She looked back and waved at him as she walked towards the dorms. "Don't be a stranger. Later, Clause."

The boy sat in the room for a long moment looking thoughtful. "Now what?"

OooOOooOO

TBC...


	19. Chapter 19

A Matter of force.

Part 19

Detention and beyond.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was feeling as though he'd irritated the whole school. Slytherin hated him as much as usual, but now, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor were all giving off mild irritation. They were down fifteen points and himself and Neville were singled out as the culprits. They had been ahead of Slytherin in house points up until the night before. It was nearing the end of the year and house points were growing more difficult to acquire.

As it was, Harry was sitting with Longbottom, Weasley, and Granger as usual.

"Everyone is mad at you. It's not too bad though. You've only lost ten points all year." The girl was blushing. "I can't believe you just told her."

"Are you sure you didn't mention us?" Ron's eyes were rather wide and he swallowed a bit.

"No! Harry wouldn't!" Neville was giving the boy a firm frown.

"I know, I'm just...well. Sorry." The redhead bowed a bit and looked at Hermione. "Now what?"

"They'll get over it. There are a few people who lost a lot more points over the year. I think I got off easier because I was honest, and there was no evidence. We aren't supposed to talk about it. It could cause trouble for Hagrid if the wrong person hears about it. Don't worry." The boy who lived scratched at his scar for a moment as he ate. "I should have been more careful. I still don't know how Malfoy found out about..."

Ron's eyes went wide and he gasped. "No way!"

Hermione and Neville looked at him at the same time, the Potter boy looked interested as well.

"What's up Ron? You look like you just thought of something?" Harry leaned towards him a little.

"Is that what it looks like?" Hermione looked over at Harry. "I've not seen it before."

Neville chuckled a bit and Ron glared at her. "Har! Har! I know how Malfoy found out!"

She went silent and flushed. "Sorry Ron. Just teasing a bit."

"Yeah, she gets real sorry when I've got something she wants to hear I've noticed." The redhead crossed his arms and turned his nose up.

Harry gave an amused snort and Neville looked pensive. "So? How did he find out?"

"Harry's sister! When I tried to thank her for that potion! She said 'eleven thirty, at the tallest astronomy tower!' Then she pulled me away and said that I didn't need to thank her, because I paid her back. I bet Malfoy was listening in!" The boy was looking over his shoulder and giving her dirty looks. Hermione joined him.

"Oh! I knew we shouldn't trust that brat!" The girl seemed to jump on the opportunity.

The boy who lived gave a small sigh and shook his head. "Well, she is sneaky. I'm betting she's got a reason. I think you're right, it sounds like she was using you to bait Draco. She gave him the wrong time though."

"Small wonder it put Slytherin ahead in house points." Hermione was growling a little.

"So it has." Harry nodded once and popped his neck. "I do wonder what she's up too. It seems a bit much to get Draco alone with me. That's the only reason I can think of she might do something like this. She doesn't care about House Points any more than I do."

The rest of the group got shocked expressions on their faces. "What? Are you saying you don't want to win the house cup?" Ron started chewing on a piece of bread with a somewhat surprised expression.

"I would." Hermione narrowed her eyes at him a little as she sank into her seat a bit more.

"Gran would be pleased if I got to tell her we won." Neville nodded with a somewhat fearful expression.

"It would be nice." Harry nodded. "It's also not why I do things. I'd rather do the right thing and get in trouble than get rewarded for letting someone get hurt."

Even a few of the nearby students who weren't in the group turned and looked down at their plates to stir their food about in discomfort after hearing it.

"Still. She's..." Hermione was looking over her shoulder and focusing her blame elsewhere.

"I don't think Anna is any different." The boy shrugged and glanced towards Slytherin's table.

Ron was chuckling. "You must be joking? Your sister?"

"Not really. You've been mad at her before, but it's always turned out well." Harry just smiled at them as he shoved a meatball into his mouth and started chewing.

"Well I don't like how she gets about! She's awful! She's more arrogant than Malfoy!" Hermione looked a bit flustered and crossed her arms to pout a bit. "She doesn't have to be so...so...ooh, what's the word...?" The girl looked to be thinking very hard. "Bitchy." She nodded once and seemed satisfied with the description.

Harry was finding the students' annoyance with him to be a surprising bit of relaxation. Avoiding the girls had become easier, and he didn't have to go and get Melvin to make them leave quite so much. Girls would most often pass him in the hall now looking flustered, rather than following for a few feet and watching him with adoration and dirty thoughts. He shuddered a bit as Ron went rigid.

"Ron dear, pass me the salt." Parvati Patil was sitting right next to Ron. The redhead had been so caught up in what was going on with Harry that he'd not yet noticed her.

He gasped and almost yelped. "How long have you been...?" He looked alarmed and was passing the salt in a shaking fist.

Lavender giggled a bit as she watched the boy season everything along the path as he passed it. She was sitting beside her friend.

Hermione looked annoyed and stuck a fried potato wedge into her mouth. "She's been there the whole time you dope."

"Yes. His brother has found himself in the same position." Harry nodded and grinned at her. "She seems to be doing well enough. Maybe you should ask her for advice?"

Ron's eyes went wide as his mouth dropped. "You traitor!"

"Don't be stupid. I know I'm cute, I'm paying you lots of attention and I'm only going to get better looking. You even tell people I'm you're girlfriend when they ask." She leaned her head on his shoulder and didn't look to be paying much attention otherwise. "You can have the salt back. I wanted some on my potatoes, but you've taken care of that. I can tell you like me you know. You'd better write me or something over the summer."

"Ron is going to Romania this summer." Harry seemed pleased. Ron looked like he was going to fall flat on his plate and dropped the salt shaker onto the table before sitting upright and looking rather zoned out.

Parvati pulled her head off his shoulder and patted his chest as she looked at Hermione. "Cho Chang in Ravenclaw right? I'll have to speak with her later."

"Good luck with that." Hermione seemed cheerful and was enjoying Ron's discomfort. It was sort of endearing as he was quite an expressive boy.

Harry nodded and the girl turned back to talking with her friend. After a moment the two girls stood up and walked towards the Ravenclaw table.

OooOOooOO

"Yeah? What of it?" Cho had a frown on her face as she turned to look at the girl behind her in a way that told her she'd better like what she was asking about her boyfriend for.

Lavender was cowering behind Parvati at the look the other girl was giving them. "I've gone and caught Ron, his younger brother. I wanted to ask if you've learned anything about the family that might help? He saved me from the vampires and I'd like to keep him. Harry mentioned you're dating his brother." The braver of the two girls seemed cheerful and unafraid.

"Potter?" She seemed annoyed at the name. The youngest Weasley boy was sitting next to him and it was no big secret they got on well. George thought highly of him but he was also on the team. She'd talk good about anyone if they were that good on a broom and on her team, no matter how much of a jerk they actually were. It was expected of you. His recent screw up hadn't helped her opinion of him. "I've seen you about. Not friends of his sister's are you?"

"No. I've heard them talking and it sounds to me like she set Draco, Neville, and her brother up to gain the edge in house points." Parvati shrugged.

"It's true. I was right next to her." Lavender added a tiny bit of credibility, but not too much. She seemed rather vapid and agreeable.

"Add someone from her own house she doesn't care for to throw them off the trail." Cho snorted in disgust as she glared in the general direction of Slytherin's table. It was too far to pick her out through the other tables. "Disgusting. I don't care much for her."

"Hermione Granger seems to think the same." Parvati was cheerful still and seemed glad to meet her. "It sounds like she's really awful."

"R-really?" Cho looked surprised.

OooOOooOO

Hermione blinked as she found herself standing with Lavender, Parvati, and a girl from Ravenclaw. "Hey, what's going on?" She seemed a bit nervous.

"I hear you don't like Anna Potter." Cho Chang smirked as she pushed off the back wall of the dining hall. They were in the corner furthest from Slytherin, huddled together in the shadows.

The Gryffindor girl said nothing, but her hair became more frazzled and she glared forward with her eyes becoming a bit bloodshot. Cho smirked as the girl spoke up again. "That brat. I don't even like thinking about her anymore. Manipulative little..."

"Heh. I've got a plan. We're going to take that little brat down a peg or two." The Ravenclaw girl looked at the two of them. "I'm going to need a little help though. It won't be easy."

Hermione and Lavender looked nervous, Parvati looked curious and spoke up first. "How?"

"I've got an old family potions book my mother gave to me. It's sort of a good luck charm for my family. Chinese are big on luck. I grew up here though, and until now I just didn't get it."

Hermione looked around in a guilty manner. "How are we going to do that? I'm not getting involved if someone is going to get hurt."

"We're going to..." She flipped open the small book and showed the girl with a long dramatic pause. "...brew this up and slip it to her somehow. I'm going to need a little help tricking her into taking it. That little man stealing tart. We'll see how much he likes her then. Heh."

Hermione was looking at the page for a long moment and arched her eyebrow. She looked at the floor and seemed to think on it. Parvati was a better student than Ron, and Cho Chang was in Ravenclaw. She hopped up and down with her heels with her eyes closed and her fist balled up. "All right. I'm in."

Parvati shrugged. "I'm in. It sounds like she deserves it to me." She glanced back at Lavender, who was beaming just over her shoulder. The girl was an airhead but could be quite enthusiastic about group activities.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was walking back from the Library on his own when he heard whimpering from one of the classrooms.

The boy walked up to the door and paused. He heard two voices, Quirrel's and another, but there was only one person in the room. He pushed the door open and walked into the room. His wand was hidden behind his right hand, ready and waiting. "Hello Professor."

The man turned to notice him entering the room and seemed a bit put off by his sudden appearance. "P-p..."

"Yes. I'm afraid I'm not that stupid Professor. Please stop stuttering." Harry took a step towards him and seemed cheerful.

The man got a little wide eyed. "I...I..."

"Why are you after the stone? Who were you talking too? We're alone in here..." he narrowed his eyes at the man, "...aren't we?" His head cocked to the side a bit as he walked in to regard the man. "It's Dumbledore that's got you stumped isn't it?"

The man looked rather stern. "Potter. I don't like being the bad guy. If you wish to discuss something with myself and Professor Dumbledore..." He looked more afraid than angry.

"Yes. Let's go and ask him why you want the stone." The boy seemed light tempered and calm. "We'll see if he wants to talk to your friend as well."

The man's features twisted into a fearless scowl. "You're a little too smart. Potter."

"I had a good teacher." The boy seemed pleasant and relaxed.

Quirrel snorted and glared at him. "You're more like your brat of a sister than you let on." He spun around and pointed his wand at the boy, flicking his wrist.

"Why does he want the stone?" The boy waved his hand and Quirrel's wand flew from his grip and into the boy's open palm. "I wouldn't recommend trying to hurt me." The boy's forehead was on fire, and his gaze was very focused.

The man walked up and snatched it from his grip. "Get to your common area, Potter. I'll get to you at a later date."

The boy nodded and turned away, leaving the frustrated and angry man behind in the classroom. "As you wish, Professor."

OooOOooOO

Harry hadn't spoken of his conversation with Quirrel to his friends, or anyone else. He'd gotten quiet and looked thoughtful over the next few days. Hermione had managed to convince Ron it had something to do with exams being so close. He'd taken his notice for detention and shoved it into his pocket as soon as he'd gotten it.

He'd reported to Filtch and listened to the man talk about older punishments. He went on how horrible their duties would be. Neville was sniffing, but glad Harry was with him. Draco was glaring at the man and being irritated by his mouth.

"As if you could really hurt us." The blond boy snorted as he pushed past Neville by shoving him sideways a bit. "Potter."

"Ye'll be quiet and listen to what I have to say." The man growled and twisted to grab the boy by the face.

"Shut up and take us where we're supposed to go." The blond boy waved his hand and ignored him after that.

Neville's jaw dropped and he took a few staggering steps back. Filtch did as he was told and looked rather zoned out.

"Keep up toad." Malfoy glared back at him and waved him to follow.

"Well, we have gotten stronger." Harry snorted and looked at the boy with an unimpressed frown.

"Soon I'll be strong enough to destroy you, and your stupid sister." The boy seemed pleased with himself. "There's nothing you can do to stop it either. Not even you can get into my head anymore."

"I sense much fear in you Malfoy." Harry gave him a sideways glance. "What do you want?"

"I'm curious about why your sister set me up on this little date." The blond boy growled and clenched his fist. "I'm not very happy about it, Potter."

"Well, it's not been pleasant. I'm not sure, but she's got her reasons I think." The boy who lived didn't seem worried about it and nodded.

"We're heading into that forest." Malfoy nodded towards the woods as they drew close. "Servants work. You should do well."

"One can only hope." Harry got a wistful smile on his face. Hagrid was calling them over with fang running around his feet, and the half giant had a large crossbow hanging from his shoulder.

Neville was doing his best to stay small and quiet behind them.

Hagrid seemed surprised as Filtch walked up without a word. His lantern was hanging from his grip and he looked somewhat dazed. "Eh? Well, yer earlier than you've been before. I guess thas a start."

Filch frowned at him. He turned and shuffled away as the trio of boys stood in front of the half giant without a word.

"Right." Hagrid looked pleased and gave the group a look over. "Well, we'll be into that forest. Somethin in there tha' shouldn't be." He waved the group over and led them to a small trail at the forest edge. He hefted his lantern and lifted it up. "See, that silvery stuff on the ground there? That's Unicorn blood. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try and find the poor thing. Might have ta put it out of it's misery."

"What killed the unicorn?" Harry and Malfoy both asked at the same time. Neither one seemed to care, but gave each other a glance after saying it.

Hagrid looked thoughtful. "Not sure. It ain't supposed ta be here whatever it is. We're gonna split inta two groups and try and track it. Don't worry, nuthin in the forest will hurt ya if me or Fang is with ya."

Harry spoke up first, cutting off Draco. The blond boy had his eye on Neville and a smirk that didn't look nice. "Draco and I will take fang."

Hagrid seemed surprised. "All right, but I'll warn ye he's a coward."

"That's why it's best if Neville stays with you." Harry nodded. "I'll go with Malfoy."

"Fine with me." The blond boy thought about arguing but shrugged.

"Yeh be careful nah. There's a lot o' dangerous things about in 'ere." Hagrid leaned in towards them.

"Yes. Hagrid, why would someone want to hurt a unicorn in the first place?" Harry had started to turn away with his wand in his hand. Malfoy's lantern was floating beside him, and he had his own wand out.

The Grounds Keeper shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure. It's a bad, bad thing ter do. Unicorns is special, Harry. You shouldn't hurt em."

The boy nodded and started walking with Malfoy. Neither one said anything.

Draco broke the silence and moved ahead a bit. "I've found it already. Wonder how long it will take you..."

"I've known where it was since we left the castle. There's nothing we can do to help it, but I'm hoping I'll get there first. There's someone I'm expecting to meet. I'll ask him what he's killing unicorns for when we get there."

Draco snorted, the boy had to be bluffing. "We'll see. Sounds interesting I suppose." He crossed his arms and didn't look worried. His lantern floated just behind his shoulder giving him all the light he needed.

Harry was using his wand as a flashlight and looking through the wood. The silvery pools could be seen in a few places about them. They were ignoring the trail and favoring a shorter path that moved them across it on occasion. Both boys seemed to know where they were going and Hagrid's dog was keeping a lazy pace behind them.

OooOOooOO

Hagrid had shoved Neville up beside a tree stump and fired at something around the corner. He was looking ahead with his weapon ready and squinting into the darkness around them. "Somethin's here. I knew it."

The boy was shaking and looking up at him with doe eyed fear. "W-what is it?"

"I ain't sure..." Hagrid turned and pointed into the woods again. "Come out! I'm armed!" A centaur stepped out of the woods. He was looking at Hagrid as the Giant lowered his weapon. "Oh, it's just you Ronan."

"Good day to you, Hagrid. Were you going to shoot me?" The creature's voice was as if he'd just woken from a pleasant sleep. Neville's legs were shaking, but he wasn't petrified. He steadied himself and looked up at the creature.

"I've never seen a real centaur before." The boy flushed as it looked down at him.

"Now you have." It lost interest and looked at Hagrid again.

"This 'ere is Neville, he's a student up at the school. Can't be too careful. Harry and Draco are about with Fang somewhere near." Hagrid looked as if he was about to ask it if it wanted tea. "I'm glad I've run inna you. There's a unicorn been hurt, ya seen anything unusual?"

"Mars is bright tonight." The centaur nodded. "Unusually bright."

"I was meanin somethin a bit closer ter home." Hagrid's face fell a bit as he scratched his skull for a moment.

Another centaur walked up. The giant didn't look very hopeful. "Hello Bane, I was jus askin Ronan ere. There's been a unicorn hurt. Have yeh seen anythin unusual?"

"Mars, it is very bright tonight." The other centaur looked up.

"We've heard." He sighed and gave up. "Well, if yer see anythin, you let me know."

Neville felt a bit of relief as the Grounds Keeper pulled him away from the scene. Hagrid looked down at him and spoke. "Never try and get a straight answer from a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin closer than the moon."

The boy nodded and looked up at him with wide eyes. However bad it was, it was still better than being stuck alone with Draco. So far. He felt sorry for Harry.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter frowned as he looked down at the Unicorn. It was dead and sprawled out across the ground.

Draco nodded at it and frowned. "Well, we've found it. Now what?"

"We say hello." The boy stepped out into the clearing and looked over to the edge. "Hello. Want to tell me what you're doing out here killing unicorns?"

Fang whimpered and rushed away into the woods.

Draco gasped. He crouched low and clenched his wand as he noticed it. The hooded figure hidden in the shadows of the wood.

Harry shined his light on it and frowned as it shied away. "Quirrel?"

"What?" Draco's jaw dropped. "That's not..."

It shrieked at them both. Harry was glaring forward with concentration on his face. His scar burned as if it was melting down his face. The thing spread it's arms and screeched at them. The arms and legs were bent at the wrong angle and its features were more serpent like than human. Two red eyes with slits for irises glared back at them both.

Draco had his arms crossed and looked as if he was fighting a strong wind.

Harry stood with his wand held forward, keeping the blade of light between himself and the creature.

The thing jumped into the air. Harry took a step back as Draco rolled away as it tried to land on top of him. The boy who lived shoved his hand out and the monster was tossed out of its jump into the side of a tree. It hissed and hit the ground crouching and glaring at the mouse haired boy. His hair was shifting about from the breeze in the forest as he glared it down with his lightsaber held ready.

The creature jumped forward towards him. He stepped back again as it grabbed a branch and pulled itself into the treetops. It was gone and Harry was left glaring at the dark hole in the canopy it had vanished into. "What was that?"

"Didn't look much like Professor Quirrel to me." Draco snorted and dusted his sleeves off. He seemed a little surprised and confused. "Come on then. Now that we're done we might get some sleep. I've got better things to do than wander through the wood with you."

A new voice from behind the pair caused them both to turn. Neither looked very alarmed at the sudden appearance. "You should not be here!"

Both boys looked at the centaur that trotted up from the forest behind them. It was a young adult male with blond hair and a palomino body. They eyes were a striking blue. Harry grinned up at it and seemed pleased to meet him. Draco looked on in wonder behind him with his arms crossed and a small frown on his face. It was the first time the Slytherin boy had ever seen one.

Harry welcomed it as a friend. "Hi. We're in detention. We were supposed to help Hagrid find the unicorn that's dead over there."

"I am Firenze. You are the Potter boy! You should not be here! Can you ride? It will be faster..." The centaur looked worried.

"Huh? Thank you, but my legs are fine." The boy shrugged and started walking along side the creature. "Why would someone want to kill a unicorn? What would they get out of it?"

Draco moved up beside him with an interested expression on his face. "Yeah. What is the big deal anyway?"

The centaur gasped. "So, you do not understand. It is a terrible thing to slay a unicorn. It's blood will keep you alive even if you are on the brink of death. It comes at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half life, a cursed life, from the moment blood touches your lips."

Draco snorted. "Quirrel indeed."

Harry nodded. "You're right. That was Voldemort. He's using the unicorn blood to keep himself around until Quirrel can get him what he wants."

"What's that?" Draco snorted.

"Why should I tell you?" The boy crossed his arms and walked along side his rival with a frown of his own.

"What makes you think my master likes him any more than you and your sister? He's in our way too you know." Draco sneered at him and moved ahead. "It doesn't matter anyway. I've no interest in it. Sooner or later you'll be dealt with."

"I will lead you to the edge of the wood." Firenze stomped his front hooves in impatience.

"Thank you. I wasn't expecting to run into him here. At least I know what's going on now." The boy pushed his glasses up his nose and followed behind him.

Bane rushed up out of the woods around them. Malfoy jumped a bit, but Harry looked cheerful and glad to see him. "Hello Bane."

"Firenze! What are you doing here?" He glared down at the Potter boy and ignored Draco.

The younger centaur looked a bit defiant, but not aggressive. "I..."

"Draco and I ran into Voldemort back in the woods. We're going back to tell Hagrid where the Unicorn is and that we managed to scare off what's been hurting them. We ran into Firenze on the way back and he's been walking with us since."

"What did you tell...?" Bane moved up into the younger centaur's chest.

Harry interrupted again. "Just what he wanted with the Unicorn blood. I would have found that out with a trip to the library tomorrow. He offered to show us the way out of the forest."

"Potter. Are we going to stand here talking with these things all night, or are we going to head back? I'd like to get some sleep. I doubt that hairy oaf will keep us till dawn now that the job is done." Malfoy started moving ahead of them.

Harry flinched a bit. "Sorry. Don't worry. We can find our way from here. I don't think that thing will be bothering us again for the night. He took off the other way, and I don't sense him around anymore. We should be fine. Thanks." He gave a small bow towards Firenze and Bane.

The older centaur growled a bit, snorted, and turned away.

"Be cautious." The younger one nodded in return and moved off into the woods on his own.

"Ha!" Malfoy gave a snort and swaggered away. "Careful. Heh."

Harry's head hung a bit more as he followed after at a lazy pace. "You could at least try and be a little polite you know."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter frowned as she looked at the table in front of her in the hall. A small bottle was sitting in the middle of an empty hallway on a small round table. Formal classes had ended and the next day they would begin taking exams. Hogwarts was rather quiet and seemed far less busy. Children were milling about alone huddled with books or whispering in groups. It was as if the whole school was a giant library.

She was on her way to meet her friends in the Slytherin common area after a trip to the Library itself. It was more occupied than normal, and she'd gotten what she wanted and moved on. The exams were all passable in her mind. The only one she was certain to excel in was Potions, she wasn't feeling bad about much of the rest. Transfiguration would give her the most trouble, but worrying at that point was useless anyway.

The girl was confused as she walked up and stared at the bottle. It had a simple white label with two words written on it. "Drink me." She cocked her head and snorted. "Not on your life." She continued on her way but paused. "What's in it?" It had just popped up in the back of her head. She craned her neck back to look at the table and narrowed her eyes. "Damn it." She pulled the glasses off her neck and peered at the clear bottle through them. A scroll, ink bottle, and quill floated out of her robes and started writing.

It swirled with color through the lenses. There were flashes of light inside that were twisting in a lava lamp like reaction of magical energy. "Hmmm." She looked down at it and let the scroll that had been writing down what it appeared to be made of behind her back. "Interesting. I wonder what it does?" She turned and walked away.

About half way down the hall she sighed and took a drink from the glass in her hand. She paused and pulled it away from her lips. The label now had the word 'Sucker' written on it. "Oh hell." She'd not even noticed herself picking it up and hadn't realized she was doomed the moment she read the message on the side. "Weasl...no...who then? What?" She was frustrated and confused.

She didn't feel odd but fell flat on her face after taking a few steps. She pushed herself upright with her arms and immediately noticed her center of balance had shifted. Her chest felt heavier. She pushed herself up onto her arms and wobbled a bit as she grabbed the wall to steady herself. "What? What happened?"

She managed to hang onto the wall and keep herself upright. There was a bathroom ahead and she stumbled inside and gasped as she looked at her reflection. "What the hell man?" She felt her face and didn't see anything different about herself. She leaned over the sink towards the mirror and frowned as her crotch ached.

The redhead froze in place. Her hand went down to her crotch and she gasped. "No way. This is...awesome!" She still had the bottle in her hand and downed the rest of it. "I'm...I'm a guy..." She pushed her fingers against her cheeks and staggered back. The redhead put his hand up to his throat throat and felt a lump that hadn't been there before. He landed on the lid of a toilet seat and landed right on them both. The boy squeezed his eyes shut as his back stiffened, he belted his head against the wall of the stall and rubbed on it as he staggered out. He wavered and staggered towards the doors and into the hall. "I've done it! Well, someone else has...where did?" He looked at the bottle. It was too good to be true. "What on earth?"

With a heavy sigh of reluctance he started staggering towards Pomphrey's clinic. The boy looked like he'd just stepped off a boat after months at sea. "Whoa." He was catching on quick but still seemed off as he moved.

"Potter?" Cedric Diggory noticed her movement. There were a few other people in the hall, but he rushed to her side and helped steady her by leaning her against his shoulder. He was confused and alarmed as she fumbled into him. "Hey. What are you..."

She seemed to struggle a bit, but ended up falling face first into his chest. She breathed in deep and fell into him, pushing him against the wall.

He was flustered and looking at her with wide eyes. "Um, all you all right?"

She looked up at him with wide fear filled eyes. "No. Not really." During the exchange she'd managed to acquire an erection. She looked a bit pale and hung off his shoulder while leaning forward a bit to use her robes to hide it.

"What happened? Are you drunk or something? If you're caught..." He stammered a bit.

"What's with her?" Melvin was giving her a look over as he noticed.

Margaret was about to belt him across his head, Pansy appeared beside him looking frustrated as well.

"Leave it...drat..." Pansy was flushed, and had been hiding with the boy's sister and watching nearby. They were both cross with the Boggs boy for interrupting.

Cedric and Melvin were just confused.

A few students gave the exchange a passing glance as they moved by in the hall. There was a bit of milling about but it wasn't crowded. They were given a bit of a break just before exams started, and there wasn't much to do but last minute studying.

No one knew Anna was male and she grumbled at the group. "Look, just take me to Pomphrey, will ya? I'm a bit off balance."

"What happened to your voice?" The Hufflepuff boy seemed confused.

"Anna? Are you all right?" Pansy looked worried as Margaret took over for Cedric with the other girl helping her on the other side.

"No. Look, it's just a prank. I'll be fine." She was looking at a group of older boys grouped together a short distance away. She tore her eyes away and growled. "Shit."

OooOOooOO

"Well, aren't we in a state!" Madam Pomphrey was flushed and angry looking. "Oh! Who would...the nerve!"

"Can you fix it?" Anna was in a sour mood and hadn't said much.

Margaret and Pansy were sitting on the bed next to her while looking at her exposed chest in a sort of fascinated horror.

"Yes. It's a bit rare. I've not seen one of these enchantments before. Most wizards who make something like this would try and keep it secret." The woman lifted the red haired boy's arm and poked at his armpit a bit. "Gender changing is somewhat taboo. Are you sure you...want...?" Pomphrey squeezed her shoulder and shook her head. "Never mind." She turned away, the girl had a recipe for the potion she'd been given on her.

"Yeah. Fix it." The redhead's face fell as she said it.

"You two girls go to class. She'll be good as new, but it'll take a bit of time." The woman ushered them off. Cedric was standing outside the clinic with his arms crossed with Melvin. They both stood up as the girls emerged with the witch.

"What happened?" Melvin seemed interested, and Cedric was standing with him with a bit of concern on his face.

"There was something off about her voice, but I didn't notice anything else wrong with her." The Hufflepuff student nodded.

"She'll be fine. You can go back to class. It's just a prank spell." Pompery was being protective as she closed the door to keep them from looking in behind her after stepping out to speak with them. "You'll see her later, and she'll be right as rain by dinner."

"What happened?" Cedric moved over to the girls with Melvin.

"Worried about her?" Pansy smiled at him.

"Hey. Come on now." He backed away looking flushed. "She looked like she was sick or something."

"Quit screwing with him. I want to know what's going on." Melvin snorted and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Whats with her? She seemed like something was wrong."

"Someone turned her into a boy." Margaret gave a small sigh. "She's fine."

"Oh. That's not so bad then." Her brother shrugged.

"Who would do that?" Cedric looked a bit disgusted. "Doesn't seem too bad. Why was she staggering around like that?"

"About half of Hogwarts. I'd bet on the Weasley Twins if I had too." Melvin shrugged and looked less worried.

"She'll get them back if it was." Margaret seemed displeased with the both of them.

"I'd have died of embarrassment!" Pansy was flustered and shuddered as she rubbed her arms. "I don't see how she can be so calm! That was awful!"

OooOOooOO

Anna sat on the bed drinking something hot that tasted halfway between awful and rancid. It had been about two hours and her balls had only shrunk down about half way by that point. "If I had been able to make it to the lab I'd have fixed this myself."

"I'd prefer you left such matters to the professionals." Dumbledore walked up with a faint grin on her face. He'd just dropped in to see her and investigate the incident. The girl seemed quiet, pensive, but calm. She was taking it well. "I seem to recall you've had a bit of experience. I imagine this is not too traumatic for you?"

"Yes. I've learned something from this." The girl nodded and gave a small sigh. The lump in her throat felt weird she was unused to it. She looked uncomfortable and shifted about a bit as she swallowed.

"Oh?" He seemed alert and attentive. The girl wasn't in the best mood, but seemed to be taking the prank better than most girls would have. She seemed preoccupied with something else. He couldn't begin to imagine what it might be.

"Be careful what you wish for." She gave a small shrug and looked at him. "I'll be cured by dinner according to her. Funny, didn't take this long to do this to me."

He arched his eyebrow. "Wish for?"

"It's nothing. Just something I should have expected, but didn't. I'm fine Professor." She gave him a genuine looking smile before looking down at the sheets and giving a small sigh. "You've heard about my past life. I missed it a bit I guess." The emotion drained from her face as she stared at the wall. "Just feels off now." Her cheeks were flushed and she hugged her knees a bit.

"No word on the culprit I'm afraid. It seems as though no real damage has been done. I expect you should have no problems with your exams beginning tomorrow?" He nodded and smiled down at her.

"I'll be fine." She closed her eyes and relaxed. After he turned and left she was alone on the bed. A tear ran down her cheek as she stared at the ceiling. "Damn it." She rubbed it off and sniffled. The girl sat up abruptly and downed the potion. She ended up making a sour and disgusted face as she took it all at once. After a bit of coughing she managed to keep it down and gasped for breath.

OooOOooOO

Hermione was looking at Cho Chang with a frown on her face. She didn't look pleased, but wasn't feeling bad about what she'd done.

Parvati had set up the table, Lavender had managed to find a nice doily, Cho had mixed the potion, and Hermione had found an obscure charm for the label. It had worked well on their target.

"Great job with that bottle." The Asian girl shook the Gryffindor girl by her shoulder.

"Yeah. Those enchanted labels were a great idea." Parvati seemed cheerful.

"Right." Hermione seemed quiet, but didn't look like she was feeling very guilty over the whole mess. She was calm and serious with her arms crossed over her chest. She didn't look like she wanted to speak much of it.

"I can't believe the luck. She ran into Cedric while she was a boy. I was halfway expecting her to try and fix it herself. Too bad she went to Pomphrey. She'd never have found the cure for that on her own. It's not in the Library. Would have been fun to see her stuck that way till the end of the year. Oh well." Cho Chang was relishing the moment. She giggled to herself and turned away.

"Thanks for the help. That brat deserves what she got." Hermione nodded and smirked as she thought about the look she'd given Hagrid a few weeks before.

Parvati shrugged. "Great. Justice is served and all. I'll see you about later."

"Right." The other two girls responded, they glanced at each other and turned away.

With that the group dispersed.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sitting around the common room with his friends. Most everyone had forgotten about his recent loss of house points. There was a large group that included Neville, Parvati, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George, and Oliver Wood.

"Ah, no more studying!" Ron was relaxing in his seat. All of them had pulled up chairs around the table and seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Harry was strumming on the strings of his guitar cheerfully. He was playing a portion of 'The Wall' almost as a reflex, the amplifier was off and everyone was chatting. "It'll be another week before we see how badly we've done." He was joking and seemed glad to be sitting in the cheerful group.

Hermione glanced at the boy as he rubbed on the scar on his forehead. He'd been doing it a lot since the exams started. Ever since he'd gotten back from detention. He'd not said anything and looked cheerful though. "What are you going to do over the summer?" She looked over at him and kicked her feet. "Ron's going to Romania with his family, I'll be with my parents. I guess you're stuck with your sister then?"

The boy blinked and looked over at her. "Well..." The familiar click of his amplifier coming on got the rest of the group's attention as they all looked over at him and started chatting. Ron looked relieved. Parvati was almost sitting on his lap and had her finger under his chin.

Harry started playing and singing. "I'm through standing in line at clubs I'll never get in, it's like the bottom of the ninth and I'm never gonna win! This life hasn't turned out quite the way I want it to be!" He had a wide grin on his face as he stood up and kept going. "I wanna brand new house on an episode of Cribs, and a bathroom I can play baseball in, and a king size tub big enough for ten plus me!" Harry played 'Rockstar' by Nickelback and turned to look at Hermione as he finished. "We'll be having a few shows in town. I'll send you tickets if you'd like. Just let me know when you can make it. We'll be touring England for a month this year."

The girl nodded. "I'd like that."

"You too Ron. You won't be in Romania the whole Summer right? Let me know when you get back and I'll get you and your family into the show if you want." The boy looked over at the redhead. "We'll have a kick ass summer this year. I'm sure of it. I'm sure the rest of the bad won't mind seeing you guys either."

Hermione frowned a bit. "Right." She looked like she felt a little guilty about something and shifted in her seat as she looked away.

It confused Harry for a moment, but one of the students opened the window to answer a tapping. Hedwig was on his shoulder and dropping a letter into his hand a moment later. The boy frowned as he glared down at the symbol on the top. It was a circle with a triangle and line inside it. It had only one line of writing. "Dumbledore is gone. Tonight."

He glanced back at his friends and smiled.

"What's up?" Ron was grinning at him as he sat down.

"Nothing. Anna is just wishing me luck on my results." The boy gave his friend a small grin.

Hermione narrowed her eyes a bit and sat back in her seat a bit more. "You're up to something. I can tell."

The boy glanced over at her and snorted in amusement. "Don't worry. It's nothing to worry about."

OooOOooOO

TBC...


	20. Chapter 20

A matter of force

Part 20

Through the trap door.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sitting in his common room looking at Ron and Hermione. Everyone else had gone to bed, and they were both sitting there with him. None of them were speaking, and Hermione had her nose in a book.

The boy who lived gave a small sigh and hung his head. "We've got a long day tomorrow." He stood up and stretched his back.

"You should head to bed then." Hermione grinned up at him, Ron glanced over at her and shrugged.

Harry frowned a bit as the boy shifted in his seat. The redhead pulled down the brim of his hat and avoided eye contact with the boy who lived. The Potter boy could see the whip under his rear. "What are you two up too?"

"We know you're up to something. You've been quiet ever since you got that note from your sister." The frazzled girl narrowed her eyes at him as she stood from her seat and moved between him and Ron.

Harry looked uncomfortable and shook his head. "All right. You're on to me. So?"

"So what's the plan then?" Ron leaned in and perked up a bit.

"I'm going to steal that stone first, and I'm going alone. I can't let Voldemort get his hands on it." The boy who lived leaned in and narrowed his eyes at them. "I'm doing it alone."

"You'll get expelled!" Hermione went white.

"So what? I'd rather get expelled than let that jerk turn immortal. He killed my parents, and he'll make life very hard for people just like the two of you if he does." The boy looked very serious.

"We're not letting you go alone!" Hermione put her nose up to his.

Harry shook his head and crossed his arms as he tried to look serious and firm. "No. I can do it myself. There's no point in the two of you getting in trouble with me. I can move easier on my own, and..."

"We're not asking." The girl was insistent. She snagged Ron's ear and twisted it a bit. "Are we? We'll go to McGonagall if you try to leave us!"

"Ouch! Hey!" The redhead looked irate but seemed to agree. He pulled out of her grip and looked over at Harry. "Look. I won't tell, but you can't stop us from coming with you. She'll make us sit here all night and you know it."

The boy who lived gave a heavy sigh and nodded. "All right fine."

"We'll take the cloak. All of us can fit under that." Hermione gave a short nod as the group started towards the door.

"What are you doing?" A familiar voice caused them all to pause. Neville was clutching his toad in the corner and had stood up from behind an armchair.

Harry blinked in surprise as he turned to face him.

Ron started to speak, but Harry cut him off. Hermione was looking at the boy with wide eyes and a rather shocked expression.

"Well, Professor Quirrel is working for Lord Voldemort. He's going to try and steal what's being guarded in that corridor that's off limits. We're going to try and get to it first so he can't give it to Voldemort. He could use it to come back to life and it would make him immortal."

The large boy went a bit pale. "What? You're going to cause trouble? I won't..."

"Not as much as he would if he got his hands on it." Hermione interjected. "Come on Neville. This is more important than house points. We're behind anyway."

The larger boy nodded and looked at his feet. "Are you...sure?"

Harry nodded. "Sorry Neville."

The large boy's face went hard. "You're jerking my chain!"

The group in front of him moved over to the exit. "Afraid not. Draco and I ran into Voldemort in the woods while we had detention. He's what's been killing the Unicorns. He's using their blood to keep himself around until he can get his hands on the stone."

Longbottom nodded and seemed as if it made sense all of a sudden. Harry's friends gasped and looked at him in surprise.

The portrait opened and Harry walked out.

"You didn't tell us about that!" snapped Hermione.

Ron was at her heels and fumbling to put his whip on. "What about that cloak?"

"Hello Anna. Coming along are we?" Harry grinned at the redhead as she turned from around a corner just ahead of them.

"As if I'd miss this." She snorted as she gave the two children behind him a passive glance.

Hermione froze and turned a bit pink.

Ron seemed pleased to see her. "You always seem to show up late."

"I met our friend in the forest. We're on our way to the hallway now." The boy tossed the cloak back to Ron and Hermione as he walked along beside his sister. "That's why you got me thrown in detention."

Hermione made a choking noise and hid behind Ron's back. No one seemed to notice.

"What about you?" Ron was pulling it open while the frazzled girl climbed under it as well.

"We'll be fine." Anna seemed amused.

"Come on." Harry waved them forward.

"Oh no!" gasped Hermione as she noticed Mrs. Norris at the foot of the stairs ahead of them. Harry and Anna were in plain slight.

The cat looked at the pair in the distance, arched it's back, and tore off as if her tail was on fire.

"Don't worry about her, Harry and I have her trained to leave us alone." Anna snorted as she realized her brother's friends were worried.

They didn't meet anyone else until the stairway just before the corridor. Peeves was bobbing up and down loosening up the carpet. He turned to see two students looking at him. "Well...looky what we have..."

"Get lost, Peeves!" Ron's irate sounding voice cut in before the ghost could say anything more.

The spirit got a panicked expression on his face and passed through the stairs and vanished into the night.

Hermione took off the cloak and walked up beside Harry. Ron did the same and looked confused. "You never did explain how you manage to do that. Peeves is terrified of you."

"It's nothing." The redhead blushed and shifted his whip on his belt. "Come on. We're there!"

Harry was looking at the still ajar door with a serious frown on his face. "Last chance to turn back. You can take the cloak with you. I won't be needing it."

"Don't be stupid!" Hermione slapped his arm. "She's coming too isn't she?"

Anna snorted and gave a small nod. "We've got business ahead. You won't be able to come with us all the way there. Once we reach the final chamber you two will need to head back. There is nothing either one of you can do to help us with what we must face. She looked at them both and had a very serious expression. It was unusual for her to not have her rather vapid grin and they both took notice of it. She'd not said much of anything since greeting them in front of Gryffindor's common area.

Ron pushed the door open and peered into the shadows with his hand on his whip. A low growling with heavy sniffing filled the air as the children's eyes adjusted to see the animal. The animal sounded very angry and dangerous. That is until Ron opened his mouth.

"Great. We never did find out how to get past him did we?" commented the red haired boy.

It was sitting in the back of the room and peering at them with all three heads. The beast gave a sharp bark and jumped to its feet. All three heads were upright, the ears were alert, and the tail was wagging in a violent manner.

Ron and Hermione jumped at the sound, but Harry and Anna both had their head's cocked as they looked at the red haired boy.

The boy seemed to notice they were looking at him. "Right. I've done this before. Shouldn't be too hard." He called into the room. "Sit!"

The beast planted its rear on the ground with its tail thumping the floor.

"Stay!" commanded Ron. He walked into the room and was shaking with terror. There was a harp on the ground near the dog's paws and a trap door just in front of it.

The three heads cocked, all with their tongues hanging. It looked quite passive as the group entered the room.

One by one, they all jumped into the trap door, Anna, Hermione, then Harry, with Ron standing beside it looking at the huge beast with wide fear filled eyes. "Um. Good boy." He hopped down and followed his friends into the door. He didn't even mind the fact that he couldn't see the bottom much.

The dog seemed pleased with itself as it settled down onto the ground again and made a few satisfied grunts.

OooOOooOO

As they landed on the soft plant below the hole, Harry and Ron found themselves being pulled away from the ground by force.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Ron was annoyed and staggered to his feet in the red light from the other redhead's wand. He looked on in confusion as she hacked a few curls of vine that had wrapped around his ankles and arms away. He'd only gotten a bit tangled and didn't see what the big deal was.

Hermione was picking a few small pieces of plant off Harry's robes as the boy tugged a bit from his wrist.

Ron was frozen in terror as Anna skillfully used her wand to do the same thing. She spun it around his arms, legs, and shoulders a few times before brushing a last piece of leaf from his shoulder with her fingers. She fixed his collar leaving him standing with a horrified expression as she turned away.

"Devil's Snare." The Slytherin looked at the mass of plants behind them. "Come on. We shouldn't linger."

"It's not been so bad." Hermione seemed pleased with their progress. "How did you do that Ron? It was acting like...well, like a dog that knows you."

"We've met before." The boy frowned a bit and adjusted his hat as he moved ahead of her. He was putting a bit of distance between himself and the other redhead. She'd made him nervous by coming a bit too close for comfort with that wand of hers.

They walked on for a short time through a narrow corridor that reminded Harry of Gringotts.

"Do you hear something?" Ron was leading the group and cocked his head.

Anna nodded. "Yes. Next is a room full of flying keys."

"What?" Hermione looked confused.

"Come on now. We've got to hurry." Harry was rubbing at his forehead and looking back behind them.

The redhead glanced back at them as she walked ahead into the room. "Don't worry. Once we get past McGonagall's chess board we shouldn't have any trouble. I've got a way past Snape's test, and Quirrel has already taken care of his own test."

Harry looked about with his friends. There were hundreds of keys flitting about the room overhead, and a heavy wooden door ahead of them. "Which one...ah." He pointed up. "That one! The big silver one! It's feathers are messed up."

"Good eye, Harry! How do we get it?" Hermione looked pleased.

"Well..." Anna was about to point out the broomsticks.

Ron's arm moved in a fluid motion as he removed his towel from his neck. He kicked off the wall, and opened the cloth like a net while holding the ends with both hands. A moment later he had it closed like a bag with the key inside. "Dead useful I tell you." He held it up and grinned at the rest of the group.

"Great Ron!" Harry was pleased.

Hermione's frowned a bit as she glanced at Anna. She looked towards the door and shook her head. "We're almost there then?"

Harry took the key as Ron handed it over and shoved it into the lock. The door popped open.

"What's this about chess now? Oh, never mind." Ron stepped into the room just behind Harry and gasped.

"Yes. We're going to have to make our way across the room as pieces on the board." Anna frowned as she looked over at the other redhead. "Each of us needs to take a piece. Otherwise we'll each have to play a separate game to get across."

"Ron and Harry play sometimes." Hermione looked nervous. "I'm not very good."

The Slytherin girl shrugged. "Neither am I."

"Well, Ron usually beats me." Harry looked over at him.

The boy swallowed and nodded. "Right." He walked over to the knight's piece and put his hand against it. "I'll be a knight." He looked back at the others. "Harry, you take that Bishop, Hermione can take the Castle, Anna can take the Queen."

"What? Why does she get to be the Queen?" Hermione was irate and glared at the other girl.

"Does it really matter?" The redhead looked over at her. "I'll be the Rook if you'd prefer. I don't care."

"Nevermind that. Look, the game's started." Ron nodded towards the white pawn that had moved up in front of them.

"Right. White goes first." Harry nodded as he seemed to remember. "Now what?"

OooOOooOO

The game had taken close to ten minutes and all of them had a few close calls. Even Anna looked a bit nervous in some places. The Weasley boy had managed to keep them all safe, but found himself in a predicament. There was only one thing he could do. The king was protected and he had to force white's hand.

Despite his friends' protest, Ron Weasley sacrificed his piece to the White Queen so that Harry could end the game with a Checkmate. It belted him across the skull with a stone arm and he crumpled down.

Harry watched as the White Queen dragged Ron off the board and hung his head a bit.

"Ron!" Hermione sounded afraid and looked over at Harry. "No. Why did he...?"

"He'll be fine. He's just knocked out. Most of these traps were designed to catch thieves, not kill them." Anna glanced over at where the boy was slumped against the wall. "He'll be out for a bit, and wake up with a headache. No damage."

The frazzle haired girl's features flashed with anger. As usual, the girl was cool and collected. She didn't look pleased, but didn't seem worried.

Harry had already taken three steps towards the king and the crown was tossed at his feet. The door opened and torch light flickered in the next room.

Harry and Hermione rushed for the door, but Anna walked up behind the frazzled girl and pulled on her shoulder. "No. You've come far enough." She pulled her back and gave a gentle shove to put her into the chess room. "There's nothing ahead but a knocked out troll and a logic puzzle. Help Ron, and go back to the school. Dumbledore should be returning soon, and it's time that the teachers were alerted to this."

The girl looked at her with angry eyes. "What? No I..."

Anna's tone was gentle as she gave her another soft push. "Go. You would be a greater burden than help ahead. Besides, this is a personal fight."

Harry looked back at her and gave a small sorry looking frown. "Hermione. Thank you, really. This is something, we, have to do." He gave her a nod.

The girl looked about ready to argue but pulled back. "All right."

Anna smirked at her. "Don't feel bad. This is a family problem. There will be plenty of opportunities to help my brother in the future. Believe me." The redhead rolled her eyes and seemed cheerful.

Harry waved at her and started backing away as his sister walked past him. "Take care of Ron. I'll see you soon."

Hermione looked about the room. The board hadn't reset and Ron was over by the wall. She bit her lip and glared at the door for a moment. "That little br...damn it." She shook her head and rushed over to where the boy was lying. She didn't have time to think about it now.

OooOOooOO

Quirrel's troll had been knocked out as predicted leaving nothing but an odor to get by. It didn't take but a moment to reach the next room. The door ahead burst into black flames, the one behind them burned purple. There was a table with a roll of paper and a row of bottles in the middle of the room. Harry started towards it.

"Don't bother." Anna moved up beside him with a bottle gripped between her fingers. "Here. Drink this, it's the same thing as in the answer to the puzzle. You'll feel cold, and we'll get through the flames." After she handed it to him she produced another. "Come on. We've got an appointment to keep."

She glanced back at him as he peered at the bottle. "Don't bother with the stone. We don't need to have it. It's safer where it is. Only someone who wants it, but not to use it themselves can get it. Our friend doesn't know that."

The boy frowned at her, but nodded and downed the contents of the bottle she'd given him.

OooOOooOO

Quirrel turned to glare at the two of them. Harry stepped in first with Anna right behind him.

"Hello Professor. Imagine meeting you here." The boy was frowning and standing tall. The man was standing in front of the mirror he'd run into with his sister.

"Potter. I suspected I might run into one of you while I was here. How convenient that both of you have shown up." He snapped his fingers and ropes appeared out of thin air binding both children where they stood. "I'll be rid of you once I've finished here. I can see the stone. I'm presenting it to my master. With this and the two of you dead. Heh, I'll have his favor in a way no other does! Isn't it wonderful?"

The redhead snorted and ignited her wand. Harry did the same, and the ropes fell away from them both.

Anna hissed at him in an angry way. "We aren't here to waste time speaking to your servant. Come out so we can see you, scum."

"What?" Quirrel was confused and nervous. She was just hissing at him but he'd understood words. "W...how did you...?"

The boy looked calm and stood at her side, neither one moved towards the man as he backed into the mirror looking back and fourth between their weapons. "What are you talking about Anna?"

"Voldemort! Don't hide behind this puppet!" The girl ignored him and called out to the man as he gripped the edge of the wooden frame to steady himself. "Show yourself!" She waved her hand and Quirrel's turban hit the wall as it was thrown from his head.

The man calmed and frowned at her. She was looking into the mirror beside him. "Tell me what you see?"

The girl was steady and calm as she stepped towards him with her wand between them. She could see herself hacking through the neck of a dark cloaked figure with a wild anger in her eyes. She snorted. "You've still got your eye on the prize? You want to know? Fine. I see my parents."

She rushed forward and growled as she took a swipe at the wizard. The girl was thrown back against the wall of the room and grunted in pain as she slumped against the wall after the man waved his arm up in defense. She'd tried to take his hand with her, but impacted the wall hard enough to force her wand to fall away from her grip and roll across the floor a short ways.

The thing gave a dark chuckle. "Foolish girl. So eager to end up with them."

"Anna!" Harry called. He kept his eyes on what used to be Quirrel. The evil wizard had turned around, and his arms and legs bent at odd angles as a face appeared on the back of his head. "You! Well, I wasn't expecting to see you here." He got a half cocked grin as he shifted his stance and held his lightsaber upright beside his face.

"You think you can stop me? Do you think you can destroy me?" The thing's voice boomed through the room as it's red eyes bored down on the boy. "You'll end up like your parents! You and your brat of a sister! You could never hope to defeat me. You should have joined me! You'd be better off now! Now, you'll just die!"

The boy looked over at his sister. She was propped up against the wall, her eyes were open, but she wasn't moving. She looked stunned and glanced over at him with angry and barely focused eyes. "A weak offering at best. You're right. I'm not strong enough to destroy you myself, but the Force is my ally, and a powerful ally it is."

Voldemort lunged forward towards him, but was kept back as if something was holding him at bay just out of reach.

Harry felt his scar burn with an intensity he'd never felt. He gritted his teeth and gasped as he struggled to hold his wand between them. Voldemort drew closer, stalking up to him with a cruel snarl on his face as he reached for the boy.

The boy had never felt such pain in his life. He was on his back and his wand had fallen from his fingers. He was pushing himself backwards up the stairs to the entrance. The Boy Who Lived could hear the dark wizard chuckling and a cold chill ran down his spine as he felt the hot breath on his neck.

"Now, you will die!" snarled the evil wizard.

"There...is...only peace." Harry Potter had his eyes squeezed shut as he thrust his hands forward. The familiar sound of his wand igniting filled the room. He opened his eyes and stared at the creature. The blade of light was piercing it's chest, and it's hands were closed around his throat. The thing was screeching in pain as its eyes rolled up into its head. Flecks of skin were floating off its horrified face and hands as it struggled to release his throat.

The screaming stopped abruptly as he saw a flash of red. Quirrel's body fell away with his head rolling across the ground as his sister stood over him with a frown on her face. "We'll see which of us ends up like our parents."

He gave a weak grin as he glanced at her and then towards Quirrel. The man's body was burning away as if it was on fire. There were no flames though. "Thanks..." His body relaxed and he passed out cold. He wasn't sure, but the last thing he thought he heard was his sister calling his name.

After he was out the girl smirked to herself. "Well, shit. I guess he did pass out. Awesome!" She was sure he would recover and be fine. He was still breathing and looked to be sound asleep and just a bit uncomfortable. "I guess that gives me Quidditch this year."

Dumbledore strolled around the corner and blinked in mild surprise. "Hmm. I suppose I should have expected. A strange thing to be thinking about at a time like this. Quidditch?"

"Huh? Nah. He'll wake up in three days and be good as new in less than a week. I've got a feeling Slytherin won't be winning the House Cup this year." She grunted and shifted a bit closer to his side to pull him out of the way so the man could navigate the stairs that led to the door.

The man nodded. "Really now? Well, I admit I'm relieved. I think Madam Pomphrey should have a look just to be certain."

"Albus! What is..." McGonagall looked on at the scene. Quirrel's remains were still burning away, but were unrecognizable.

"Oh. Hey Professor." Anna looked a bit delirious and was only in slightly better condition than her brother. "Man, this place is fuckin cool. Heh."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter sat up and blinked. "Anna!"

"What?" The girl was sitting at his side with a thick book in her lap. She had a faint smile on her face and was flipping through the pages. The boy was looking about in a panic for a moment, but calmed.

He saw Dumbledore looking on in amusement. He was in the hospital wing and Madam Pomphrey was shuffling about looking at the man in mild irritation. "What? Where? What happened?"

"Quirrel tried to kill us." The redhead smiled at him and looked over at Dumbledore.

"Yes. You've given us quite the scare young man. Ronald Weasley, and Miss Granger have both expressed a great deal of worry." The man seemed pleased to see him and looked a bit relieved.

"Three days, just like I'd said." The girl was grinning at him. "Right on the nose at that." She looked at the watch on her arm and over at him. "You've been out a while."

The boy sank back into his bed and looked at the ceiling. "Oh." His face became serious. "Quirrel is dead."

The old man gave a solemn nod. "Lord Voldemort is as merciless with his followers as he is with his enemies. The stone is gone. I had a talk with my old friend Nicholas, and it was decided it was best if it is destroyed."

The boy nodded. "He'll die then?"

"He's overdue." Anna piped in and smiled at the surprised expression on both of their faces. "Cheating death is more tiring than you imagine. Our ancestor can attest to that."

Dumbledore coughed and had a bit of trouble looking away from her. "Ah, yes. I am to understand it's a bit like going to bed after a very long day. To a well organized mind death is just the next great adventure."

"Something I can attest to myself." The girl nodded in agreement.

Harry smiled at the both of them in a somewhat somber manner. "Yeah. I suppose."

The girl was looking forward with a haunted expression on her face. She'd gone pale and looked over at the two of them. She shuddered as a memory from the faded pages of a book that didn't even exist anymore filtered into her mind. She almost dropped the book in her lap.

The Headmaster expressed a bit of concern. "Something wrong my dear?"

"Our wands didn't kill him. It just finished the job." She was pushing her sleeve against her eyes, and both males turned away to find other points of interest in the room.

"What do you mean?" Harry glanced over and found her staring at the wall in a spaced out manner.

Dumbledore spoke up. "Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing that Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's love for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign...to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

Anna was shifting about in discomfort but remained quiet. Her brother nodded and looked up at him again. "What about that cloak? You're the one who sent it."

"Ah, well, your father happened to leave it in my possession, and I thought you might like to have it."

Anna nodded and smiled at the old man. "Yes. It's one of the Deathly Hallows. I've told you the story before. He was studying it along with his wand. I think the ring is still missing though."

Both of them looked over at her and she shrugged. "Sorry. It's true. Harry knows better than to run his mouth about that, and I know you already knew anyway." She went back to looking at the pages of her book in silence.

"Ahem. Yes." The old man stood up and smiled at them. "Enough questions for now. I suggest you get a start on these sweets. Ah, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough to come across a vomit flavored one, and since I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them, but I think I'll be safe with a nice Toffee, don't you?" He tried to put one into his mouth, but it floated out of his hand. Another of a similar color, but very slightly darker, floated into his palm.

Harry caught the piece and tossed it into the bag. "That one was Earwax. This one is Toffee."

The man grinned at him and nodded his head as he chewed on it. "Hmm. Thank you, Potter."

Anna glanced over at him and closed her book. "Well, you're up now. Madam Pomphrey will throw me out if I don't leave on my own. You need rest after all."

"I've got a jar full of off flavors in the drawer by my bunk. Ron says it's more fun if it's a surprise, but I don't think he's come across Raw Liver, or Zit Puss yet either." Harry sank a bit further into his pillow as he watched them turn away.

OooOOooOO

After a bit of fussing, Ron and Hermione had managed to get past Pomphrey and were talking to Harry. His sister was sitting beside him again looking cheerful. Anna had managed to get them in with a bit less fuss, and the boy had related his story to his friends. They both listened with baited breath as he related the tale to the both of them.

She ushered them off soon after, and fussed as he started getting ready to go to the feast. Anna had stayed behind by offering to make sure he made it safely to the hall. She was sitting by the bedside when Hagrid walked in.

"Ah, good. Yer both 'ere." He looked flustered and nervous as he found himself looking down at the children. Anna's face fell a bit as she seemed to remember something.

Hagrid was wringing a handkerchief in his hands and looked a bit sullen. "I jes wanted ter thank yer. Uh, it's all my fault. I told em how ter get past..."

The girl cut him off and grabbed his thumb as she moved up to his side. She guided him to the bed. "Don't worry. We got him back for it. Never got his hands on that stone."

Harry nodded with a confident smile. "He might have hurt Fluffy if he didn't find out. I think this worked out for the best."

The half giant still looked a little somber, but nodded. "Thas what Dumbledore told me. He shoulda sacked me. Oh, I er, got the two of yer a present. Gave me the day off yesterday ter fix it." He took a thick leather bound book from his coat and handed it over to Harry. "Sent owls off ter all yer parents' old school friends, askin ' fer photos. Knew yeh didn't have any, d'yeh like it?"

Both children had gone silent. Anna was leaning over her brother's shoulder peering at the pages. Their parents filled all of them. The magical images were waving back at them both. When they turned to look up and thank him he was already heading out the door. He glanced back with a warm smile on his face as he left the room.

OooOOooOO

Carrot was in a better mood than he had been all year. "This is it Hedwig! I've finally done it! The perfect plan to take over the store room has finally come to fruition! At last, we can begin our quest for global domination anew!"

"But, Carrot, we haven't done anything tonight. No elecro-gnome magnets, or helicopter missiles, or anti-gnome mines, or um...oh yes. Bug Bombs. Ha ha ha ha! Narf!" The larger, but more dimwitted owl was looking like she was having quite a bit of fun imagining all of that stuff.

"Yes. I remember thank you." The smaller owl looked displeased. Hedwig seemed to forget the pain that was usually involved. "Hmmm. Actually, I'm not certain she is even aware of it in the first place." He shook his head. "Never mind. It all ends tonight. We have finally accomplished our goal!"

"Oh! I get it! Is this that afflamations thing I keep hearing about?" Hedwig hopped up and walked over to his side.

The younger owl looked displeased for a moment. "No. I have taken the liberty of hiring professional exterminators. Thanks in large part to our jobs at the wizarding post office, a stupendously outlandish name I might add, we have saved up enough money to hire someone else to do it for us!"

The owls watched two men with cages full of gnomes walk by.

The smaller owl rubbed the tips of his wings together as he got a rather malevolent look in his eyes. "At last, now we can finally begin our true calling!"

Two house elves grabbed both animals by their necks and dragged them back to the holding pen area. The pair was tossed into their cages and loaded onto carts.

Carrot was sitting on his perch glowering at the now empty owl pens. "Rats."

OooOOooOO

The school year had ended, the feast was over, and the students were preparing to return to their homes for the summer. Gryffindor had won the House Cup by ten points, Slytherin had won the Quidditch Cup thanks to Harry missing the last game of the year. The team had gotten routed by Ravenclaw. Alicia gave her best, but wasn't able to fill the position of Seeker. She was a reserve Chaser and hadn't trained in the position at all.

Anna was sitting on the grass just outside Hogwarts looking at the tree tops and moon rise. "I sense you're up to something."

Harry was beside her with a grin on his face. The ceremony where she, Ron, and Hermione had all gotten their awards was over. It was boring, they listened to speeches about achievements, the importance of learning and education, and a bit of History. It was pretty much just a group of older wizards, all with white hair. His sister had an order of Merlin hanging from her neck, and an Award for Alchemy from someplace in Cairo in her lap. It was a small gold statue of a scarab with a cauldron on it's back.

Stars filled the sky in a way they only can away from the city. He was relaxed and cheerful. "What? You don't already know?"

The girl looked irate. "How many times to I have to tell you..."

The boy chuckled and shook his head. "Yes. Not omnipotent. I know. I'm just in a good mood."

"I'll figure it out." She picked at the grass a bit and gave a small sigh. "You know, considering we aren't going back to the Dursley's, I'm surprised how much I'll miss this place. I have to admit it's grown on me."

"You've been unsettled since the night..." Harry trailed off with a frown on his face. "I've a feeling it doesn't have much to do with that."

The girl shrugged and lay flat on her back. "If you ever tell anyone I told you this. I will kill you."

He grinned at her. "Nice to know."

"Yes, don't forget I might know you've told even if I'm not around." She growled at him and sat up.

"What is it? It's really bugging you." He seemed cheerful but concerned.

"I was thinking when I came here that I'd come back as your brother." She was hugging her knees and looking at the sky in the distance.

"What?" The boy blinked at her. "You mean...you're..." He looked confused. She should know he wouldn't care one way or the other.

"I know how to be a boy. I've done it before. I was thinking I'd just deal with this until I got here and then fix it." She looked over at him and punched his arm in a light manner. "You're just starting puberty. I already know all about what's going to happen. I even had a couple of kids. I'd know what I was doing. Ya know?" Her eyes became a bit misty.

"What happened?" The boy nodded his head and smiled at her.

"I'll be a woman as long as I'm here." Her head cocked to the side and she sounded like she didn't think much of it.

"Why? It's not like you can't have a girlfriend or anything." The boy was still confused, and seemed to only be half getting what she was talking about. "I guess you did sort of miss out on a bit being immolated and all."

The girl was belting her forehead on her knees and looking irate with him. "I'm not gay. That's the whole problem. Doesn't matter if I look like a guy or not."

The boy blinked in surprise. "Oh." He started shaking and fell onto his side clutching his belly. It took the redhead a moment to realize he was laughing too hard to sit up.

"It's not funny damn it!" The girl snarled, and looked away from him.

The boy sat up a bit to look at her. "Are you joking? 'I'm not gay! It's horrible!'" He fell over sideways again clenching his belly.

"Yeah? How would you feel if you just woke up a girl one day? That's pretty much what happened to me you know." She snorted and crossed her arms as she turned her nose away. She'd still not moved from her seat.

"Well. I guess I couldn't say." He was still chuckling and pushed himself back onto his rear. "If I'm fortunate enough to remember this life in the next... Well, I'd like to think I'd be willing to try something different. It would get boring if I just did the same thing as before."

The girl fell flat on her back and gave a heavy sigh. "Nice try."

The boy flushed a bit. "Come on, Anna. You've been that way twelve years. You must be used to it by now."

"No, the worst of it started when we took that little trip to the future. Look, sitting down to pee was annoying, but that's pretty much the only difference up until recently. This is..." Her eyes were wide as she stretched her arms out and looked at the back of her hands.

"Yeah. Well I've never done this before either." He narrowed his eyes at her and started picking at the grass.

"I gave you a better start than you realize." She was grinning at him in a rather annoying way when she looked over at him.

"Yeah. Thanks." He didn't look like he meant it.

The girl stood up and stretched her arms. "Come on. We need to get ready to go. This place is nice and I'll miss it. Don't forget where we're going though."

"Or where we're not." The boy had a grin on his face as he looked up at her and pushed himself up on his own feet.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was waving Hermione Granger off at the edge of the station. She was in her parents car and waving at him from a window with a smile on her face. The ride back had been almost as much fun as on the way there. It had gotten a bit sad when he'd said goodbye to Ron, and then Hemione.

Anna walked up beside him as he pulled on his luggage after he'd turned away. It was very loud and much more crowded than they expected. Hedwig was balanced on top of his bags, but had a smooth ride considering. His sister had a load of her own, and Pansy walked up to his other side with her own things behind her.

Sirius was waving the Boggs twins over with Pansy's mother at his side. He opened the door of a black car with tinted windows. They were just off the main road on a drop off lane just under the overhead at the edge of the station.

Anna cocked her eyebrow. "A car?"

"Why not?" Harry seemed confused as he moved ahead with Pansy.

"Whoa." The blonde girl was looking across the street as he walked along beside her.

Anna noticed and followed her gaze. "Oh. I see." There was a wall of people brandishing signs, T-shirts, ball caps, and posters. There was a barricade in place on the opposite side of the street from the station with police running crowd control. She shuffled up to the car and got inside. It was a small limo and she'd not realized it at first. The front window rolled down as everyone sat in the back of the car. Anna was sitting beside Sirius and Lissa while the rest of the children poked and prodded about the compartments and buttons on the strange muggle devices that surrounded them.

Rufus leaned over the front passenger seat. A chauffeur started driving them towards the home. "Well, somehow the fact you'd be arriving at this station got leaked out." He grinned at them all in a warm manner and sat back.

"Thanks. This would have caught me unaware." Sirius gave the man a grateful nod.

"Your first three albums have sold very well of course. The first of the two you've sent me since the concert is expected in stores next week. Normally, I'd try and get you to do some promotions. We don't really need it though. Your concerts sold out all over the country about a month after we started selling tickets. A month of work, and you'll have the rest of the summers to yourself."

Anna nodded with a grin on her face and looked quite malevolent. "Rock." The adults had limited them to a month of touring a year until they graduated. She turned to peer at the crowd beside them as they moved into traffic. Most of them had T-shirts at the least and the band got a piece of the merchandising for each one sold.

"Did I ever tell you I'm really glad we're friends?" Pansy grabbed Anna's arm and leaned in on her.

Harry looked up at Sirius. "You seem to be feeling better than before."

The man looked down at him and ruffled his hair. "You're right."

"Wow. There's so many!" Magaret was up against one of the windows with her brother looking at the hoard of fans.

"Yeah. A lot of girls too." Melvin's eyes were more particular and he focused on a chesty older girl that was bouncing up and down while screaming. His head turned to follow her, and then moved on to a similar fan. There were enough to keep him grinning until they'd moved beyond the lines.

The dark haired girl was growling at him as she shoved herself down beside Pansy.

OooOOooOO

The Potter twins and the Boggs twins had been home for about two days. They each had their own room, all the rooms were safe, and they had spent most of their time settling in.

Harry came downstairs and blinked. Anna was grinning at Sirius. "He's mine then?" She was taking a pen back from him and holding a rolled up parchment under her arm.

"If you can get him tamed. He's useless and I'd rather you didn't mess with him. I've not seen him about since you got back with those rabbit things again. He doesn't care for them." The man didn't look worried about what he'd just signed. "He bites, scratches, and kicks. Don't go thinking you can pet him or cuddle him. I only signed that because I know better. I'm warning you now that I won't have much sympathy if he bites or scratches you."

The girl snorted and tapped the parchment with her finger. She looked very confident. "As if I could be so stupid."

"What's going on?" Harry looked confused as he walked up to the girl.

"It sounds like she's going to try and tame Sirius's wild house elf." Melvin was reading a magazine with his feet stretched out across a nearby couch. "Good luck with that. Margaret and I ran into him while you were away to see your parents at Christmas, nasty little bugger."

The redhead nodded. "I get to keep Kreacher if I can. He's hiding from my bunnies." She smiled at her brother. "Meet me out back and bring your wand. I'll be along in a few minutes."

Harry frowned. Something in her tone told him she wasn't planning on training again. He nodded and walked away.

"Jeeze. Didn't you two get enough this morning?" Melvin was content to stay comfortable with his magazine and gave a small sigh as he turned the page.

OooOOooOO

"Hello, Kreacher." Anna sat down outside a large hole in the wall in the basement. She could hear him breathing and feel him lurking in the shadows of a small tunnel in the dirt. "Hiding are we? Well, I happen to think you're a very good house elf. A very loyal and honest one at that."

She heard a few bad tempered grunts from inside the hole.

"What? I know you've been loyal, much more than Sirius thinks. You're much better than he thinks you are, very useful." She spread her fingers out and looked at her nails in front of her face.

"No! Lies!" The small humanoid thing burst from the hole and hopped up and down in front of her screeching. It looked a bit more ragged and wild than the house elves at the school did.

The girl's lip curled up a bit. She didn't seem worried or afraid.

The elf stopped hopping and screeching and was giving her a cautious and angry stare.

She leaned towards him and hugged her legs. "Sure you are. After all, you've served Regulus so well."

Anger became replaced with fear and uncertainty. The elf was wishing it hadn't left it's hole. "What does it want with Kreacher?"

"I want to help you. I can help you. I can help you keep your promise." The girl gave him a cheerful and gentle smile. "I know what you did. Go and bring the locket into the yard. I won't even ask you for it. I can destroy it. Just like he wanted."

Kreacher fell flat on his rear. He was working his jaw and pushing back with his palms a bit. "H-h...Kreacher does not...understand? Why would...?"

"If I can get you to like me I get to keep you. Sounds better than getting kicked around by the likes of him doesn't it?" She leaned over her knees and smiled at him. "I can help you keep your promise. I know you tried very hard to destroy it. You couldn't though. It was very hard to break. Too hard for poor Kreacher."

The house elf was in tears and shuffling towards his hole in the wall.

"You can go back in if you want. I won't stop you, but it's best to not waste time. Bring the locket into the back yard and don't let Sirius catch you with it. We'll destroy it, and you can watch." She seemed quite pleased with herself.

"W-work for y-y-you?" Kreacher's eyes went as big as saucers as he jabbed his finger at her. "Hateful! Little!"

"Do you want to destroy that locket or not? I'd rather not leave my brother standing out there all day." Her face became more practical and serious. The house elf had seen through the fake cheer.

"What?" Kreacher became a tiny bit more trusting as she dropped the act.

"Look. I need to destroy it anyway. It's got to do with that jerk who made you drink all that stuff. Regulus always regretted sending you away with him. He was angry because he hurt you." She stood up and dusted her rear off. "Well, come on. Let's get to it all right?"

The elf fumbled about and stuttered a few grunts. He staggered to his feet as he narrowed his eyes at her. "Yes. Kreacher will bring it."

"Stop looking at me that way. I promise, I really do need it destroyed." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Come on now."

The thing was tossing various items out of the hole over its shoulder. Anna looked on as a left shoe, a bent tin can, and various other bits of junk were tossed carelessly on the concrete floor of the basement. "How does it know about...?" It came out with a chain hanging from its grip.

The redhead glanced back as she walked up the stairs with the elf trailing behind her. "It's what I do." She shrugged and continued on her way. "Come along now. You'll feel better when it's done won't you?"

OooOOooOO

The house elf laid the small gold trinket on the surface of a medium sized stone in the back yard. The locket itself was old and unpolished. It was obvious it opened but there was no mechanism visible to do so. It wasn't much of a yard, about a ten foot patch of grass covered ground with a few white stones lying about. The three of them were standing in the middle looking down at the rock and locket. Kreacher was hovering over it protectively.

"What's going on?" Harry looked confused. The house elf was mistrustful of them both and was hovering over the jewelry on the ground. "What's that thing?"

She put her hand up and looked at Kreacher. Her lightsaber ignited giving the elf and boy a small start. Kreacher was looking at the blade and back to the locket in a nervous manner.

"I'm going to open this. I'll be needing you to help me destroy it. Get ready. I will explain when we are finished." The redhead held her blade over her head.

Harry had his blade out as well, but looked about ready to block her. "Hey! What are you doing to him anyway?"

The girl looked at the cowering elf. The pathetic looking creature was almost sitting on the locket. She gave a small sigh. "Kreacher, you need to move. Get behind us. It could be dangerous if you're too close when we open it."

"What?" The boy looked alarmed as he stepped back. Kreacher reluctantly complied and took his time shuffling aside. He was licking his lips and glancing at the jewelry.

As soon as he'd made it behind them the girl hissed at the locket. "Open."

Harry screamed as his hand went up to his scar. He knew it was making some kind of light, but couldn't focus much. He'd not had time to register that his sister was using parseltongue before his already tingling scar exploded in pain.

His sister was beside him. As she pushed her weapon down a high pitched screaming sound filled the air. Sparks of magic sputtered around the impact point as the girl pushed downward. He felt his blade come down as well more than saw it.

The instant his blade touched it there was a loud pop and both children landed on their rears as they were thrown from their feet by a wave of energy not so different from an explosion.

"Take that!" Anna snapped at the charred and melted remains of the jewelry.

"What the hell was that?" The boy grunted and rubbed at his face. "Ouch."

"That was a Horcrux. We've a few more to find and break, but we've got a bit of time to run across them." The redhead nodded and smiled at him.

Kreacher was lying flat on his back and staring at the sky with wide eyes. There were tears running down his face and the corners of his mouth were twitching. He was taking short shallow breaths.

"Are you all right?" Harry peered down at him and fell to his knees beside the elf. He looked worried and the elf seemed confused by that.

Anna moved up to his opposite side and smiled at him. "See. I told you. Much better isn't it?"

The elf jumped up into her arms and started sobbing. "Kreacher...is..." It fumbled into her and clutched at her neck in a clumsy embrace.

The girl was taken by surprise and patted his back. "There, there. It's great isn't it? I'm sure Regulus would be proud of you. He was very angry at that man for hurting you. Sounds like you're worth having around to me."

The Potter boy seemed pleased with the scene. "Hey Anna? What's a Horcrux again?"

The girl started walking away with her arm across the House Elf's shoulders. "It's where a stupid and powerful wizard breaks up his soul and puts it into things for safe keeping. We have to find and destroy a few of them before we can take care of that jerk."

"What in the name of Merlin is..." Sirius Black staggered to a halt. His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. "You've got to be...kidding me."

Anna was smiling up at him and waving the contract at him as she walked up with Kreacher hugging her as he cried on her shoulder. She had her arm around his shoulders as she walked by him. "There, there. It'll be nice working for someone who really appreciates what you do. Don't you think?" She put a handkerchief up to his nose and he blew into it.

The elf sniffled and nodded his head up and down as he whimpered. "Uh huh."

"Wow. That didn't take long." Melvin walked up behind the still stunned adult.

"What's going on?" Margaret scratched her head as she walked out with a half eaten sandwich in her hand.

"Anna just conned him out of his house elf. It only took her about fifteen minutes." Melvin snorted and turned about to go back in.

"Oh. Sorry." The girl gave the man a sympathetic shrug before turning about to follow the others.

OooOOooOO

Harry chuckled to himself as he walked out of Anna's lab and turned into his room. She was distracted with her new friend. She'd been talking to Kreacher for almost a half hour and she didn't look to be letting up soon. The house elf was responding very well to her prodding.

A moment later he ducked back out of his room and slid down the railing on his rear. Sirius walked by and gave his head a small rub as he passed with his nose in a paper.

The redhead was engrossed with talking to Kreacher. She was asking him all sorts of questions and doing a good job keeping his attention. The house elf didn't look frightened or worried, but still seemed cautious.

The redhead furrowed her brow a little. "Don't like them? Really?"

The elf nodded and frowned at her. "The house elves at Hogwarts would curse them! Not like us! Kreacher agree, Bunnies are bad! House elves are better for such work."

The redhead giggled. "I agree. Bunnies could never replace house elves. They're far too stupid. I made them to be lab hands, not house servants. I wouldn't dream of trying to get them to polish something."

Kreacher stiffened up and put his nose in the air. "Why then?"

"I told you. They're minions not servants. Come to think of it, they might make good pets for house elves." She shifted a bit and leaned forward. "I'll tell you what. Hang about them. Don't worry if they make a mess because they clean up after themselves. Who knows? If you think enough of them, I might be able to use them like dogs for House Elves. They're handy for getting rid of trash. Since they're minions they'll obey their master no matter who it is."

Kreacher had frozen and looked somewhat confused. "D-dogs?"

"You know, the way some people keep them as pets." The redhead shrugged. "Why not?"

Harry shook his head and sat down with Melvin and Margaret. The girl rolled her eyes as he sat down next to her. "I don't know what he sees in this show." There was a large mirror on the wall in front of them. They'd watched Quidditch on it over the Christmas holiday. It was a hundred inches across and fifty inches tall. It was the wizarding version of television and there were quite a few channels to watch.

Melvin had a grin on his face and shrugged at her. "It's a show about someone with magic farts. What's not to like?"

The boy who lived looked both disgusted and intrigued. "What?"

The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful and they all sat around and enjoyed a bit of relaxation.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter grinned as he looked out the front door. It was three in the morning and the street was dark and quiet. He looked over his shoulder with a smirk on his face. Giving the house one more check to make sure no one had woken up. He stepped outside just as a flash of blue light and a crackle of energy flashed outside the door.

OooOOooOO

It was late morning at the Black home. Anna Potter was looking down at Sirius, Melvin, and Margaret. "Has anyone seen Harry? I can't account for some of my Vampire Venom and a bit of the cure as well. I've not seen him for a while now either."

The man got a blank expression on his face and worked his mouth open and closed. "Wha?" He was watching the broadcast and looked about the room as he realized that he hadn't seen the boy in a while either.

Melvin and Margaret both looked up at her and shrugged.

A loud crackling outside followed by a bit of fumbling outside the front door as it opened to a very strange scene. Harry Potter was looking over his shoulder and attempting to wave while hauling two adults on either shoulder. "Thanks! I won't forget about our deal!"

"Deal? What deal?" Anna was the first to react as she came rushing down the stairs towards the scene. "What have you done? Who the hell are..."

He was giving her the biggest grin she'd ever seen on his face. That was saying something. "Sorry. We've got to play Mars with Wylde Stalyns when they go. We're going to be the opener for the tour."

"Oh. Good deal." The girl seemed to relax a bit before noticing the odd position her brother was in. "Wait. What the hell did you do?"

"Huh? You don't know?" The boy was feeling smug and beaming. "What a surprise."

The girl looked annoyed with him. Everyone else was watching the exchange in confused silence. "Harry. What is going on here? I'm missing..."

"Sorry. I kind of wanted it to be a surprise. I make a deal with Rufus in the future." The boy was beaming with pride, relief, and joy.

"What's gotten you so happy?" The girl was confused and took a step back. "There's no way you've found a way to destroy..."

The boy poked his finger into the middle of her forehead and then pointed down. "Anna. Look down."

The girl did and covered her mouth to soften a scream.

Sirius was on his feet and once he saw what the boy was talking about he was rushing past the girl and on his hands and knees. "Lily! James! What have...this is...how..." The man was in tears as he held the both of them in his arms and rocked back and fourth hugging them close. They were pale and limp, but warm and breathing in short shallow breaths. He looked up at the boy with tear filled eyes. "How did you do this?"

Margaret and Melvin were holding each other by the arm with wide eyes as they looked on behind him.

"Easy. I made a deal with Rufus so I could use the time machine. I went back and turned them into Vampires in their sleep the night before. Voldemort didn't show up until after dark the next night. I gave them enough blood to get them healthy and used some of the anti-venom on all of us. I left their rings and a few scraps behind, took them to the booth, and brought them back here. Anna! Our parents aren't in their graves because they aren't dead. Never really were."

The redhead's eyes rolled up into her head and she hit the floor.

"I knew she'd be happy." The boy was feeling quite proud of himself.

OooOOooOO

TBC...


	21. Chapter 21

A matter of force.

Part 21

Meet the parents.

OooOOooOO

"Mom! Dad!" The redhead gasped as she sat up in bed. "Wha? Shit..."

"Hey." Harry was sitting on the end of her bed with a soft smile on his face."Mum and Dad are resting now. They probably won't wake up for a few more hours at least."

"That's...good." The girl looked uncomfortable.

"Yeah. What's wrong? I thought you'd be...I dunno...a bit excited." The boy gave her knee a playful rap.

"Harry...I...what the hell? What are you thinking? Screwing with time that way is dangerous. Especially the past." The girl swatted the side of his head.

The boy shrugged. "I just found a way to make the past fit the evidence."

"What are we going to do with them? Harry, they're in danger, just...I mean...How do we explain...What now?" Anna was at a loss. "I'm not so sure they'll be as understanding of Margaret and Melvin as Sirius Black, how do I...shit. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Come on. I know you miss them too." He pushed his glasses up his nose and smirked at her. "Don't play like you're angry with me."

"I'm not playing!" She snapped as she grabbed his shoulders and pulled her face up to his. "What about, 'Hey Anna! I've got a great plan!' You can't just drop this on me this way!"

"Sure I can. You enjoy doing it yourself you know." The boy shook his head and chuckled. He could tell his sister was being stubborn with him.

"Why? Why did you..." The girl was frustrated and high strung. She had no idea what to do. "How are we going to explain this to them? It's... Forget about them. How do we explain this to everyone else? Damn it Harry. A little time to plan this out would have been nice. Why? What were you thinking?"

"Because you really need Mom." The boy played with his hands in his lap and looked down at them.

The girl worked her mouth open and closed. Her face flushed and she pulled the covers up around herself. "I'm fine. I...I've got no choice do I? Harry, do you have any idea how much this complicates things?"

"Always planning." The boy chuckled and shook his head.

She glared at him with an angry frown on her face. "I don't think now was the best time. We might as well tattoo a target on them Harry. Our enemies will not think twice about using them against us. They're going to try and protect us from it, and they can't do that."

The boy shrugged. "It almost killed them once. I expect they'll be careful this time. You could say the same thing about Uncle Sirius."

"You should have spoken about this to me. It wasn't a good thing to make a surprise of." The girl crossed her arms and glared away at the wall.

"Yeah. You told me you wanted me to do things on my own." He looked over at her and shrugged.

She gripped his shirt and pulled him close. "The next time you go screwing around with time, I'll be sure to make you regret it. If you change the smallest detail, you could find yourself in a much worse situation than you left behind."

"Are you joking? After that mess that started the band?" The boy shook his head and seemed confused.

"That was different." The girl glowered over her knees at the wall. "Promise me. No more screwing with time this way."

"But, you're letting me get away with it this time?" Harry was just being obnoxious at that point.

"Shut up and go away. I want to change and have a look at them. Shit. Harry, we tour all next month! This is...grrrrrrrrrr...of all the..."

The boy was beaming with pride as he felt he'd annoyed his sister quite enough to enjoy it for some time.

OooOOooOO

"Harry! Anna!" Lily Potter jumped up in her sleep gasping for breath. She was disoriented, panicked, and looking around the room in a frantic way from the bed. She calmed after a moment and gasped for breath, running her fingers through her loose hair to move it from her sight. She looked at her side and found her husband sleeping soundly. "What? Where?" She froze as she saw a girl sitting in a chair at the foot of the bed. "A dream?"

"Hello." Anna was looking at them both with wide eyes, asking herself much the same thing in silence.

"What? Who? Who are you? Where am I?" The woman softened her tone, fear and horror was clear in her features. "Where are my children?"

"My name is Anna. Your children are...safe. Calm down and relax, you need rest." The girl was watching the woman stand up and slip on a pair of slippers that were at the bedside.

"Anna? My daughter's name is Annabelle. Do you know her? I'm not resting until I've seen her and her brother." She smiled at the girl in a forced manner as she started to put her hair up in a bun and held it in place with a pen from the night stand beside her. She walked over and started shaking her husband.

The little girl walked over to her side as the man grunted and woke up. His eyes fluttered and he seemed groggy and confused. "Lily? Lily!" He grabbed her and sat upright. "Oh, thank god. I had the worst..." He seemed to notice the child watching them both.

The redhead was staring at them both just out of reach with a somewhat dazed expression. "Look. Wait here for a moment. You're at Uncle Sirius's house. I'll go down and get him, and he can...get you to your children."

The woman looked around at her surroundings and took a step back. "What? Why? Uncle Sirius?"

The girl was at the door poking her head out. She stepped aside without saying a word as Harry and Sirius walked into the room.

"Um, Mr. Black. I'm sure...we can explain...um..." She seemed a bit pensive, but noticed the boy standing with him. The man was holding a candle and smiling at her.

"Has it been so long? I suppose I do look a bit like him now." Tears were welling up in his eyes as he grinned at them both. He grabbed the man in a rough hug without putting down the candle.

"Sirius? You look like hell. What happened?" James Potter was surprised at the embrace he received. "You're acting like you haven't seen me in years."

Lily Potter was gripping her husband's arm after Sirius released him. Her eyes were on the boy first, but drifted over to the girl hiding behind his back. She was trying very hard to look like she wasn't, but it was rather obvious. Her eyes strayed to the boy again.

Sirius was watching this with a grin on his face. James was confused and trying to figure out what was happening.

The woman fell to her knees and peered at Harry. He shifted with a little discomfort at her close inspection of his face. "Sirius, why does this boy look like James?"

"Hey! The girl looks like you! I've done you right!" The children's father got a rather panicked look on his face.

"Lily, James, these are your children. Since the attack..." Black gave a sad smile to the both of them as they looked at him.

"What has he done to them?" The woman gasped as she put her hand up to her mouth with her expression becoming wide eyed horror.

"He took away our parents for ten years." Harry was smiling at her. "You're in the future. You can't go back I'm afraid. It's too late to change that."

"There's a great deal of explaining to do." The redhead shuffled her feet and looked at the floor. Her face had gone all red. She had no idea what to do.

OooOOooOO

The Potter family was sitting in the sitting room. The story of how they ended up where they were had been related.

Harry was beaming. "We've finished our first year at Hogwarts. It was amazing!" The boy was pleased and looked eager and attentive.

The girl was sitting and not speaking, staring at the two adults and looking just as uncomfortable about it all as they did.

James and Lily were sitting on the couch huddled together and also not speaking.

"We've got a few things if you'd like to see them." Harry puffed out his chest. "Class photograph, I've got a recording of all of our Quidditch matches. Well, all but my first one. Anna plays too. She's got an Order of Merlin, and a Medal for Groundbreaking Achievement in Alchemy."

All the mentioned items levitated onto the tabletop from nearby mounts in the middle of everyone.

Both adults leaned in to look at the pile of memories. James picked up the team photo as he got a small but still pensive grin on his face. "You did well?"

The boy was beaming with pride. "We won the house cup!"

The man's face lit up. "Really?"

"I'm Seeker! It was great. I had a great time!" The boy took the opening.

"What position is Anna playing? I don't see her..." He scanned the photo.

The girl spoke up. "This one." Another picture floated up in front of his face. He regarded it for a moment and peered at her. She didn't have a wand out. "Gryffindor might have won the House Cup, but we still won the Quidditch Cup."

"Oh? What house..." His voice trailed off a bit.

"Wait, those uniforms are..." Her mother looked on over her husband's shoulder. She trailed off and looked over at the girl. "Oh."

Her mother was holding the small golden statue of a scarab and brushing her fingers across the surface. It was the first thing that had caught her attention aside from what her husband was looking at. "I dreamed of winning one of these as a girl. James, this isn't possible. What's going on?"

The redhead looked at her and then away. "I cured Vampirism. The Order is for helping to destroy Dracula. Harry's friend Ron got the last blow in. I made the equipment, I've taken to Potions."

The woman gave her a warm smile. "You've taken to potions? It was my favorite class."

Caught between embarrassment, discomfort, and unable to think of anything to say. The redhead jumped to her feet and pointed her finger into the air. "I am the greatest potions genius in the universe!" Her two mini-cohorts appeared and tossed confetti about after setting off a few string poppers as they cheered and called her praises in perfect sync.

Both adults looked on in confusion.

The girl sat down and started sulking again.

"Oh my." Lily got a rather blank expression for a moment.

Her husband shook his head and nudged her as he held the photo of Slytheryn's Quidditch team out to her.

She was standing in the middle of a large group of people. Some were looking at the camera, quite a few were glaring at her. "Um, you enjoy playing then?" The woman didn't look certain of what to say, and it was obvious she was reaching. It was an awkward and uncomfortable conversation. Sirius was keeping the Boggs children busy in another room to give them a bit of time alone. Everyone but Harry seemed uncomfortable with it.

"Yeah. I'm Slytheryn's Seeker." The girl nodded.

James was looking around the room to avoid the subject. Lily's head turned in a snap. "R-really?"

"Yeah. What's the matter? Don't trust me now?" She had her hands folded and was leaning in to look at the both of them with a small frown on her face. She was looking at her father in particular.

"We have no idea." The man shrugged and looked around. "Is any of this real? I mean, I heard your story, but...magic can be strange and clever. I'm starting to like you, but I'm not sure I trust either one of you yet."

"I agree." Lily looked back and fourth at the both of them. "It's almost too good to be true. We need time, to..." She blushed and clutched her husband a bit more. "I'm afraid this whole ordeal has made me very nervous."

Anna sighed and sat back. "Well, that makes three of us."

Harry looked thoughtful. Perhaps now was not the best time to bring out the gold and platinum albums. He looked around the room. "Well, I guess we could go out for a bit. We'll take a walk, maybe catch a bus or something. Go to the Hollow and have a look about?"

"Harry, I'm not so sure we should..." Anna was looking a bit pale and looked at the adults. They were clutching each other and looking very alienated. "...we'll take them out tomorrow or something. I'm sure they'd like some time to themselves to work this..."

"It's a grand idea." Lily Potter stood up and forced her husband to move with her. "We'll leave right now."

"Lily, I'm not so sure I'm ready too..." The man looked fearful and clutched her arm. "We should let this settle a bit, and then..."

"No. I need to see it. I can't do it alone." The woman shook her head and smiled at him in a not quite sane way. "We are going." She looked over her shoulder at the children. "All of us."

OooOOooOO

The group avoided the graveyard. They had taken the Knight Bus a short distance.

"Quit glaring at that poor boy!" Lily slapped the girl on her shoulder as they stepped off the bus. The girl had been giving the driver dirty looks through the whole ride.

The rest of her family stepped out behind her and she looked back at him again over her shoulder. He looked irate and uncomfortable. The door closed in an abrupt manner and the bus departed. The four of them were standing on the end of their old street. He'd been nervous the moment they'd gotten on and kept giving them uncomfortable glances throughout the trip.

"I've not been here since..." The boy shuddered a bit and rubbed his arms.

Anna looked at him and snorted. "They know about our parents now."

The boy looked at her and shook his head. He gave the adults a grin and looked up at them. "Shall we?"

OooOOooOO

Lily was touching the hole in her wall. The furniture in the home was cleared out long before. James was on her arm, tugging at a protruding support beam. Their home was unlivable, but evidence of a past they'd missed. They'd stopped to read the plaque outside and found it a rather grizzly affair. Both adults had gone pale, and the children were silent and giving them a bit of room.

The group wandered into the home, both children trailing behind them. Anna looked almost angry, but Harry seemed curious about his surroundings.

"Oh god. James...it's true." The woman was walking about and looking at the walls. "It can't be, that was just moments ago..." Tears were welling up in her eyes. The man was standing in the middle of the room looking about. He still had the key gripped in his hand, it had opened the lock. He didn't look like he was going to say anything.

The two children were standing aside watching this. Harry looked pensive, Anna was cool as ice and seemed to regard them as a curiosity.

"Lily. I..."

The woman fell to her knees in front of her daughter and grabbed her shoulders, moving her up in front of her. The girl made no move to resist, but her expression didn't change. "Annabelle? How can..." She started smiling. "You're pretty. What happened?" She sniffled through her tears and ran her fingers across the scar on her nose.

The girl was looking at her with a rather blank expression and spoke in a soft tone. "I uh...got mauled by Dracula."

"Oh." The woman's face fell. "Well, I bet you're still hard on the boys then."

The girl gave a dazed nod. "Yeah. I could pretty much pick one at random."

Lily smiled again and pulled the little girl into a hug. "You've grown so much!"

Harry grinned at it beside his father.

James Potter was looking at the scene in bewilderment. "This...is real?"

"Yeah. It is. Pretty cool huh? A lot better than dying anyway." The boy seemed pleased with himself.

"Huh. Yeah. I suppose it is." He slapped the boy on his shoulder and looked him over. "It's a little too cool if you ask me. The last thing I remember was..." He could see where he was standing through the hole in the wall and looked back at it with a haunted expression. "How did he? It can't be..."

"Boy, I hate to tell you, but you've not seen the half of it yet." Harry slumped his shoulders and looked a bit dumbstruck at the man's expression.

Anna was looking over at them with wide wet eyes. She was still trying not to cry, and it was taking a bit of effort. The girl spoke up as her mother pushed her away with a confused and hurt looking expression. "Pettigrew."

The woman's eyes went wide. "What? Peter?"

"No! He wouldn't..." The man grew angry and stepped towards her.

"He's in Azkaban where he belongs." Harry crossed his arms and frowned at the subject.

"He framed Sirius, but we were able to get him out, and put that scum where he belongs. We were staying with...Mom's sister and her husband until just after we started Hogwarts." The redhead was clenching her fist and sounded a bit upset. She seemed to be in something of a foul mood. "I don't like being here. I still remember..."

"You mean you freed him." Harry sounded a bit surprised as he looked over at her. "I didn't have anything to do with that one.

"So, son. I uh...I..." The man scratched the back of his head. "You're really him aren't you? My boy." He squatted down and put his hand through the boy's head. "I...well...how've you been?" The man was starting to tear up. Without warning he grabbed the boy in a hug and started bawling.

OooOOooOO

"Holy shit." Melvin and Margaret Boggs were looking out the window. Harry and Anna were walking back up the sidewalk towards the house. Melvin sounded amazed as he spoke up. "It's...them... again."

Margaret looked pensive. "They still have their parents with them."

"Yes, I'd noticed." Sirius was looking out just over their heads. He had a somewhat haunted expression on his face as well. "Amazing isn't it?"

"You think they've convinced them?" Melvin slumped down with his forehead against the pane. He didn't look quite as surprised as his sister and current guardian.

The Potter family moved closer to the door and they all moved away and sat around the living area as Harry led the group into the home. Anna was trailing behind with a sour look on her face. Sirius was standing closest to her and heard her mutter something about putting targets on her parents.

James gripped his old friend by the shoulders. "I...well...how did we end up here again?"

"Them." The older man looked over at his friend's children. Their mother had pulled them up beside her and was looking over at the two of them with rather wide eyes. He seemed cheerful and slapped James on the shoulder, almost knocking his glasses off in the process. "The more I think about it, the less surprised I am."

Anna glanced up at her Uncle with a sneer on her face. Harry was beaming.

"What's wrong with your sister?" James noticed the little redhead didn't seem very pleased or comfortable.

"Don't worry. It's just the monthlies." The boy shrugged.

"What?" The woman seemed angry and appalled. "You shouldn't..."

The girl was turning red and looking irate. "Leave him alone, he's right."

James and Sirius burst into laughter, they calmed as Lily glared at them and seemed to back away a bit.

Anna pulled on her brother's shirt. "Remus will be here soon. Come on, we'll let the grown ups hang out. I want to go calm down Melvin and Margaret."

James was looking to distract his already annoyed and high strung wife. "So? What have we missed?" He felt something tug at his chest at the expression his wife got on her face.

She glanced over to where the twins had gone to sit with the two other children who appeared to be staying in the home. "Who are those children?"

Sirius blinked. "Cousins of mine. I'm taking care of them while they attend Hogwarts." He shrugged at her. "They're good friends already, hardly any trouble from the lot of them. Your daughter seems to be the ringleader." He glanced over at the girl in question and looked back at her mother. "As for what you've missed."

"Everything." Lily was still looking at her children. "It was only yesterday! I was just there, they were...how can this happen? I've..."

"Calm down dear." James put his arm across her shoulder.

"Yes. They've grown up to be quite something. Look, what we need right now is a distraction. Come on. There's all sorts of new things! Hey, you want to have a look at the newest racing broom?" Black's face lit up as he slapped his old friend on the shoulder.

That got James's attention. "Sure. Why not?"

Lily still looked a bit pensive. "I'd rather not get dragged along into a recap of the last ten years of Quidditch."

"Oh, I'm sure there's something that will interest you." It was still easy to tell when she was about to give in. Something Sirius Black had forgotten about until that very moment.

OooOOooOO

Remus Lupin stuck his head into the door of the home with a curious looking grin on his face. "Sirius? Hello?"

The man was smiling and sitting in an arm chair. He didn't get up and waved him inside. "Hello, Remus. Come in!"

"You said you wanted me to see something? You seemed to think I'd enjoy it." The man cocked his head and looked at him with a confused grin. It was odd for the man to just sit and grin, he was looking over towards the fireplace with his eyes and trying to get him to look that way.

Remus caught on and turned his head. His jaw dropped and he jumped back against the wall behind him. His eyes are wide and he almost sounded like he was choking. He started shaking, went white as a ghost, and staggered forward with a haunted look on his face. "What on Earth?"

Lily was looking uncomfortable, her hands in front of her hips and her eyes down. James was grinning at him and gave a wave. "Hello Remus. Well, it's settled then. I'm still the best looking one."

His wife's eyes went wide as she sucked in a breath and whipped her head around. He had a wide grin on his face as he adjusted his glasses and walked up to grip the man's arm.

Remus was looking down at it in a sort of horrified wonder. "James...you're..."

"Not dead. It seems the Potter twins have a muggle friend who gets his hands on a time machine at some point in the future." Sirius slapped James on the shoulder, a little harder than he would have if he'd not taken a shot at his looks.

"Still a soft spot is it? I always was better looking than you." Mr. Potter smirked and glanced at his now much older friend.

"James! Really! Stop it!" Lily was on his arm and chiding him.

"You leave him alone, you nosy brat." Remus grabbed them both in a rough hug as he started bawling. "Oh god. What? What happened? A time machine?"

The group moved to the seats to relate the tale up to that point.

OooOOooOO

Anna and Harry were looking up at their parents with somewhat dumbstruck expressions. They had spent the past three days avoiding the children, and reading old newspapers, magazines, and poking and prodding about. They watched the broadcast and listened to the WWN almost all the time. Anna and Harry gave them both a bit of distance while they did it. They had yet to come off as unfriendly, and tolerated either one for as long as they managed to corner them for a bit. Anna never did it intentionally, but Harry had been curious enough to prod them a bit.

"Huh?" muttered the boy.

Anna just looked at her.

"I said come on. We're going to see my sister. She's not seen me in ten years right?" She was reaching her hand down to help them both to their feet. She seemed to think they would find it to be a good idea.

"Um, I'm not sure if that's such a good..." James furrowed his eyebrow for a moment, but Anna cleared up any doubt.

"Hey! Great!" Anna lit up and grabbed her mother's hand.

"What?" Harry's head whipped around to follow her as she almost dragged both parents out the door. "Um, hey!" He stood up and followed after them a moment after the door slammed shut.

"Wow." Margaret and Melvin were sitting on a nearby couch watching the whole affair.

"Yeah. I'm starting to like this whole 'Muggles are cool' side of things." The boy nodded as he turned the page in his magazine.

"This is so weird." The girl looked over at him. "Don't ya think?"

The boy tossed a magazine card over his shoulder, only to have a crazed battle cry zip by behind them as one of Anna's minions caught it in it's mouth before it fluttered to the ground. The bunny chewed for a moment, swallowed, and passed out on the floor. "So?"

"I guess, but still." The girl twirled her hair around her finger and gave a small sigh as she went back to looking at the magazine in her lap and turned the page.

Sirius sat down at an arm chair across from them and sipped at his coffee. "Anna and I had a talk while Harry was distracting their parents. You'll be staying here with me. Trying to explain things to her parents, Lily in particular, probably wouldn't go well. I hope you don't mind."

The girl nodded. "Yes. She's the best friend I've ever had, but it would be nice to get away for a bit, sometimes."

"I'll be able to sign for things if you need it for school. Don't worry. Just send anything that needs parental attention my way. Anna might have a bit of difficulty doing it herself. "

The twins both nodded. "I guess I can keep my room then." The boy gave a small shrug. "I kind of wish I'd gone to watch. I know it's not my business though."

Sirius nodded. "I doubt Harry would let them get put into Azkaban again. I was of half a mind to go myself. I wonder what she's planning."

Melvin shrugged. "We'll ask them when they get back. I'm sure one or the other will tell us."

Margaret gave a snort of laughter and shook her head before looking at him. "After leaving like that, you can bet she'll come back with a story."

OooOOooOO

Vernon Dursley stood up grumbling. He had a newspaper in his grip and was quite grumpy at the obnoxious banging at his door. He could hear someone calling on the other side of the door as they knocked in a continuous and irritating manner. "Hey! Hey! Hey Vern! It's me! Hey!"

"Who shows up at someones door at three in the afternoon?" He whipped it open, went pale as a ghost, and his jaw dropped.

Anna Potter was giving him the widest grin he'd ever seen on her face as she waved and greeted him as he opened the door. "Hey Vern, it's me! Anna!"

The man's eyes went wide, and the door slammed in her face.

"I told you this was a bad idea." Harry was frowning at her.

Anna waved her hand at him and grinned. "Aw, don't worry about him. He's always like that. Such a kidder." She kicked the door in and waltzed into the home.

Vernon stumbled back over a recliner and bumped his head against the wall behind it.

"Hey Vern! How ya been?" The girl looked far too pleased to see him.

Petunia walked into the room, her eyes locked on the rather dumbstruck Lily. She screamed and fell onto the floor in a heap.

Lily was shaking in horror and embarrassment. "What is she...?"

James looked confused, but not unhappy. He was giving a bit of thought to what possessed the girl, but she was far too creative for him to speak up and stop it.

"Yeah. Me an Vern we go way back! Know what I mean?" She had the rather bald and red head of Vernon Dursley in a headlock. "Oh, such wonderful times! He used to let me an Harry shack up in the closet over there! Oh, such sweet and blissful memories! Sitting alone together, being quiet and out of the way. Yeah, it was great!"

The redhead walked over to the wall and pointed at a large picture. "Hey, check it out, they got lots of pictures. Only one with one of us in it though. Look, you can see Harry's arm here! Isn't that great? I'll tell you, you could just feel the love in this house. Thought we mighta caught a bit of my ankle once, but it turned out to be a cat's tail. Still, lots of memories here on these walls. It's epic scope, beyond the meager understanding of mere humanity." She was pinching Vernon's cheek and giving him the dumbest looking smile he'd ever seen. He was shaking in terror, very aware of the two adults who stood in his house. "Know what I mean?" She seemed to be giving her parents a cheerful tour of the home as if it had been the best experience of her life.

The girl wasn't finished. "Ah, those wondrous studious hours spent polishing furniture, silverware, brass, doing laundry, cooking, doing the dishes, keeping up the yard, doing the painting. I'll tell you, paint thinner can leave a seven year old in quite a state. Heh heh heh. Know what I mean?" She slapped Vernon on the chest and pulled him towards the wall socket. "Hey! Is this? It is! Look! I got somethin ta show ya! I put this one in myself. Let me just unplug this here lamp..." She was tugging on the chord, after a moment, she planted her foot on the wall and continued to tug. "Hold on, you'll be able to take a good look here in just a seck. Eeh! Eeeeh!" She looked like she was straining very hard as she pulled in an almost comical manner.

Harry and their parents were frozen in the middle of the room, watching in a sort of horrified shock.

Anna ripped the socket of the wall, and was pulling the wiring from inside the wall through the plaster. She continued to pull as if not noticing and spoke to a horrified Vernon. "Yeah. Such good times, I remember you gave me all that ice when I got electrocuted and my leg turned red. I sure got it right the fourth time after that though." She'd pulled the wire down through the ceiling, and the light fixture was dangling by a chord it wasn't supposed to have.

She turned to look at her parents. "Hey! I'll even show you where we used to bunk!" She opened the closet door, and sure enough, the room was as barren as when they left it. "Yesiree Bob! Now this is living! A cot for my head, good company, and total silence." Anna looked both smug and proud of her apparent squalor. "I ask you, can you think of a better way to live for young impressionable children? Can you imagine a more loving and welcoming home?"

Petunia cut her short though as she screamed from the floor and cowered. "AAAAAAAAHHHH! It can't be! L-Lily? You're dead!"

"Oh! Hey! I was just showin my parents here where we used to sleep. I used to live here you know. Right Vern?" The girl's cheer was causing everyone to stand around in an uncomfortable way.

The woman had shoved her daughter aside and walked into the closet, lowering her head to do so. She started digging through the drawers. "I don't see any girl's clothes..."

James was wandering in a bit of a daze and poked at the light fixture with his finger. It crashed to the ground and he jumped back.

His wife turned to yell at him, but noticed a fat boy, laughing as he crushed the glass of the light fixture between his cowering parents. Her eyes turned towards the clothes again. Anna was looking down at her.

"Annabelle dear, where are your old...?"

"What do you mean? We just got his old stuff. It was a great deal! Though, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to get some of the spots he leaves out. EeeeeEEEehheeEEeeEEEeeeww." The girl scrunched up her face and worked her mouth from side to side in an exaggerated disgusted expression. "Had a good time doing it myself though! Along with everything else. Ironing was great, did you know, if you put your tongue on a hot iron, it makes this 'sssssssssss' noise? Makes it kind of hard to talk for a couple of days though." The girl looked like her mother might find that fact stimulating and amusing. "Know what I mean?"

Lily stepped out and glared down at her sister. "Why are there no pictures of my children? We've been gone ten years. I want to know what happened to them. Petunia...wh...my children were here, weren't they?"

"Ah, such great memories." Anna was looking up at the ceiling with her arms crossed and a rather dumb grin on her face. "As I gaze into these cracked plaster walls, full of spiderwebs, dust balls, and a heart full of good times. Boy, it sure does bring back the memories. Don't it?" The girl knelt down with a pleased and excited expression on her face. "Hey look! It's where I carved my name on the wall, when we got to sharpen all those knives. I mean, we must have sharpened them for the whole neighborhood. There were hundreds of em I tell ya! It was so awesome! They were so shiny and pointy! I tell ya, nothing says fun to an eight year old quite like hundreds of sharp knives. Well, I suppose we did go through a few bandages, but it was still good times I tell ya. Boy, we sure built a whole bunch of character that day. I think we sweat away quite a bit of that nasty 'M' word. Know what I mean?" Anna looked like she was telling a wistful happy story, she turned to look at her parents and pointed her finger as she worked her thumb up and down.

Harry was starting to back away from the two standing adults with a wide eyed expression on his face. He was taking glances at his sister and licking his lips.

She grabbed her mother and father's hand and started pulling them towards the door. "Well, It's been fun Vern, but we should just be movin along now. We'll come visit you some time buddy. Drop by for Christmas, Easter, Boxing day, we'll have a barbecue or somethin one of these days! A big ol family get together! Know what I mean? I'll tell ya, it'll be great! So long Vern!" She led her family out the door and slammed it hard enough to knock two pictures of Dudley off the wall.

The Dursley boy seemed amused and was clapping his hands as he stomped crushed glass into the carpet with his shoes. He was pointing at his dad and laughing, snorting every few chuckles as he did so.

Vernon's face was beet red, his eyes were bloodshot, and his blood pressure skyrocketed. "Damn wizards! I should have married Mertil Gardner!"

Petunia picked herself off the floor. She was looking up at him with wide eyes. Her face contorted and she snapped back. "She never liked you anyway. I knew her pretty well, and she wasn't shy about mentioning it."

The man sputtered a few times and pushed himself to his feet. "You! Go play in your room for a while!"

Dudley's face fell a bit as he shuffled away into the kitchen.

OooOOooOO

"Oh James! This place is a nightmare!" The man had been silent, his jaw was clenched as he held his wife in his arms and glared back at the doorway to the home.

"Dad. Ten years is long enough. I'd rather not see you in Azkaban over this now." Harry was giving him a serious glare as he walked by and pulled on his cape. "Come on. Can we just go?"

"Come on. He's right. Forget about them, there are still things you don't know about us." The girl nodded. "Besides, my way is more fun. I can torment them for years like that. Just pop in every once and a while." The girl was looking pleased with herself and rubbed her hands together in a rather devious looking manner.

Lily jumped off her husband and started fussing at her."What do you mean? We've got no jobs! We can't stay with Sirius forever! Where are we supposed to live? We can use our savings to get by for a bit, but not forever. James! How did this happen? Where are we?" She was alarmed.

The man smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "Home."

Anna arched her eyebrow and nodded. "Home is more dangerous than you think. The Death Eaters want very badly to kill the two of us. There is a prophecy, it's what brought him to our doorstep. Harry must destroy him. Don't go thinking you're safe now. We live in dangerous times, and Harry and I have been training to deal with it." The adults were looking down at her with their mouths open and confused expressions. She was looking at them with a very hard and serious gaze. "We are more gifted than you imagine. In a sick sort of irony, I think it is because of what he did to this family."

"What do you mean?" James spoke up first, clutching his wife close as she looked at the two children in front of her.

"Anna can see the past and future in a way no other wizard has in thousands of years." The boy spoke up and grinned at them. "She some kind of potion's genius too. She says it started...on that night."

The woman looked down at her and nodded. "I-I see."

The girl had her arms crossed and was frowning at her brother. "That's it in a nutshell. We have to do this, you can't protect us, and you can be used against us. I'm happy to see you, really, but a bit more planning an this could have been more convenient. I still can't believe you thought this would be a good surprise! What is wrong with you?"

"You're not still on that are you? Look, It worked out didn't it?" The boy crossed his arms and looked away from her.

"Not really, no. You brought our parents back, and all we've managed to do so far is scare them. Look at them!" The girl hung her head.

The boy smiled at her. "Yeah. We can."

That comment caught everyone off guard and the air of fear lightened a great deal for everyone.

"God. You are such a sap Harry." The girl pushed on his shoulder and looked flustered. "Yeah. You did good. Just...goddamnit."

A sound thwak jolted her head forward. The girl rubbed at it and looked back with a surprised and irate expression.

"You watch your mouth." The woman narrowed her eyes at her.

James spoke up. "So now what? Your mother is right, we can't stay with Sirius forever." His wife had relaxed a bit, and that relieved his own a bit more. The faintest hints of a smile were starting on the corners of his mouth. "We need to find jobs."

"You know, I hate to be the one who saves the day again, as you seem to dislike it so much..." Harry frowned and looked to the side of the road.

"Yeah. We're pretty wealthy." Anna nodded in agreement and looked a bit pensive. "Though, Sirius probably wouldn't mind keeping us until this is over. We could buy the whole Hollow if we liked really. I'm not suggesting it or anything, but we could."

"What?" The woman's eyes went wide.

"Well, we're just...really awesome." The girl was blushing and looking towards the ground with her hands behind her back.

"I'll tell you what. We'll go home and contact Pansy, then we can just show them." Harry shrugged.

Anna nodded. She knew they'd been listening to the radio recently, and there had been a bit about their new album on the WVN as well. "I guess. I hate taking the Night Bus though. The guy driving is a closeted Death Eater. We should find other ways of getting around."

"How would you know?" Lily seemed irate and turned the girl by her shoulder.

The girl shrugged. "I can see the future, read minds, and see into the past. Why?"

"Don't you get cheeky with me young lady." The woman seemed to be getting annoyed with the sullen girl's attitude. "I've had about all I can take..."

"She's not kidding," replied Harry as he stepped in between them.

"I've gone mad." The woman shuddered.

"Come on, we should get back." James was giving the girl a small smirk. "She looks just like you when she's being obnoxious you know."

The woman glared at him and gripped his wrist for a moment. Her eyes went soft and she looked at the girl who seemed reluctant to be walking with her at all. She rested her head on her husband's shoulder.

"I think we'll be all right here." He kissed her forehead. She could hear his voice shaken. They had both grown quiet in the past few days. Each slowly realizing they weren't going to wake up.

"This is real isn't it?" In an odd way, seeing her breath in the cold drove it home. "Oh God. What do we do?"

"Don't worry about money, that's what. We're wealthy enough. You can trust us that far at least." The redhead looked up at them and turned her lips up a little.

Harry was looking pleased with himself as he walked a little ahead. Anna was starting to talk to them, perhaps the trip had been a good idea after all.

OooOOooOO

James was looking cheerful as he pointed to the logo on the front of Melvin's drum set. "Hey! That's a great band. I've heard them on the radio. So, you're all fans then?"

Lily was looking at him with a somewhat surprised frown. "I'm not so sure I like the look of this."

Harry scratched his head and looked at his father. "Um, we kind of told you we were rich already. That was us on the radio. We're touring England for a month in a few more weeks."

"We've already signed contracts and everything." Anna was glaring at her brother and plugging in her guitar.

"Wait." Lily frowned. "Tenacious D? I have heard that now that you mention it. They've a few songs I like I think. I've not listened as much as James." The woman seemed to fret about it a little as she thought about it.

Pansy leaned in to Margaret with wide eyes from her seat at the keyboard. Her mother was hanging back with Sirius near the kitchen asking pretty much the same thing. "Um, Margaret...who are these people?"

The girl looked over at her and shrugged. "Those are the Potters. Harry and Anna's parents."

Her friend nodded as if her question had been answered for a moment. "Wait. Aren't they supposed to be..."

"For about ten years now. Yes." The other girl nodded.

"What? That can't be..." Pansy noticed her mother stand up with her hand over her mouth and rather wide eyes.

Melvin cleared his throat and leaned over. "You do recall we know two dudes who 'totally got a time machine', right?"

The girl looked over at him and worked her jaw. "Oh." She looked over at the pair. Anna looked almost miserable, but Harry was beaming and had his chest puffed out in pride. "Cool."

Harry and Anna were set up, and the band started to play a moment later. Anna had decided to keep it a bit light, she didn't want to scare them with death metal.

The girl was sitting on a stool next to her brother. She was picking on her strings, but not really playing anything, just a few mixed chords as she tried to think of a few good songs. One particular riff caught her brother's attention.

"Hey! That works! Come on!" Harry leaned over and shoved her arm.

"What?" The girl shook her head, she'd zoned out because her parents were still sitting there. They were looking on just in front of the instruments on the couch and looked a bit pensive.

"That song. I heard you playing it once in practice. I like it." He repeated the chords on his guitar.

The girl scrunched her face up and shrugged. "I was kind of saving that one for later, but I guess." She shrugged again and looked at the floor. "They don't know it though." She looked back at the band.

"What's he talking about?" Pansy was looking over looking more interested in hearing the song than playing.

"Yeah." Melvin nodded with a stupid grin on his face. He was just teasing the redhead.

Margaret had already set her guitar down. "Out with it Potter."

"Jeeze, don't be so pushy." The girl started playing. "I could stay awake just to hear you breathing. Watch you smile while you are sleeping, while you're far away dreaming. I could spend my life in this sweet surrender. I could stay lost in this moment forever. Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure. Don't want to close my eyes. I don't want to fall asleep, cause I'd miss you baby, and I don't want to miss a thing. Cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream will never do. I'd still miss you baby, and I don't want to miss a thing..."

Anna stopped playing and opened her eyes as she finished Aerosmith's 'Don't want to miss a thing'. Her eyes became very wide as she realized the adults were smiling and wiping tears off their faces. She flushed a bit and looked over to see Sirius and Lissa sitting close too each other.

"We should play something they might recognize. That one's not been on the radio." The girl looked over at her brothers huge grin and shuddered a bit. She was feeling better and managed a half grin.

"How about 'Foreplay'?" Melvin shrugged. Anna glanced back and him and shrugged. Boston wouldn't scare the parents.

Pansy nodded. "That way Harry and Anna can get a few solo's in there. It's always cool."

Margaret had her guitar hooked over her shoulder. "Let's just play something. You've gone and gotten me in the mood now."

OooOOooOO

Lily Potter was looking up at the ceiling in bed. It was late night, and her husband was passed out beside her with a dumb grin on his face. She'd had sex with him twice. Now, she was simply stunned into disbelief as she finally had time to think about her day. Shortly after the rather impressive demonstration, the man who managed the children's band showed up. They were all glad to see him, and he got on well with them right away. She liked him even more when he explained the amount of money her two eleven year old children had managed to collect in less than a year. Her new house would be twice the size of her old one.

That didn't change the way she felt though. The girl had closed up around her, she seemed to avoid contact. It was her daughter, and she knew it. She'd learned too much in the past few days, and sooner or later, she was going to have to go back into the world. The boy was both eager and patient, both much different than she'd ever imagined her babies to be. The girl had started to open up a little, but she seemed wary of them. She also seemed to be a very big tomboy. She wasn't sure what to make of it, and she didn't have any more time to waste just thinking about it.

"I don't even know them." She muttered it to herself as she rested her head against her husband's shoulder. "Now what?" The song her daughter played had driven it home. "I don't want to miss anything else."

OooOOooOO

"Shopping?" The redhead looked up at her mother. The girl was lying on her belly on the couch with a book propped up against one of the arms. Her mother was standing by the fireplace with a bag of powder in her hand.

The woman smiled down at her. "Yes. We'll take a trip to Diagon Alley, just the two of us and..."

"Get stared at by everyone there. Sounds like a bit of fun. We should bring Dad and Harry this time too. Let everyone have a good look, so it won't be so bad in the future." The girl nodded and put her thumb up. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind a stop off at the Alley. Say...hello I guess. I'm sure there's people who'd like to see you as well." It was almost comical as she looked very serious and agreeable.

The woman blinked and put her hand over her mouth. "Well, I suppose. We can leave the boys at the bar and do a bit of shopping ourselves. I hadn't thought of..."

"You've been dead ten years now. I'm world famous. Either way, it can get a bit crowded in public." The girl nodded and smiled at her. "Well, I suppose we should. I guess we can't stay holed up in here. We're going on tour next month with the band."

"What?" The woman's smile faded a bit.

"Contractual obligation. You don't have jobs, you'll be along right? Think of it as a family vacation. We aren't leaving England this time. I feel I should point out, that if not for the band, and the time travel that results from it, you would not be here. We kind of have to play a gig one day to pay the favor back." The girl was a bit surprised at the expression the woman had gotten.

Lily narrowed her eyes at the girl as she seemed to think about it. "Hmm. I suppose it might be a good idea for all of us to go together this time."

Harry walked up to the two of them. "Hi." He seemed to know something was up and looked curious about what it might be.

Lily looked over at him and smiled. "Harry, be a dear and go fetch your father. I'd like to do some shopping and I think the two of you should come along as well."

The boy walked to the doorway and called out in a loud voice. "Dad. Mum says we have to go shopping."

James walked in scratching his head. "What?" He was dressed in a bathrobe, T-shirt, and his shorts.

His wife frowned at him. "It's almost noon. Really, James. Go and get dressed."

Anna nodded. "Yes. We're going to the Alley it seems. It's best to get it over with and let everyone have a good stare. Though, I still haven't figured out how we're going to explain this." She put her finger on her chin and was looking near the bottom of the wall beside her with a rather thoughtful expression.

The man lit up. "Well, that sounds like a bit of fun! I'm going to scare the pants of Fredoric Klik. He owes me two Galleons still." He turned away to change clothes.

"I'd like some clothes of my own. It was nice of Sirius to lend us these." She was wearing a long red robe with a gold rope around her waist. She dusted off one of the hips a bit. "Nothing he has fits quite right though."

The man came back in pulling a cape around his neck a moment later in olive green robes of his own. He tucked his wand into his sleeve and smiled at them. "We'll stop by Gringotts. I'll take Harry and get a few robes for myself, head back to the pub, and you girls can meet us there."

"No more than two." Lily narrowed her eyes at him and poked his chest.

The man scratched his head and flushed. "Right. Two."

OooOOooOO

The Potter Family apparated into the middle of Diagon Alley. They looked around, and things continued as if nothing interesting had happened. That lasted all of a minute, as the group started to move, heads turned and followed them as everything around them came to a complete stop. People were standing around watching them pass in silence, looking bewildered and amazed.

They walked by, looking around at everyone, but said nothing as they continued towards the bank. Harry and Anna moved in front of the adults as they ushered them forward from behind. It lasted the whole way to the bank.

OooOOooOO

After a small bit of confusion, and a few identity confirmation spells, the Goblins greeted them with little in the way of surprise. The head goblin of the bank walked up and bowed deeply to them.

Anna and Harry responded in kind. "We need to access our vault. Sorry for the confusion." They looked at each other and narrowed their eyes as they both said the same thing.

The goblin nodded and smiled. "Griphook is in charge of your account. I'll summon him right away." The thing had a greedy look in it's eyes as it spoke to them. He was cordial and pleasant.

OooOOooOO

Lily and James Potter were smiling at Griphook as he hauled the vault door open. The goblin was pleased with them and it showed. His handling of their affairs had increased his status in the bank. The goblin equivalent of a promotion. The vault was in a different place than it had been before. They had given each other confused glances as they passed the old vault and moved much deeper into the tunnels. The moment they stepped into the vault, their pleasant smiles had fallen away. Each one stood with wide eyes and slacked jaws. It wasn't just a room full of Galleons and Sickles, it was a very, very large room full of them.

Both of them were aware of the kind of money they were dealing with before they entered. They had both noticed the Goblins were fare more cordial than ever before. However, knowing about something, and actually seeing it, are often two completely different matters.

"Oh my god. James. I've never seen so much." Lily felt her knees grow weak.

"Hey. This is your vault." Harry looked over at them. "Ours is even deeper down."

Griphook nodded and looked at the adults. "Yes. That vault is at the base of the caverns. Only the highest security vaults are more secure. We value our important clients."

"Pretty much. This one is for our guardian. Sirius has a vault just down a ways. He's not touched this one. You're not dead, so it's yours now." The girl looked up at them and shrugged. "You sure don't have to worry about affording a house and such. It will get even bigger next month, once we start touring. We'll be able to stay at some nice hotels." She nodded and glanced over at them. "I suppose it will be a good chance to get used to each other."

James was looking at her with his eyebrows arched. "Are you sure we haven't died and gone to heaven or something?"

"Don't..." Harry put his forehead into his hand.

Anna shrugged at him and seemed apologetic. "Sorry. No, you'd be safe in heaven. Don't let your guard down. The Death Eaters are dangerous, and wouldn't think twice about using you against us." The girl nodded at them both. "Sorry to put a downer on things, but you need to be aware, and mindful. Take it from us. We've already had a few attempts on our lives. I hate that I need to keep bringing that up, but I think I should."

Lily's face grew angry. "What? Who would...?"

Anna shrugged. "He's dead, but there's more where he came from. Voldemort is eager to see us dead, Harry especially. For one very important reason."

James had a serious expression on his face. "Why is that?"

Griphook leaned in to listen a bit closer, no one seemed to notice.

"Because it's true. You can't protect us from it, and we will destroy him." She shrugged again and started putting Galleons into his pouch.

"We'll see." He frowned at her and nodded.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter's eye was twitching, she had her hands clutched together in front of her hips, and a rather nasty snarl on her face.

Harry was doing his best not to laugh. James was looking down at her with a cheerful expression. "Wow. Cute."

"Thank you." The girl almost growled it. She was dressed in a white dress with a red bow tied to the back. She also had a large red bow tied to the back of her hair, which was hanging around her shoulders loose.

"Wow. Looks like you made out shopping with Mom." There were about forty boxes piled up along the wall. They had levitated themselves in and set themselves down.

"James! What the hell are you doing?" Their mother had her hand on the redhead's shoulder.

The man was leaning against the bar with a group of about ten men. All of them fell silent and looked at her with wide eyes and slacked jaws. He looked back at her and his face fell. There were four mugs on the bar. "Wait! I only went one over! That one is Harry's Soda!" He backed away a bit and put his hands up.

A woman in the back of the room screamed and fell over. Lily seemed to forget about her husband and looked over in surprise. "Alice? Alice Wallace is that..." She walked over to help the woman up. She was a plump woman in her mid thirties. "Oh! It is you! How have you been?" The woman was touching her face and looked a bit hysterical. "Um, yes. Hello again."

James watched as an excited group of women gathered around his wife. He'd seen them whispering in the corner and along the wall as they watched him at the bar with his son. He looked at his son and nodded. "Romania huh? Too bad, I'd like to see Arthur again."

"I'd like to see Ron before the summer is over as well. I told him to write me when he gets back. I'm planning on sending him a few tickets to the show if I can." The boy looked pleased and nodded.

A nineteen year old girl with a huge flush on her cheeks walked up to him. "Um, are you Harry Potter?"

"Yeah. Hi!" He looked up at her and smiled in a welcoming way.

She held out a small scroll and a quill. "Um, would you mind?"

The boy nodded and took it. "Yeah. Sure thing." He signed it and handed it back.

His father was looking at him in a rather impressed manner just behind his head. "This isn't so bad at all."

Anna frowned as a familiar voice rang out behind her. "Potter, aren't we pretty today? Planning on trying to catch Professor Snape are we? As if he'd be interested in damaged goods."

She turned to see a group of three girls sitting around a table. Their parents were about, and they all had bags sitting around the table as they waited on them to pep themselves up a bit. The ringleader, in the middle, was a girl with long brunette hair. "I'm pretty every day, Missy." Her name was Melissa Rineheart, she was fond of poking fun at her about her parents at Hogwarts.

"Prowling for Draco Malfoy maybe. I've noticed you keeping an eye on him. Everyone knows. He doesn't like half-blood tramps with no family I'm afraid."

"Just out shopping, with my family." The redhead shook her hair back over her shoulder and smoothed out the dress a bit. She looked quite pleased with the day she'd had thus far and seemed to forget about her irritation with her mother. She'd almost electrocuted the woman for trying to force her into something in a weak looking pink shade. Her current attire was the compromise.

"Who's that? I've not seen her before. Buy yourself some parents Potter?" A snide girl with short curly hair spoke up. Anna didn't know her, but had a feeling she'd be dealing with her next year. The table seemed to think it was funny.

"Her name is Lily Potter. She is my mother."

Melissa spoke up. "Don't be stupid, Potter. Everyone knows what happened to your parents." She looked quite smug.

"You're right. She was dead, but it seems my brother found a way to fix it. Go figure." The redhead shrugged and walked back over to her family.

Melissa snorted. "As if we were that stupid." She looked over at an older woman she'd seen before who sat nearby to their favorite spot.

"Not even Voldemort can bring back the dead." She sipped at her tea and looked over at them with something in her eyes the girls couldn't place. "It's impossible. What on earth? Lily and James Potter? How did...it must be some kind of trick. It can't be...he...he killed them himself! Only the children..."

Melissa got a rather horrified expression on her face as she overheard the woman's muttering. She had turned to get her opinion on the matter. She thought the same way as her family, and they'd spoken before. "What the?"

When she'd turned back, the Potters, and their packages had apparated away. The room was dead silent, within moments, it was full of the sound of whispers.

OooOOooOO

"Merlin. It's true." Albus Dumbledore was looking at Lily and James Potter. He was standing on the doorstep of the Black home, and his eyes had grown rather wide.

"Professor! It's good to see you!" James was cheerful as he waved the man in. "How have you been? I've heard we've been gone a while."

"Professor." Lily flushed a bit as she gave him a polite greeting.

OooOOooOO

The old man was sitting with tea in his hands a few moments later. "Ah, yes. As amazing as it sounds, they have both proven to be excellent students. Your daughter has collected quite a few trophies for her accomplishments. Harry has talents of his own as well. I'm sure you'll discover."

James grinned at him and sipped at his tea. "Hmm. Yes. It's been an adventure so far."

"Adventure?" Lily looked at him with her mouth hanging a bit. She was forced to put her tea down to prevent spilling it. "Really, James! This is hardly running around Hogwarts."

"Might I ask why you aren't dead?" The old man glanced over at them.

"Harry and Anna said something about a time machine." Lily looked over at him with a somewhat dazed expression. She turned away and sipped on her tea.

"Ah! I see. Yes. I seem to recall something about that. Something to do with the band as I remember it. Quite an interesting fellow he was. I'd have liked to speak with him more, he seemed...very busy. Odd for someone with control over time I suppose." The old man stroked his beard.

Anna walked into the room. She was wearing a T-shirt and a denim skirt that stopped just above the knees. Her hair was pulled back in a banana clip. "Oh. Hello Professor." She was munching on a bag of chips and had Margaret just behind her.

"Ah. Miss Potter, and Miss Boggs. I trust you are enjoying your summer so far?" Dumbledore looked amused at her expression.

"Well. It's been interesting for sure." Anna nodded and gave a half cocked grin.

"Yes, Professor." Margaret nodded and gave a more subdued grin.

"Amazing." The old man sighed and shook his head as they walked by towards the rooms. "I trust you're not having difficulty putting your affairs in order?"

"There have been a few snags." James nodded and smiled. "We're adjusting though. We almost exist again. Something like two days or so before everything goes through."

"It's been a nerve wracking week so far." Lily blushed a bit and nodded. "Annabelle dear."

The girl froze at the base of the stairs and cringed. "Stop calling me that."

The woman leaned over the couch and got a rather displeased expression on her face. "What do you mean? It's your name."

The girl gave her a sour frown. "It's a cow's name."

"I happen to think it's very pretty. I don't care if your friends call you Anna or not, I gave you the name and I'm using it." Her mother shook her finger at her and cheered up a bit. "Tell your brother to get cleaned up. Kreacher will have lunch set up in a few minutes."

She growled and shuffled away.

Margaret moved up beside her and smirked. "Your name is Annabelle?"

"Shut it. Just Anna." The redhead grumbled as the raven haired girl chuckled a bit.

"She's right. It is pretty."

The redhead glared back at her and poked her in the chest. "Anna is fine. I can't do anything about her, you I can get back at."

The Boggs girl leaned her head on her shoulder with a grin on her face. "Fine, be that way. Still, I don't see what you're complaining about. Can I call you Bell then?"

"No."

The adults watched the exchange fade away in amusement.

"James, Lily. I am sorry to bring up such a thing now, but I feel I must warn you..." The old man leaned towards the couple.

"Is this about the Death Eaters?" James had a frown on his face and clutched his wife a bit more as he said it.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. They are very dangerous. More than you might imagine. You must take care, you must take precautions. You also must understand that just one of your children is most likely more powerful than the two of you put together." He looked quite serious as he spoke to them.

The Potter couple got a rather blank expression on their faces. James nodded and spoke up after a second. "Anna warned us about the Death Eaters. She said one of them tried to kill her and died..." He took a moment to think.

Lily got there first. "What do you mean 'powerful'?"

"I have something to show you. Your children bought a bit of recording equipment last year. I believe they have video of all but one of their Quidditch matches over the year. Quite exciting." He produced a small crystal and set it on the table in front of him. "I recommend that you wake up early, and watch them practice. It's quite a sight, they offered to let me to record this, so that I might learn a bit more about some of their more...interesting tendencies."

James and Lily Potter looked up on the large mirror on the wall. Their children were standing in the middle of the Great Hall facing off. A few moments later, they were dancing around, throwing punches and kicks at each other. After about ten minutes of wide eyed staring, both parents jolted as two blades of light appeared out of small metal objects they'd taken from their robes. The redhead passed the blade through her arm and looked at the camera with a smile on her face.

James and Lily were clutching each other when they started throwing balls of light at each other and knocked them away with the weapons. They went dark before they hit anything, and covered anything they impacted with a layer of frost. The pair even threw a few stunning curses in as they used the blades like wands. Each attack was knocked away by the combatants. They locked blades again.

"Hey! I win this one don't I?" Harry was looking on with a grin on his face behind the adults. Both of them looked at him with wide eyes. He had Melvin with him and his hands were shoved into the pockets of his blue jeans.

"You've not been out since you brought your parents back have you?" Melvin seemed to think about it for a moment.

The boy who lived nodded and grinned. "Yeah. Anna said something about starting in a few days. If they've seen this, I guess we can start up again tomorrow." He looked down at his parents and smiled. "You want to see some of our Quidditch matches? I'll bring them down and tell Kreacher to bring lunch in here if you'd like."

"Well, I suppose you have been warned. I suspected, but did want to be sure. I shall take my leave, I look forward to speaking with you both again." Dumbledore seemed a bit relieved and stood up to leave.

OooOOooOO

Lily Potter was chewing on a sandwich and looking at the screen with wide eyes. She sipped on a soda as she felt her heart stop again. James was gripping her shoulder and not saying anything as he watched.

"These are...our children?" The woman sounded pensive. "Oh my!" She'd just watched her son come close to getting crushed between two very large fifth years by hanging off his broom.

James cringed on occasion as well. It was the second game they'd watched, and both children had a habit of jumping off their brooms and catching themselves with it again. "Wow."

"I don't get to play against him till next year." Anna was sitting on one side with Margaret beside her. The redhead was leaning in to watch the show. "We're looking forward to it."

Melvin was sitting in an armchair chewing with a bit of lettuce hanging from his lips. "Everyone at Hogwarts is looking forward to that."

Harry nodded. "I know I am." He seemed pleased about it. He had finished and was nursing his soda beside his father.

"Th-that's my son!" James didn't sound upset at all. "You both like flying do you? I've always enjoyed it."

"McGonagall mentioned you used to play for the team." Harry smiled at him and nodded.

"We own the sky." His sister was poking a pickle slice a bit further back into her sandwich.

Lily's face fell. The girl sounded confident that what she'd just said was true. She looked over at her with an odd expression. "I used to root for James when he played. I always worried though."

Anna looked over at her. "I don't. Harry can take care of himself. I heard about what Dumbledore showed you earlier."

"I'm your mother, I should worry. I'm just glad I won't be around to watch this." She shuddered and looked at the screen with wide eyes. Another attempted foul that missed her son caused her to shudder and cringe. He went into a dive and came up with the Snitch in his hand several close calls later. "Sort of." She did feel a bit of warmth in her chest as she saw the grin on his face.

Anna was different, she'd noticed. She was cool, calm, and seemed to be very confident. The way she smiled was different than her brother when she won a match. She almost looked malevolent, she continued to stare, and the girl was aware. She kept giving her glances. However confident she looked, it was clear she was enjoying the sport in the video.

James shook her shoulder a little and she put her head onto his arm.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Ron Weasley and The Romanian Reward.


	22. Chapter 22

A matter of force.

Part 22

Ron Weasley and the Castle of Doom.

Heh.

OooOOooOO

Ron Weasley yawned as he stretched his arms and sat up in a very large bed. The hotel room they'd given him was as large as his whole house, and everyone in his family had their own room. A golden trophy, certificate of award, a Sash, or highest level Order of the Star of Romania was hanging from his bedpost. He scratched his head and looked out the window. It was dark, the sun had just set no more than a half hour before. He hopped from the bed and onto the thick carpet. Everything in the room looked expensive. It didn't matter much to him, he'd spent most of the day dressed up and sitting through ceremonies honoring him and his bravery. Anna's name had come up a few times as well.

He looked out the windowed doors of his room and onto the balcony. The building was a huge multistory concrete structure, very old and classy. He'd taken a nap once he'd returned to the hotel with his family. Charlie was expected to come see them the next day and visit for a bit. His grown brother had to return home for the evening after the awards ceremony, but promised to show them about the country for a bit the next day. Everyone who was still at the home in England was in the hotel. His brother Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny were all staying in the rooms around his. His parents were a few floors down, enjoying a bit of time alone.

As it was, he was having a wonderful time. The bounty on Dracula had been paid a few weeks before. They'd given him a ceremonial bag of gold during the days events to symbolize it. The boy was enjoying the feel of the carpet on his toes as he scratched his chest in a lazy manner and pulled his hat off the bedpost.

The boy opened his door after putting on his shoes and blinked in surprise. Ginny was walking by just outside his room and he called to her. "Hey. What's up?"

The girl blinked and smiled at him. "Oh. I was on my way down to the dining hall." She turned and walked to his side. "You've been asleep for hours."

He shrugged and didn't look to be all the way awake yet. "Don't tell anyone, but today was pretty boring. I almost passed out a few times while I was sitting and smiling in that big hall."

The girl giggled a bit and brushed a bit of hair back behind her ear. She was a head shorter than Ron, and seemed pleased with meeting him in the hall as she skipped at his side a bit. The rest of the family had gotten dressed up as well, but she'd changed into a skirt and blouse and looked much more relaxed. "I guess. It's too bad Anna Potter didn't come along. I'd like to have met her."

The older boy frowned a bit. "You will. Besides, she's supposed to stop by here next year. Something about contractual obligations or something. She'll be getting one of those Romanian Star awards as well. The President of Romania mentioned something about it. Curing the Vampires is almost a bigger deal than killing Dracula." He put his hand on her shoulder and walked around the corner. There was an elevator at the end of the hall they had turned into.

They walked into the elevator and the boy pushed the button for the bottom floor. It didn't take a moment for them to reach the second floor. The elevator didn't go all the way down, and two curved stair wells on either side of the room led to the first floor, with the entrance to the dining hall on the right side.

Ron took a few steps before grabbing his sister's shoulders and pulling her down behind the railing.

The girl looked irate, and wanted an answer. "Ron! What are you...?"

The boy was looking between the railing post and frowning as he looked down into the entrance hall. A large group of about ten men in black robes were gathered there. Each robe was embroidered with a familiar crest. "Death Eaters. I hate these guys."

The girl gasped and looked on with wide eyes. The men walked into the dining hall in a group after speaking with the desk. Ron stood up after the last one walked out of the room and kept his hand on his sister's shoulders. "Come on. We'll order room service. I'd rather not meet up with those guys."

The girl frowned at him, but nodded. "Fine. I'm hungry though."

"It won't take that much longer. Don't worry." He ushered her away towards the elevator again.

OooOOooOO

A half hour later, Ron stood up and moved towards the door to his room. Ginny was sitting on his bed with a small displeased frown on her face as she kicked her legs.

The boy glanced back at her as he moved towards the door. "Finally." He muttered it under his breath and called back to her. "See, that didn't take very long at all."

"Ron! Look..."

His sister froze up as some sort of spell slammed into her chest. She fell back on the bed. He managed to turn back to the door, and the last thing he saw was a fist closing in on his face and a black robe.

OooOOooOO

Ron gasped as he sat up and looked around. It was dark, quiet, and dusty. He was lying on a stone slab on some sort of altar or table. There were two others beside him. "What the?" A stone stairwell leading to a heavy wooden door about fifteen feet above in the corner of the room was all he could make out besides the gray stone walls. "Ouch! What...Ginny!" His eyes went wide as he jumped off his resting spot and grunted as his feet hit the floor.

He looked at himself, he was still wearing his clothes, but his whip was gone. Nothing else seemed to be missing. "What, where...Ginny?" He called out to her, not noticing the top of the altar sliding aside behind him, and a small delicate looking set of fingers pushing the stone aside. "Stupid Death Eaters, they'd better not hurt her." He started towards the steps and frowned as an unfamiliar female voice called out to him.

"Hello boy."

Ron went white as a sheet as he turned on his heels. He was reaching for his whip, but it wasn't there. "Vampires!"

A girl of about sixteen, with long brown hair, pale skin, and deep red lips was looking at him. There was little emotion on her face, save the faintest hints of a smile. She almost looked saddened, and trying to be cheerful.

"Look, don't come any..." The boy was backpedaling up the stairs and ran into a thin pair of legs in a rather flimsy white dress. "...closer." He turned and glared at her with a frown on his face. He'd not yet wet himself and was fumbling about inside his pocket.

"Looking for something?" She cornered him against the wall and was leaning in with a hungry look in her eyes. "I'm Afina. Perhaps I can help you discover it." Her teeth were protruding over her lips as she moved in towards the boy's neck.

Ron stuttered his response as he closed his eyes and turned his head away. "N-n-no thanks. I-I-I've found it."

The girl stepped back with a confused looking frown on her face. "What on earth?" She was looking at the needle that was stuck in her sternum. A chuckle escaped her lips as she looked up at him. "What is it you thought this would..." Her features became confused and surprised as she fell flat on her back, falling about three feet to the floor off the edge of the stairs on her back.

"It's the cure for vampirism." The boy gasped and looked over at her. He turned to look back at the open tomb, only to see two more that were already empty. "Oh no."

Once again, Ron Weasley found himself looking at someone's fist. This time it was a tall woman, with blond hair. He didn't go out. Another with straight black hair moved up to her side. "Thank you for warning us." The vampire women were wearing the same thing as the girl he'd met. They looked about seven years older than she was. "Afina. You knew the master has plans for him. Why did you go and try to make a meal of him. He's marked."

The girl looked confused and dazed. "No, please. Mara, Sonia, you must..."

"We'll let the master decide what to do with you." The shorter of the pair, with long black hair hissed at her. "A pity, once cured...well...we've got no use for you. Perhaps he'll allow us to drain you dry?"

"Wouldn't that be nice." Mara seemed to be the one in charge. She looked at the boy and kicked him in the face as he fumbled about his shirt. She reached into his clothes while he was stunned and tossed the other needles aside. Five doses smashed against the stone floor, oozing the contents all across the thick layer of dust. "As for you, the master would like to meet you again in person." She picked him up by his neck. He looked confused and panicked as he choked and gasped. After a minute or so, he closed his eyes and passed out. "Sonia, bring her. What belongs to the master, is his forever."

"Just a taste. The little one never was much fun." The dark haired vampire ran her tongue along the girl's throat and gave a playful giggle.

The other bared her fangs and screamed in rage.

The other vampire hissed back in frustration, but hefted the struggling girl over her shoulder.

OooOOooOO

Ron Weasley groaned as he shook his head and found himself staring into a mirror. His hat was still on his head, and his whip was gone. "Aw man. Now what?" He found himself wondering why he wasn't dead yet. He was sitting in a small room with nothing in it but a mirror that filled the opposite wall in a heavy wooden frame. The carvings on it were very unpleasant and violent, full of suffering people and demonic tormentors.

Afina woke up screaming, as soon as her eyes opened she jumped upright, stared at her reflection in the mirror, and screamed. "No! You can't do this! Kill me! Please don't!" She was trying to claw her way back up the wall behind her.

"Um, what the heck is going on?" Ron went rather pale at the sight.

The girl just continued to scream as an orange light, and swirl of energy formed behind what now looked like a pane of glass with a nasty looking energy behind it.

Ron swallowed and yelled as it grew too bright to look at. It never left, and he felt very warm. The air stank and he coughed and gagged a bit. A resounding boom was the only thing that stopped the girl's screaming. The air was full of pops and the sound of things passing through the air around them. The boy dove for the girl and tackled her to the ground. When he opened his eyes again, he was on top of her, behind a large orange and black colored rock. "What?" He couldn't even hear his own voice it was so loud.

The girl grabbed his face and pointed down while forcing him to look towards where she was pointing. There was a hole that led into a long tunnel just behind where they were hiding. The pair rushed down and stopped. Bodies lined the walls, burnt and charred flesh, the stench was horrible.

"I'm not going down there!" He almost turned back, but a splash of dirt from a nearby explosion changed his mind.

Afina was gasping for breath. She started towards the nearest body and pulled various weapons and straps from the corpses for a few moments. The bodies didn't bother her much, but Ron couldn't tell. She looked terrified.

The boy was looking around in a terrified manner. "Where are we?"

The girl shuddered, hunched over one of the bodies to get his holster off. "Hell."

The boy's eyes went wide. "What?"

"They don't know about us yet, but they will come for us. Perhaps we can stave off the end for a bit?" She gave him a rather hollow stare as she shoved a machine gun, two pistols, a belt of grenades, and a shotgun into his chest.

The boy dropped all of it. "I can't use this stuff! I've never seen any of these things before! What the heck are these things?"

"There are no wands here. These are the kinds of weapons Muggles use. I can show you how it works if I need too. It won't take long." She demonstrated removing the ammunition, firing without the ammunition inside, and how to load the ammunition back, with each weapon. She forced him to use his own hands as she did it, holding his arms in place and pointing out what he needed to do with each one.

She grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "This is the end for us Ron. There is no going back. We are here forever. Let us make something of our last moments before we die." The girl cocked a handgun and holstered it. "Put all that on, and don't forget what I showed you."

Ron managed to nod and started putting on the straps, belts, and holsters for all of his weapons. "Wait." He glanced over and picked up a very large weapon off the wall before putting it on his shoulders. The straps were like a backpack, with a clip on the front like on a hiking bag. He didn't know he picked up a rocket propelled grenade launcher. He was fumbling with the straps and frowned as he glanced at her as she looked forward with tears in her eyes and a serious frown on her face. "What do you mean there's no way out? There's got to be! We got here didn't we?"

She glared at him with her frown deepening. "This is Hell. What part of that don't you understand? We are doomed. We can only hope to fight it off as long as we can before the end. That mirror was a gateway, we used it to communicate with our master when he was...unavailable. His immunities grew stronger with time, there was a time when a steak through his heart would have gotten rid of him for twenty years or so."

"Well, how do we know there isn't a way to get there from this side?" The boy looked desperate.

"The master could use it to speak with us. He could not pass through." The girl frowned at him. "We don't even know where it is."

The boy's heart about jumped into his throat. "That means we can find it! Look, maybe he couldn't pass through it because...he was dead?"

The girl arched her eyebrow and looked at him. "What?"

"Magic works that way sometimes! Trust me! It's worth a shot isn't it?" The boy was white as a ghost and shivering. "We've got to do something!" There were tears in his eyes, and the smell of the bodies disguised the fact that he'd wet himself. "If we can make it without dying..." He shrugged and looked at her.

"I..." She looked confused. "I hope you are right. I belong here, you don't."

The boy frowned at her and puffed his chest out. "Don't talk that way!"

A shuffling started behind them. The girl snapped on the electric torch hooked onto her chest as she turned around and saw only darkness. The boy watched her and fumbled for a second before doing the same. "Hey. I got it..." He sounded pleased until he realized she was screaming.

The bodies in the hallway were behind them had gotten up, they were ambling along behind them, rotten and burned, chunks of flesh missing and blood oozing from the open sores. Ron, true to form, reacted without thinking. The machine gun was the easiest weapon to grab, it was hanging from his shoulder on a strap. He planted his feet and held it with both hands as he pulled the trigger and waved it side to side. His arms promptly went straight up, and he felt the ground impact on his back. "Ouch!" The girl helped pull him to his feet as she fired the handgun into the zombies as they lurched forward, tripping over the six Ron had managed to down. They fell over as if dead after a four or five shots.

"I forgot to mention these weapons have a bit of kick. Don't worry about ammunition, this is hell. I've discovered you don't run out." She kept firing her handgun and started pulling him down the hall.

The boy still had the machine gun in his hands and nodded. "That's a relief. That means all I need to do is pull this switch right?" He was firing short burst as the few zombies ahead of them started to stagger up from the wall. They were nearing the end and coming up on a corner. One of the things started to raise it's handgun towards Ron, but Fiona splattered it's brain against the wall.

She turned and looked, the monsters behind them were raising their weapons as if they were a firing squad. They were just tormenting them, and there was no way they were going to make it to the corner.

Ron screamed as he pulled the big weapon off his back and let his machine gun fall to his side again. He put it on his shoulder and jerked back a little as he pulled the trigger. A loud boom filled the air as a cloud of smoke, and the sound of earth and stone falling behind them filled the narrow passage. They could see various body parts lining the hall in front of the cave-in as well through the haze.

The girl looked up at the weapon, and another rocket was already mounted on the end as he put it back. "Come on. That was great."

"No it wasn't! It was horrible!" The boy looked terrified beyond belief as he jogged to catch up to her

The girl shrugged and got a dazed looking frown on her face. "Well, this is hell after all."

There was nothing in front of them but empty hallway for a bit. They walked along side each other for a bit in silence, after about two minutes, Ron spoke up in a hushed tone. "So, um. How do you know how to use these things anyway?" He looked down at his machine gun.

The girl didn't bother looking back at him. "I've been around for five hundred years."

He nodded and opened his mouth.

She shoved him against the wall with a glare in her eyes that shut him up as she grabbed his cheeks and forced him to look at her. "I am one of Dracula's brides. I have served him for more than five hundred years. He came for me the day after his last bride was destroyed, ripped my husband in half right in front of me on my wedding night, and made me one of his brides. Is there anything else you'd like to know?" Tears started falling down her face as she turned away from him and gave him a nasty snarl. "You'd have done better destroying me. I didn't want to be cured, and Sonia and Mara were much happier with their curse than I was. Even if you do make it back, you've got nothing to destroy a vampire. The gate only works at night, so you won't be popping in during the day. You're doomed Ron Weasley. Both of us are. The only reason I've not already killed you for what you've done, is the fact that you might buy me a few more moments before my eternal torment begins."

The boy looked flustered and felt very bad. "I'm sorry. You know me?" He looked confused and afraid to speak.

"Of course I do. You killed my...master." She growled the title and clenched her weapon. "He has favored me for five hundred years, knowing he took the chance for me to ever become a woman away forever."

The boy glared at her with tears in his eyes. He wiped his arm across his cheek and sniffed as he got an angry looking frown on his face. "You're not dead yet. I've no intention of staying here. I'm going to find that gateway. Stick with me, and I promise you'll get the chance to be a woman, whatever that means." His knees were shaking and he clenched his fist in front of him and shook it at her.

Her glare never faded. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

The boy ignored her response long enough to unload his machine gun ahead down the hall. A ball of orange light impacted the wall right next to Afina's head. She screamed and dove up against the opposite wall.

Ron Weasley was screaming as he did his best to keep his weapon pointed ahead as he feathered the trigger on the weapon, sending short burst of fire into a group of three hideous brown skinned creatures. They had spikes protruding from their shoulders, and dead black eyes. The one in the back of the group spit one of the orange balls of light into the ceiling as a round nailed him in the head. After a moment, the creatures were burning out of existence on the ground. "Merlin!" Ron was white again, he put his hand against the wall to steady himself and gasped for breath. He looked over at her and spoke in a very small frightened tone. "I'll never quit. I'm not staying here."

"Come on then." The girl started forward into the shadows. "If nothing else it gives us a destination. Even if it is impossible."

OooOOooOO

The hallway twisted and turned, it was filled with Zombies, and more of what Afina identified as 'Imps'. On occasion, they would enter a room filled with one of the other, but another hallway branched off further into the tunnels.

About a half hour later, Ron was gasping and leaning against the wall. The girl was looking into the distance with a frown on her face. "There is something much bigger lurking about ahead. I've heard it."

"That snorting sound?" The boy looked over at her and clutched his weapon a bit more.

"No. I know what that is, just minor demons. Big ugly pink things, we'll see them soon enough. This is much wor..."

As if in answer, a green light slammed into her chest. A loud and vicious snarl filled the small chamber as something huge knocked her off her feet and doused her light. The creature ambled into the doorway in the darkness but his light only told him it had very hairy legs and a muscular human-like torso. It was shaking about and unfocused as he tried to see what was going on in front of him and keep from getting crushed at the same time.

Ron turned and fired at it, screaming. He could see a huge hulking form, the thing had come charging through the door. It was upright, and one of it's clawed hands slammed into his chest, sending him into the wall behind him. He was blind firing into the air as he went and hit it shoulders first. He grunted as he hit the ground and slumped over. He opened his eyes and looked towards the sound as he heard Afina screaming in horror. "NO! Please! Help!" His light had fallen to the ground beside him and only lit up the floor and opposite wall.

He pushed himself up and fired with the handgun as he tried to heave himself up the wall with one arm. He could see a mass of shadow dragging a wriggling and screaming girl out the door. She was clutching the doorway for her life, but was jerked away in a violent manner. His vision cleared up enough for him to catch the expression on her face just before she vanished. As soon as she disappeared, her screaming stopped. "Afina! No!" Ron pushed off the wall and almost fell flat on his face as he dropped the handgun and pulled the shotgun off his shoulder. He fired once into the open door, but slid onto his back as the doorway came crashing down in front of him, leaving only dust and debris blocking his way. "No! No please!" He was alone in the depths of Hell itself. He fell to his knees and clutched his shoulders as he burst into tears.

A resounding booming laughter filled the room as it became flooded with a red light. He put his arm up and snagged his flashlight and the pistol from the ground. The redhead backed into a corner, hooking the light back onto the straps of his holsters and putting the handgun away. He pulled up the shotgun and cocked it as he glared at the ceiling.

The opposite wall exploded inward, sending stones scattering across the floor. A huge, ugly, bull like creature charged at him from the hole. It was grunting like a pig, but acted more like a bull, snapping at him with huge jaws filled with sharp teeth as it charged at him. A pair of horns protruded from it's skull that it lowered and tried to ram him with as it closed in.

The boy leveled the shotgun and opened up, cocking the front end after each shot as he did so. Ten shots later, there were four of the pinkish monsters piled into the middle of the room. He continued screaming with his eyes wide and tears in his eyes as he looked at the hole. He ran out of breath and started gasping as he looked into the darkness.

Without a word, he started running and dashed inside. It was the only way out of the room now.

OooOOooOO

Ron wasn't sure how long he'd been wandering through hell. He leveled the handgun and fired it about ten times, having to reset his arm after each shot. The kick threw his arm up, his shoulders, hands, and legs were strained and aching. The inside of his hands were bruised purple, and his clothes were in tatters. He knew he'd been there for hours, and the rooms had gotten larger. Each one was dimly lit, and now sported torches made of still bleeding bone. The walls and floors looked and felt like living skin, bleeding and stretched. He was covered in blood, the stench in the air was that of rotting flesh. He'd gotten sick more than once along the way. He used his towel to keep the blood from getting into his eyes, and had torn strips of it tied around his hands for both grip and to ease the pain in his palms from firing. He'd had to shoot his way through hundreds of Zombies, Lesser Demons, Imps, flying skulls, and what he'd come to decide were just plain old demons. They towered to about eight feet, and it was probably something like it that had taken Fiona. He'd met several, and managed to kill them all thus far.

He'd had more than one close call, his robes were torn and tattered, and a few small scratches on his body from errant gunfire from the zombies, shrapnel, and the occasional sharp end of a demonic minion.

As it was at the moment, the screaming skulls dove at him, but they were boxed in a hallway, and easy targets. They would flinch, and then explode as he hit them. He still missed quite a bit, but he'd yet to run out of shots. Hitting things grew easier as they drew nearer. He found himself in quite a few close calls because of it.

A high pitched screeching sound filled the hallway ahead. He walked along the wall with his back to it, peering around the next corner. His face fell as he peered into the room ahead. It was full of what looked like large brains. Each had two eyes, a nasty set of teeth, and a set of spider like legs. "What on..." He was cut off and forced to dive back, pulling the machine gun from his side as he ran backwards. The wall opposite him lit up as hundreds of tiny blue balls of light impacted it, he could hear the legs skittering towards him.

As the creatures rounded the corner, he squeezed the trigger, using all his might he kept the barrel down, aiming low as he gritted his teeth and hit the wall on the other end of the corridor. A pile of dead Brain Spiders was now present near the entrance. He didn't have time to regard it and cried out in shocked surprise as he dove ahead again, letting go of the machine gun and rushing to his feet. A Demon slashed at the wall, ripping bleeding gashes in it with it's claws. It stood about eight feet high and a glowing green energy formed in it's claws as it roared and pointed at him. Two large horns protruded from the sides of it's skull, and a nasty looking maw completed what looked like a skinned goats head.

The boy rolled over on his back with the rocket launcher tilted up on his shoulder over his belly. "Oh no! You did not just shoot that green shit at me!" His bladder was long since emptied, or he might have wet himself yet again when it fired.

Chunks of dead monster rained down in the passageway. He gave a heavy sigh of relief and staggered to his feet, gasping for breath and crying. He needed a drink, he knew he needed to find water at some point in the future. That meant getting back through that mirror. He glared at the way ahead and glared at it as he limped forward.

This time he was greeted not by energy shots, but a hail of gunfire. Hundreds of bullets flew by around him as he dove behind a four foot cube of stone. It was the only cover in the room. He heard a chilling mechanical stomping sound, and a whirring noise. He peered around the side of his cover and almost choked.

It was another brain spider, but about five times larger than the foot high children. It screeched in anger, loud enough to shake the room a bit. The boy grunted as he held his ears and pulled back. Another hail of bullets blasted at him from the rotating barrels at the base of it's huge mechanical legs in front of it.

The boy jumped up as soon as the whirring sound stopped, this time with one of the grenades in his hand. He threw it and nothing happened as he dove back down. It had landed underneath the monster, but just sat there. Afina had never told him about pulling the pin on the weapon, and he'd just thrown it.

"Stupid thing, what good is it?" The edges of his cover were starting to chip away as he huddled. The room was about twenty meters across, and it was taking it's time stomping towards him. It stopped to fire at his cover, keeping him pinned down and clutching his ears. Once again, the shells stopped and the whirring sound died down.

Ron frowned as he jumped up again, this time with the rocket launcher on his shoulder. "This should work! I hope!" He gave a fearful swallow and pulled the trigger.

The monster had anticipated it, and started shooting back. The shots impacted his weapon and tilted it down a bit as he was knocked on his rear from the combination of being thrown off balance, the kick from the weapon, and the very very large explosion he'd managed to create.

The boy frowned as he looked at his rocket launcher. The end was cracked, no new shell had appeared, and it was smoking a bit. "Nuts." He tossed it aside and gripped his shotgun. "Now what?"

The large monster was dead. The explosion had happened right under it, and the walls and floors were lined with foul smelling goo. "Eeeh. Why does it always have to be so gross?" He tiptoed around the mess towards the metal base of the monster. There was a door behind it with a carving of a pentagram on it. He glanced down to step over the creature's leg, and paused.

"Eeeh." His disgust was not enough to deter him. He put the shotgun back on his shoulder and reached into the warm pink and red gel. "Does it?" His eyes went wide as he gasped. "Yes! Great!" Ron Weasley had a chaingun. He swung it around a few times and wiped most of the foul chunks away. It took him a moment to find the trigger, and he found himself vibrating violently until he landed on his back on the floor. "Okay." It was a small button at the top of one of the handles. He managed to hook it to where his rocket launcher used to be and looked up at the door that was still about ten meters away.

He took a step forward and went pale as the walls started opening in every direction but the doorway itself. About seven large red floating cyclops monsters hovered out of hiding. Each one had a single eye, several horns, and a huge mouth, lined with rows of sharp teeth. They opened their mouths, and balls of energy formed inside.

Ron grunted as he hefted the weapon and started filling the room with bullets. The were now a few regular demons, Imps, Minor demons, and armed zombies ambling out of some of the doors. Energy and bullets flew by all around the boy as he weaved and moved as he struggled with all his might to keep the weapon pointed down. It almost felt like it was going to lift him off the ground. Finally, he let his finger off the trigger and leaned over, gasping for breath as he almost fell on his face after shutting it off. He pulled himself upright, popping his back a bit as he did so. "Hell really blows! Honestly!" He had a rather pained expression on his face as he staggered towards the door again, this time right up to it.

It opened and he fond himself bathed in an orange light.

It was a cavernous room, a lake of fire with a large stone platform, and a narrow walkway leading up to it. He adjusted the strap on his shotgun and started to stagger forward. After a moment he could hear voices.

"A pity I'll not be bringing you with me when I return."

Ron frowned as he walked onto the platform. His eyes went wide as he saw Afina, chained to a large stone, with a man sitting on a chair height boulder in front of her. A very familiar man. The girl was topless and in tears, her left eye was black, her cheeks puffed out, and blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth. The vampire licked it and snarled. "You are fortunate I cannot taste it here." Her torso had a few open gashes and scrapes as well, red marks and a few small scars covered her breast. What was left of her dress was hanging from her waist, and he could see her legs were pretty torn up as well. "It is a pity you were cured, though, it does make killing you more fun. I think I can keep myself busy for days, taking my time with it. After all, there isn't much else to do here. Once I have the boy, I will soon regain my strength, and return. I suppose I could say I'll miss you, but you were getting boring anyway. You used to be so defiant, it was fun, interesting, and relieved some of my stress when I punished you. Now, you just do as your told, just like those other two harpies." The man was speaking to her as if he was talking to a guest in his home about pleasant things. "I'm to understand your replacement is already ready. Though, I'll probably destroy her. I prefer to choose my own brides."

"Oh no." He didn't know what to do. "What would Harry do?"

The girl spit into Dracula's face. He roared and jumped up to her face. "You will spend eternity here, suffering, for what you have done for me. Don't be stupid and piss of the one who..." He turned his face a bit and snarled. "I told you not to disturb me. Begone before I..."

"You get away from her!" The boy stepped forward with the chaingun hefted at his waist. "You jerk!"

The Vampire Lord's eyes went wide as he turned with a somewhat dazed expression. "Well, that is impressive. How fortunate that..."

The boy snorted, spit on the ground, and opened fire. The evil being was bombarded with hundreds of bullets. He fell off the ledge and into the lake of fire below. Ron rushed up to Afina's side and pulled the handgun out and hefted it back over his shoulder and onto the harness again.

The girl was looking at him with wide eyes and a shocked expression on her face. She didn't even flinch when he used his handgun at close range to destroy her chains. He pulled her off the stone and onto his shoulder. She fell against him, staggering and unable to walk. "It can't be...you're..."

Ron forgot about the naked girl hanging from his shoulder, he was thinking of more important matters at the time. "I can't believe that worked! Look! The mirror!" He staggered towards it, helping Afina, but also being helped a bit himself. He was favoring his right leg.

The wall sized mirror was in front of them, they could see the castle wall in the room they'd come through.

"What now?" Ron pointed his handgun at it as they approached. He fired a single shot, and hurled the girl forward with all his might as the glass fell away. She staggered forward, unable to stop herself and keep balance, she almost fell, but moved about fifteen meters ahead. The barrier was gone, and she moved through hitting the wall in the castle head first, and slumping to the ground out cold.

Ron chuckled and started staggering towards it. "Great it works!" He started to move, but the lake of fire exploded, erupting high into the cavern. Balls of molten rock hit the ground around him, forming smoldering puddles all around. He lost his balance as a twenty five foot tall demon landed on the platform, shaking it violently. The boy pulled himself along the ground with his arm and then staggered to his feet. The chaingun was the heaviest weapon he had and he pointed it towards the monster.

It roared down at him, the ten foot span of his horns turning towards him. Flames jumped around it's mouth as it pointed two large cannon like arms down at him. The boy's eyes went wide and he jumped sideways, not letting go of the trigger of his own weapon as he did so. The explosion of the two rockets sent him a bit further than he'd have gone on his own, and he was forced to stop firing near the edge of the platform. He could feel the searing heat licking at his back as he stood to his feet again and readied his weapon. "No. How do I get to that mirror?" He'd lost all color and had a panicked expression on his face. "Now what?"

The creature turned to glare at him, still facing the boy's original position. It opened it's mouth and roared at him in anger. The boy didn't think, he reacted. He pulled one of the green metal balls off his belt and heaved it as he started to run along the edge of the platform. The place he'd been standing exploded, sending chunks of it into the lake of fire below. He was firing as he did so and slipped, landing on his side with his head and shoulders hanging off the edge. The heat stung his skin as he rolled back onto the platform and looked up at the monster. It was pointing it's weapons at him, he could the explosives pointed right at him at the back of the barrels.

The beast roared a final time before it's skull exploded as the grenade went off. He'd managed to catch it in the mouth, and neither one had noticed. The beast fell sideways, and the platform started to tilt into the lake of fire. Ron gasped as the mirror started sliding away off the edge. He ran as fast as he could go and dove at it.

He looked behind him and saw a bright orange light, the image went gray, cracked, and then shattered. Nothing but a few shards of glass and a stone wall inside the disturbing wooden frame were behind him. "Where? I did it?" He sounded surprised, and his eyes were wide. He gasped for breath, the air tasted so sweet. It was almost like eating a candy drop.

"Afina! Wake up!" His joy was short lived as he realized where he was. "Come on! We've got to get out of here!"

He looked at the door and pulled the handgun from his side again. "I hope this still works." It fired and the lock shattered, allowing the door to hang ajar. He lifted the dazed girl up onto his shoulder.

She seemed confused and unaware of her surroundings. "What? Where? How did?"

Ron pulled her out of the hallway and froze. Ginny was standing between the two vampire women. The trio looked surprised and froze up just as he had to regard him for a moment. His sister's skin was pale and she had a rather dazed expression on her face.

The blond vampire's jaw dropped. "Impossible! How did you get out of that room!?"

Ron lifted the gun and started moving back. He glanced at his sister. "Ginny? Are you all right?"

"Oh! Look Mara, he means to shoot us!" The surprise faded from the dark haired vampire's face. She seemed almost pleased.

"I do wonder where he got that. No matter. Sonia, be a dear and make sure they don't get away this time. It seems we must replace that lock again." The blond vampire smirked and took the girl by her shoulder.

"A wonder we haven't noticed them wandering about the castle in two nights. They must have left, and come back looking for the girl when they realized she was missing. How fortunate for us." Sonia gave them both a cruel smile as she stalked towards them with her fingers splayed out like claws.

"Ginny!" Ron was more focused on his sister.

"She's a vampire. Run you idiot!" Afina growled. She sounded weak, and he knew he couldn't carry her.

Sonia hissed at him and clawed her fingers as her eyes became in human as her fangs grew out further. "Yes. The master will need a new bride. Who better than the sister of the fool who would oppose him? Ha!"

The boy glared at the approaching woman and opened fire.

"Ha! You fool!" Mara cackled. Her smile faded as she gripped the silent girl and pulled her a bit closer to her waist. Sonia had started screaming, she fell to her knees as smoke burned across her chest, lines of orange cracked across her skin as she seemed to burn from the inside out. With a final scream, she shattered into ashes.

"What?!" Mara hissed at them and started to turn. Two sparks flew off the wall behind her and she jumped to the ceiling and turned to face him, looking more like a half human half bat monster.

"Get away from my sister!" The boy had a serious frown and had leaned Afina against the wall.

"She's ours! Ours forever!" The blond creature jumped down and grabbed the girl, using her as a shield in front of her chest.

"Nobody steals my chicks and lives!" Ron screamed it at the top of his lungs as he stepped forward and put a bullet into her forehead.

The woman slumped down against the wall with a horrified expression on her face and twitched. Ron stood over her as her eyes moved up to gaze at him. She screamed, but couldn't move her arms to grab him.

"Go to hell." He fired twice into her chest. She howled in anger as her chest burned away. After that she'd gone silent and suffered the same fate as her companion.

Ron looked down at his little sister. She was watching in silence and glaring at him with no expression. He reached out his hand to grab her arm.

"No!" Afina called in alarm.

Ginny opened her mouth, bared her fangs, and tried to bite onto his hand. He konked her on top of her head with the butt of his gun. She fell onto her rear rubbing at the top of her head and glaring at him. A few drops of blood fell from the corner of her eyes and she frowned at him.

Ron snorted. "Stop being a brat. Come on, we've got to go and get you cured." He grabbed her elbow, forced her to her feet, and pulled her along. He pulled his hand away and used his fist to knock her to her rear again. "Look. I know better than to try holding your hand now, all right? Just stay close and don't wander off. I don't want to have to find you."

Afina was looking at him with wide eyes as he helped her lean against his shoulder. She wasn't saying anything and looked at the ground as he started staggering away.

OooOOooOO

Ron looked over his shoulder. Ginny was leaning against his hip with her head against his belly. Afina was wearing another dress and leaning against his other side. She had a large bag of gold on her hip and looked flustered. The castle was behind them, and they were making their way down a narrow winding path to the small village at the base. Ron was covered in firearms and had a good sized bag of gold on his hip, and Ginny carried a small bag of gold on her belt as well. They had stopped by the treasury of the castle and left behind far more than they had taken.

Ron's hands had swollen and he doubted he could even hold one of his weapons. He had stopped for a moment to hold them in the snow on the ground for a short while and it helped a little. They had to get moving and were dressed well for the weather wearing heavy furs taken from the castle as well but he couldn't nurse his hands that way long without risking frostbite. They were still red and raw from the cold, but the swelling had gone down a bit. The night sky behind them was starting to turn gray as they walked down the path away from the dark castle.

The older girl had gone silent for some time, and looked rather dazed. Ginny was silent as well, she had a haunted look in her eyes as she looked back at the castle. The boy had taken a chance, and found one of the needles hadn't shattered in the tomb he'd arrived in. Afina had led the way at his request and they had gone to find something to cover herself with and warmer clothes to make the trip to the nearest village immediately after his sister had been cured.

The boy was zoned out, his eyes were wide, his lips were pressed together, and he was covered in a cold sweat.

Ginny clutched him closer and sniffled. "I knew you would come. They said they'd gotten rid of you, but I knew."

The older girl looked down at her and up to the boy again. He looked like he'd just watched his whole family die, and he was still shaking.

It took about an hour to reach the outskirts of the village at the base of the mountain. Afina clutched the boy and turned him around. "Look! Wait! Please! I have too..." She sounded as if she was seeing the most amazing thing she'd ever seen in her life. "My god. I'd forgotten."

The boy's features went a bit lighter. Over the mountains in the distance the first rays of sunlight shined onto them. It wasn't very cool at all, but they all felt warmed despite it. The sky turned a golden orange as the group watched the sun rise over the snow-capped mountaintops.

Ron pulled the brim of his hat down a bit, to cut out a bit of the glare. "Yeah. I guess...it is pretty isn't it?"

"The most beautiful I've ever seen," Afina nodded. She turned, grabbed him, and kissed him full on the lips. "Thank you, Ronald Weasley. I'll always remember you."

The boy flushed as his hat was pushed back, his lips had parted, and she put her tongue into his mouth. "I uhhh..." He didn't look certain he'd enjoyed it and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"Ginny! Ronald!...RONALD!" Two relieved cries, followed by one sounding quite a bit cross.

"Huh?" The boy turned to look at Molly Weasley. The woman was red faced and almost tackled her two children to the ground. Afina stepped back looking a little bemused at the scene.

"My babies!" cried Molly as she wept and crushed them against her chest. The boy looked on as his family rushed up with a large group of Romanian Aurors from over her shoulder.

"Whoa! All right Ron!" Fred and George chimed, even Percy looked impressed. His father was trying to hide a wide grin.

"What happened? What are you doing here?" The woman grabbed the boy by his shoulders and shook him.

"How did?" The boy was confused. He was expecting to have to contact someone.

"We have our suspicions about how you ended up here." One of the Aurors stepped forward and nodded. "It didn't take us long to figure out where you'd gone once you were reported missing. The residents here mentioned something about the castle being active over the past few nights. We were about to investigate, it's much safer during the day."

"They were brought here by people working for someone named 'Voldemort'. They made a deal with the brides of Dracula. They could use his blood to revive their master, and then his minions would serve as enforcers in his territory in exchange for hunting rights on the Muggles." Afina nodded and looked over at them.

"He's been dead ten years!" Arthur looked up at her with a confused expression.

The Auror who seemed to be in charge nodded. He seemed distracted by several things as he looked around at what the others were doing. He didn't look older than twenty nine, and had a cheerful air about him. "We'll look into it. I do hope all of you don't mind answering a few questions?"

Everyone was silenced as the sun came over the top of the mountains completely. A resounding boom, crackling, and earth shaking event transpired. Castle Dracula crumbled away, falling into the mountains as it's support gave out under it. The huge structure ceased to be as it created a huge cloud of dust in the distance.

The Aurors grouped around the family, each looking amazed.

"Look. I've had a busy night, and I'm dying for a glass of ice water!" Ron looked around at everyone. Castle Dracula didn't have running water, not of the sort that was safe to drink at any rate. "Can we just go now?"

Afina smiled at him as she was helped by one of the Aurors to keep her feet. Molly was frowning at her behind her back. "Thank you Ronald. I will never forget you. Perhaps we'll meet again one day?"

The boy flushed. "Huh? You're leaving? It was nice meeting you. Wait. I um...goodbye. I mean, are you sure we can't help or anything?"

The girl nodded and looked at her escort. She was being led to a different coach than the rest of them. "I'll be fine Ron. Thank you."

OooOOooOO

The group took a few minutes to load into the coaches and there were a few questions. Ron looked sullen, he couldn't identify anyone who had kidnapped him and his sister. The girl Afina spent a bit of time speaking with the Aurors, and took a few glances at Ron from time to time.

"Where's she going?" Ron looked at the Auror who was trying to close the door and put his hand out to stop him. "I never would have gotten out of that without her help."

"She'll be taken to a clinic. She mentioned that she'd like to leave Romania for a time. I'm to understand she's been here a while." The man smiled and winked at him. "Don't worry. We'll make sure she's safe. It wouldn't be wise to stay here. The locals might remember her as the vampire she used to be. We've been speaking with her, and it seems she can give us the men who kidnapped you. They'll be in custody before the sun rises over those mountains again."

"Right. I wish I could do more." The boy nodded and sat back. He didn't notice the fact that his mother was breathing through her nose with a red face and her arms crossed. "Thanks."

The man gave a small chuckle and closed the door. Ginny was cuddled up against her parents between them. Fred, George, and Percy were all in another coach just behind them.

Ron sighed and sat back. "Have you seen Charlie yet?"

His father ruffled his hair. "He's waiting back at the hotel. In case word popped up while we were away." He had a haunted look in his eyes and pulled the boy over beside him, putting his arm around him. "I thought we'd lost you boy." He sniffed a bit and kissed his forehead.

"You almost did. That was horrible! Worse than that mess at Hogwarts! I hate vampires!" He frowned and teared up as he shook a bit.

"Ronald, what is all that anyway?" His mother kicked the chaingun that was on the floor of the compartment, and noticed her son had all sorts of odd looking things hanging off him. She was doing much the same thing as his father was to him to his sister.

"It's..." He wasn't sure what to say. "Just some stuff I picked up that helped. It will kill a demon, or at least hurt it." He pulled the red towel off his neck. He'd used it to keep himself from getting all sticky with blood and goo in hell, and pretty much ruined it. He'd have lost his grip and been unable to hold them he'd gotten it so bad at times. There were still a few chunks of demon meat stuck to it, and the ends were ripped off and wrapped around his hands still. "I need a new towel."

"We'll get you one son." Arthur seemed to cheer up a bit. "Don't worry. We'll have a look at those hands as well. My that's nasty looking. Don't worry. We'll get you cleaned up."

The boy closed his eyes and leaned against his father's chest to rest. "...and a glass of ice water." He muttered it and drifted off right away.

"Hey. I'm sure Charlie wouldn't mind letting us have a look at those dragons of his while we're here either." Arthur was trying to cheer Ron up.

The boy's eyes opened back up and he gripped the man's chest with his fingers a bit.

"Or not." The man gave a small sigh.

A small hoot caught the man's attention and he looked over to see an own perched on the side of the coach as they made their way out of sight of the Muggles in the village to take to the air and get back to the capitol. He reached out with his free hand and took the letter. "Thank you."

His wife was cradling her sleeping daughter and looked up. "Who is it from?"

"It's from Bill." He read the front and chuckled. "It's...what?" He opened it and noticed something fall into his lap. He read the note first while holding it absently.

"Well, what is it Aurthur?" Molly was feeling a bit impatient as her curiosity picked up. "Is everything all right?"

"It just says 'it's not fake'."

The man frowned as he looked at the picture. "What in Merlin's name?" His eyes went a little wide. "It...well no, that can't be it. Who are these two people? I know I know them, but it can't be who I think it is." He handed it over for his wife to look at.

"That's James and Lilly Potter. Why would Bill send us a photo of them?" She seemed bemused and handed it back.

"Because that's Bill and the Potter twins standing with them." The man looked at her and frowned. "That can't be right. Can it?"

"What does he mean anyway? It's not fake?" His wife looked confused.

"Who knows? I'm sure we'll hear about it when we get back. There's no rush anymore, Ron and Ginny are safe now." He sat back looking pleased.

"I'm not so sure I like all this trouble Ron's been getting into lately." Molly looked frustrated and pensive.

"Well, I'm proud of him. He's done a great thing." The man brushed his sleeping son's forehead.

The woman gave a resigned sigh. "I suppose you're right. Still. I hope things calm down a bit. All this worrying will be the death of me!"

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next Time: Settling in.


	23. Chapter 23

A matter of force.

Part 23

Rock and Roll Fantasy.

OooOOooOO

Lily Potter was fumbling about in the closet, looking for a blouse she'd dropped from a hanger. The Black residence was quiet, and they'd been there for about a week. She paused as something squeaked as she put her hands on something soft, warm, and fuzzy. She lifted it out of the shirt it was under and found herself gazing at two rather dim eyes, a pink nose, and a dumb drooling maw.

"AAAUUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!" She dropped it, the bunny screamed and waved it's arms as it stood up at her feet and looked up at her. The woman jumped on top of the bed and looked down at the creature with wide eyes. "What on earth?" It was sitting and looking at her, it had stopped screaming at the same time as she did and stared in a rather dumb manner.

Harry and James stuck their heads around the door. The boy's father pushed his son's head back around the moment he realized his wife was just wearing a bra. "What's wrong?" He looked concerned and almost lost his glasses as he whipped his eyes about the room.

Harry's voice carried around the door. "It's just a bunny."

The man was looking at the creature and looked confused. "A what?"

His mother had calmed down, and snagged the blouse the creature had retrieved and handed up to her. "A what? I've never heard of..."

James and Harry walked into the room after she put it on and closed it up over her chest with her hands. The boy was grinning at it and spoke to the both of them. "Anna made herself some minions at Hogwarts last year. She's got four of them."

"M-made?" His mother looked surprised and shocked.

The girl walked by and looked into the room with Margaret by her side. "You haven't seen them yet? They've been running about since you got here. I figured you'd noticed them already. They do tend to stay out of sight for the most part. They know they aren't supposed to be under foot."

Her friend seemed pleased and cheerful about it. "Yes. They are very useful."

The girl's father seemed a bit confused. "You -made- them?"

Margaret spoke up. "Yes. She's so good at Potions, that Professor Snape is making her his apprentice next year."

Lily's features softened. "Severus?"

James furrowed his brow a bit and got a smirk of his own. "Snivelus Snape is teaching Potions?"

"Annabelle Violet Potter!" Lily cried out in shock as her husband doubled over with his daughter's foot in his crotch.

Harry was dumbstruck, even Margaret looked surprised.

"Don't you dare start that again!" The girl ignored her mother and grabbed him by his collar. "Do you have any idea...ooh...you jerk!" She released him and took a step back as her mother rushed up to grab the man's shoulders while giving her an angry stare. "You've got no idea how much trouble you being a prick at Hogwarts has caused the two of us. We have a hard time dealing with him because he hates you so much. Saving his life once doesn't excuse all the other crap you pulled with him you know."

The woman's anger faded and she gave her a rather blank expression. Her father looked at her in shock and worked his jaw.

The girl pulled his collar again. "I don't care if you don't want to be friends with him. You'd better keep yourself civil, because I'm not taking the blame for you anymore with him." She turned away, tossed her hair over her shoulder and stomped out of the room. She looked back at the group staring at her with slacked jaws and snorted. "I don't like him. He's a strict and grumpy man, but he's trustworthy. He deserves more respect than your childish sense of humor can grant him. It's bad enough as it is, don't go making things worse for us now. I don't like suffering for your cruelty. You'd better relate that to Uncle Sirius as well. I won't be any more lax with him. Don't forget, people associate us with you."

Her mother frowned at her husband as she helped him sit on the bed. He was glaring at the door as the children followed the girl out. Harry looked flustered and didn't say anything, Margaret seemed unconcerned.

"Now what?" The man was a bit confused and in enough pain to not think about being upset with her for speaking with him that way.

"She's right you know. I'll talk with her later." The woman shook his shoulder and sat down next to him.

The man gave a dissatisfied grunt and turned his head away. "Don't worry about it." He didn't look pleased, and somewhat thoughtful. Lily patted his shoulder and stood up to finish getting dressed.

OooOOooOO

"Severus? Oh! It is you! How have you been?"

Severus Snape had the wide eyes and a slacked jaw. He had been sitting in the back corner of Hog's Head with a small glass of brown liquid, sulking in the shadows. "It can't be..." He muttered it and stood up slow.

"Professor." Anna gave a small nod at the woman's side.

His features turned into confusion as he looked down at the girl. She looked up at him with a rather sullen frown and shrugged. "I'm sure you've heard rumors by now haven't you?"

The man looked up at the woman and sat back down with wide eyes. "I'd heard, but..." As he looked up again, his eyes became wide and something dark stirred in them. Harry walked up with his father at his side.

The man glanced at his daughter and straightened himself up. "Severus. It's been a while."

"Hello Professor." The boy didn't seem to want to be there and glanced over his shoulder.

"Potter." The man had gone white and his hand was shaking as he downed half his glass in a gulp. He looked to be at a bit of a loss. "It can't be...how did..."

James shook his son's shoulder and looked proud. "You can thank Harry for it. Excuse me." He turned away leading the children off with him.

Lily sat down next to him and he shifted aside a bit. "How have you been?" She seemed a bit nervous and was aware of his state.

He looked over at her and gave the faintest hints of a rather dumbstruck smile. "Never better." He finished his drink, set it down. His features returned to a serious frown as a bit of his color returned. "I'm less surprised than I should be."

The woman seemed a bit relieved and shifted a bit in her seat. A rotund woman with a drink tray put a glass of sherry on the table. "Forgive me for not coming to see you. It's been a bit of a mess lately. I'm eager to hear how things have been for everyone. I was thinking of writing you a note and asking you to come to lunch or something to catch up. I understand you're teaching at Hogwarts? Anna mentioned you're the new Potions Master there. I'm hopeful Slughorn retired then?"

The man nodded and glanced over at the children. Sirius Black was standing with James Potter. The Parkinson woman was leaning against his shoulder as the children set up a small stage in the opposite corner of the room. They were all talking and laughing at each other. Anna was the only one who looked even a bit grouchy as she glanced over at them for a brief moment.Her smile returned as Pansy grabbed her shoulder to get her attention. "Yes. Your children started my class last year. They've both done well."

"Anna is going to be your apprentice then? She's done well?" Lily was pleased and seemed to think he'd relaxed a bit more than he had.

Severus was took half his drink away again. "Exceedingly well. The girl is a genius. We were going to put her in a fourth year class next year before I decided too..." He was wondering when his odd dream would end. "...apprentice her. I suggest keeping an eye on her in particular. Her genius is more troublesome than you might imagine."

The woman looked a bit dazed. "R-really?"

Snape arched his eyebrow a bit. "Yes. She cured vampirism, created a new class of magical creature, and helped to destroy Count Dracula himself. Quite the list of accomplishments for a first year." He found the inside of his glass very interesting and growled a bit as he said it.

The band was playing around with the instruments in the corner. Lily became distracted for a moment and smiled at him. "So I've heard. It was really nice seeing you again. I do hope we get a chance to speak a bit more soon. I'd better get back." She smiled and bowed her head a little as she moved off towards her family.

"Quite the list of accomplishments indeed." Severus was looking at the group with a dazed expression as he finished his drink. He stood up and walked to the exit without a word, not even noticing James watching him leave.

"Well, there he goes. Predictable." James handed her a beer and frowned as she walked up.

She frowned at him a bit and shoved his shoulder. "Leave him alone. He's been a good friend of mine for years. I never would have gotten into Hogwarts without him." She took the mug and sipped at it.

Her husband shrugged. "It's on the house all night by the way."

Anna's bunnies were plugging wires about and finishing up setting up the equipment. "Hey." The girl looked up at them. "Anything you want to hear?"

"A sober husband. You're not drinking yourself sick tonight. I don't care if it is free. The children are here. You can get drunk with your friends while they're at school." She poked the man in his chest and narrowed her eyes at him as she put her bottom lip out and furrowed her eyebrows a bit.

Harry shook his head at the look on his father's face. He started playing a riff on his guitar and the band joined in. A moment later they were into George Thorogood's 'If you don't start drinkin, I'm gonna leave'. The bunnies started dancing the moment the music started at the back of the stage. They were in unison, and danced with professional skill.

While the song was being played, Remus Lupin walked up behind the pair. "Hey." He was excited and had a beer of his own.

"Hello Remus." Lily was a bit annoyed with her son, but the grin on her husband's face kept her from speaking up. After the first chorus, the men in the bar raised their glasses and sang along with the boy.

After the song ended there was a bit of cheering. James walked up to Remus's side and grabbed his shoulder. "Remus! Good of you to join us!" He pulled him over by Sirius.

Tenacious D played a few bar songs. George Thorogood's 'One burbon, one shot, one beer' 'Money for Nothing' from Dire Straights, 'I'm all right' by Kenny Loggins, 'Are you ready' from AC/DC, 'I wanna Rock and Roll all Night' from Kiss, 'Entertainers' by Nirvana, 'I can't dance' by Genesis, '1999' from Prince, 'Two Pina Coladas' and 'Low Places' by Garth Brooks, and 'Closing Time' by Semisonic.

The room was packed as the children stepped off the stage. There was a lot of praise and singing as the wizards became merry with the help of a great deal of alcohol. All in all, it was a fun night for everyone.

OooOOooOO

Anna frowned at her mother, they were looking at a home in Northern London. The broker was in another room, letting them discuss things. They were all standing around in the kitchen.

The woman seemed annoyed. "What? Don't be silly! He's a house elf!"

"So? What? Are you afraid he won't keep it clean?" The girl turned her nose away from her and crossed her arms. "I want Kreacher to have his own room. It would be nice to have a place for the bunnies to sleep too. I'd rather not have them in my room, the don't sleep but a few hours at a time."

The woman turned her nose away from her and frowned. "I'm not interested in showing off how much money we've gotten with silly things like a room for our house elf. He'll be fine."

The girl growled. "That's not why I'm doing it either. He's keeping the house in order so you don't have too. We aren't really paying him. We can afford to be grateful." Once she thought she could trust him, she was planning on freeing the house elf if he seemed interested. It was too soon, and she was afraid he might be persuaded to spy on her family if he spent enough time around the wrong people.

The woman's head whipped around. Harry and James were chuckling. "Ooohh. You little." Lily was frustrated.

The girl snorted and turned away. "Well, I want him to know I appreciate what he does for us."

The woman grabbed her laughing husband's shoulder and pulled him aside around a nearby corner. "James. I am going to kill your daughter. That bull headed little..."

"You're just mad because she's got a good point." The man shook his head and chuckled. "What do you mean my daughter?"

"You're siding with her then? Think we should give the house elf his own room? Do you have any idea what people would say?" The woman looked surprised. "I expect he'll sleep quite comfortably in the attic, or under the sink, or in the basement, or the sort of places any other house elf would sleep. He's not a pet. They don't like to be coddled like puppies!"

"We'll just tell her no then." He was shaking his head and still fighting off chuckles.

"What are you laughing at?"

"She gets it from you."

"Shut up!" The woman's brow furrowed as she walked back into the room. "No. Kreacher will be fine. House elves..."

"Okay. I'll just buy him his own house then." The girl shrugged at them. "I'll just free him, and pay him to come by and work for us five days a week."

Lily gritted her teeth and balled up her fist. "I'm...fine. He'll have his own room then." She looked over at her husband and son.

The man looked a bit surprised. He didn't say anything. Harry seemed pleased with his sister and gave her a small nod as he walked over and looked out the window to the yard with her. She took note of that and frowned. She looked back at the girl and gave a small sigh. Harry deferred to her, he looked up to her, he trusted her. The situation had become rather obvious, without the Dursley's attention, Anna had taken matters into her own hands at a very young age. She was independent, and was fond of talking and bullying her way through adults. She was quite skilled at it, and it was grating on the woman's nerves.

James walked over to her side and shook her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

She leaned in and spoke in a quiet tone into his ear. "I just gave in to a twelve year old monster. That girl is so...so...ooh. I don't understand it, she's got an answer for everything. It's almost like she plans these conversations. Once she's set her mind on something she's got a way about getting it done. I gave in because I'm worried about what she might do if I didn't let her have her way. We'd end up with a house elf sized home in our back yard one day."

"Yeah. Kind of reminds me of someone." James shook her shoulder. "I'm sorry you're frustrated, but you two had the exact same look on your faces the whole time. It was so adorable!"

The woman turned red and pulled back from his side a bit. She almost looked ready to slap him, but sulked a bit instead. "Really." Lily's eye was twitching as something her mother said came back to her.

"I hope you have a little girl who's just like you, so you'll know what I went through!"

The broker walked into the room with a wide grin on her face. "Well, how are things here?"

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was lying on her back on a long couch. She growled and tossed aside a copy of 'The Daily Prophet'. Rita Skeeter, who claimed to have inside information that her parents were either a hoax themselves, or the mastermind behind some sort of hoax involving their children. She never outright said it, but hid it in 'credible rumors' and 'inside sources'. As if they'd been in hiding the past ten years or so, and just decided to pop up and stir up trouble for no good reason.

She was in her new home, and her mother was stretched out along another length of couch. A large square table, and a two hundred inch enchanted mirror hung from the wall over a large fireplace decorated the living area around them. On either side of the fireplace, were two windows that went up the entire wall of the house. The living room was huge, and the ceiling went up to the roof. It was a three story home, it had a large telescope in the attic, an owl pen that would hold quite a few birds, and a room set up to be a potions lab. Kreacher had come along, and now had his own room. Melvin and Margaret had remained with Sirius Black in his home. Anna's bunnies had a room with four pet beds in it of their own as well.

The house elf had seemed almost offended at first. He'd calmed considerably since they'd moved in. They never went into his room to bother him, and he'd been summoned as needed. The door had a lock on it, and he had the only key. He'd not bothered with locking it, and they key hung on the wall. He seemed cheerful, and went about his work with a bit of skip in his step. He had a very small arm chair, a house elf sized table and stool, a bed, and a fireplace of his own. He slept under the bed, but no one bothered him.

Lily's fear of her daughter turning him into a pet had crossed his mind as well. He'd heard horror stories of other house elves in homes with wealthy children. They'd been forced to sleep on top of the beds, and sit at the table with the humans to eat, some had even been forced to sit on a toilet. It had been made clear it was his personal space to him. He had to admit, it was pleasant to sleep under such a nice bed. He'd even gotten a few knobs, post, and silverware to practice polishing on. It was much better than being stuck alone with Sirius Black.

Anna looked over at her mother, who was watching a Soap Opera on the mirror with mild interest. It was getting late, and the sun was about to set outside.

The woman looked over at her daughter and grinned. She was dressed in a pair of sweat pants, a T-shirt, with an open blouse over it. "I used to like this show a lot more, but I don't know who anyone is anymore."

The girl had a bag of chips resting on her belly and nodded. "I never cared for them." She was wearing a very large olive green sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. Her hair was pulled back through the opening on her new Boston Red Sox ball cap. "You know. I'm not sure why I never really thought about it, but I expected to be home less while I was touring." They were living in England still, just outside London in a small Wizarding community.

"Well, it won't be so easy traveling abroad. Still, much better than doing it the Muggle way. I couldn't stand being couped up that long when I was younger." Her mother chuckled a bit about it. The band had been paying the road crew to make the trip, and would pop in just before a show wherever it happened to be. They might have to travel a bit to do promotions during the day for a bit. Wizarding bands had it pretty easy, but still had to pay for their crew to travel from place to place. As far as the Muggles knew, they were with the stage crew.

"I suppose." The girl shifted to get a bit more comfortable. They had a large open plot of land with no neighbors aside from other wizards. The house had been secured, the enchantments were in place thanks to Remus, Dumbledore, and Sirius.

The sun was setting outside, and the girl looked out the window into an open grass field about twice the size of the Quidditch pitch at Hogwarts. The orange was fading as the sky became gray and she smiled a bit. They all had the night off, it was a travel day for the crew the next day. Another show would start the next night somewhere in Western England. She stretched her arms and popped her back. She didn't notice her bag of chips float off her chest and onto the table. Her broomstick landed on her chest and she grunted.

"Come on. Dad says he'll come out and ride with us in the yard for a bit." Harry popped his head over the couch and smiled down at her.

Lily frowned at the boy for a moment and looked out the window. "It's getting a bit late."

The boy shrugged and smiled at her. "We're off tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes and waved her hand. "Fine."

The girl smirked at her brother and slapped his shoulder. "Fine. I'll go put on another shirt then." She put the broom down as she got up and rushed up the stairs.

"Annabelle! One step at a time!" The girl had taken the whole length to the second floor in three bounds.

The girl looked back at her mother and blinked. "Okay." She came out about half a minute later and jumped over the railing and onto the floor before her mother looked back again with a smirk on her face.

OooOOooOO

James was grinning as his two children circled the yard at high speed, tearing around the edge of the property in a mad race. They passed right by him in a blur and he hung his head and shook it. "I couldn't tell which one of you won."

The boy was curving back to him with the redhead on his tail. She had a big enough grin on her face that the man was guessing she thought she won.

"Anna wins. She's faster because she's lighter." His son looked to be having a good time.

"Don't be stupid, that's only a difference in your mind." The girl's grin fell and she frowned at him.

"Huh?" James looked confused.

The girl stood on her broomstick and rode it around as if she was on a skate board in the air. "Harry? Did you bring your wand along?"

James shook his head. "Hey. No using magic outside of Hogwarts. Remember?"

The boy blinked as he pulled his out of his sleeve. "Magic?" He ignited the weapon and stood on his broom.

The pair started circling each other with the tips of their weapons touching. They crackled and popped as the pair looked at each other with rather dark looking smiles on their faces.

James swooped in next to them. "Hey. I'm not so sure this is a good idea."

"Why not?" The pair looked over at him and stopped with rather dumbstruck expressions on their faces.

"It's a bit dangerous up here. I'm not dealing with your mother if one of you falls." The man looked quite firm. "Put them away."

Both children complied. Anna spoke up. "But, we can jump this high. It's not that big a deal really." They hadn't even cleared the roof of the house and she could see into one of the third floor windows easily from where she was standing. "Look. Watch."

James felt his heart jump into his throat as he dove after his daughter. She was falling and looked at him with an irate expression as he tried to grab her ankle. She pushed her palm out towards him and he slowed enough to miss. Before he could try anything else, the girl was crouched on the grass and looked up at him. "Watch." She bent her legs and crouched low. Her arms shifted and she shot up, landing on the edge of the roof in a light manner.

"See. Even if we do fall we won't get hurt." Harry was hovering just over his father. "It's not that big a deal really."

The girl levitated her broom up with her and hovered over to his side. "You've got nothing to worry about. We'll be fine."

James was sort of frozen and shaking as he looked over at her with wide eyes. "Not that big a deal?"

"What? You've seen our Quidditch matches. Come on, it'll be really cool!" The redhead was pleading with him.

"Yeah." The boy seemed to agree. "We've been dying to try this. I'm pretty sure they aren't going to let us do it during a match either."

"All right fine." James Potter hung his head and sighed. "No magic, we're already bending the rules more than we should. Lily will blow her top if she catches you riding around without me out here." Lily had been avoiding it, but he'd come out in the morning a few times to watch their morning routine. There were a few marks on his left arm from pinching himself that still itched a little.

The children were pumping their fists and mounting their brooms. The wands ignited again and the pair started circling.

OooOOooOO

Draco Malfoy was standing in his yard with a frown on his face. He had his shirt off and was wearing a pair of black slacks. In his hand was a new wand. Just like the one the Potters had. He glared at it, and a beam of red light formed. He'd chosen a different type of light emitting crystal, it was blood red and his blade looked more solid and focused. He started cutting at the air, creating a humming noise as he jumped and spun as he worked the weapon. He couldn't jump more than three feet, and it wasn't as smooth or as graceful as his rivals. It was impressive for any boy his age, and he'd become more fit while away at school.

"What on earth?"

The boy paused with his weapon held forward in a stab. His arm was craned over his head and he turned to look at the source of the disturbance. His anger faded, but not before Lucius Malfoy noticed it. The man was dressed in a black suit with his cape on his shoulders and his cane holding his hands up. "Father." The blade of light vanished as the boy stood up and gasped for a moment.

"What are you doing? Where did you get that?" The man looked confused and a bit concerned.

The boy chuckled. "It's my new wand. I made it." He walked up and handed it to the man with a rather arrogant smirk on his face as he tossed his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

The man flipped it around, he shined the red light in his face for a moment and blinked a bit before handing it back with a confused frown on his face.

The moment it was in the boy's hand a seven inch beam of light formed at the top.

"Where did you learn that?" The man didn't look displeased.

"Heh. Good news father. I'm a Warlock. Those Potter brats don't stand a chance." The boy grinned at the man as he stepped back.

Lucius Malfoy had gone as pale as a ghost. His son was standing in the yard a few meters away from him. He'd levitated several large rocks each weighing more than the boy did easily. There was one that looked to be about three feet in diameter. He dropped his cane to the ground and gasped, putting his fingers around his open mouth.

Draco ignited his wand and jumped about between them. He returned to his position a minute or so later, and shut the weapon down. The rocks fell apart on their way to the ground, smooth flat edges had been cut through them. "I will destroy them."

"How? Where did you learn this? You must show me how you've done this!" The man stepped forward with an odd look on his face. The boy knew the man wanted whatever power it was for himself.

Draco snorted. "I was born with it. You weren't."

The man straightened up. "I see. Be careful boy. I don't want to see you end up in Azkaban without need. Those brats will get what's coming to them."

The boy glared up at him. "You don't seem to understand Father. The Potter twins are Warlocks as well. Not even Voldemort himself can destroy them. I can."

The man glared at him and swallowed. "What?"

"They're much stronger than I am now. That will change." He turned and walked back onto the porch, taking the time to grab a towel off the railing on his way.

"Yes. Very good son." Lucius Malfoy wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't certain he wanted Draco's power to be known. Without the boy's abilities as proof, he'd sound like a raving lunatic if he brought it up. It left him in an interesting position, but one he had time to think about. "You should be more careful about what you say. I won't have you causing trouble by running your mouth more than you should."

The boy stopped and looked back at him after opening the door to enter the home. He was rubbing the towel through his hair and on his neck as he spoke. "One more thing. That rumor that's been going around about their parents?"

"Utter rubbish. I don't want to hear..."

"I know them well enough. I'd stake my name it's true." He walked in and left the man standing there.

OooOOooOO

Lily Potter was attracted outdoors by the noise. There were strange hissing and popping sounds coming from out in the back yard. She knew her husband was with them, and seemed interested in finding out what he was doing. "James? What on earth is that..." She looked up to see her husband staring up at the sky with a slacked jaw about five feet off the ground in the middle of the yard. She frowned and started walking towards him, but her pace slowed as her eyes went up.

Anna was spinning downward creating a spiral of light as she landed on her broom ten feet over the ground. Her brother shot to the side and clashed weapons with her. Both of them spun about each other as they locked and the redhead moved up with her brother right beside her. Each of them was hanging off the climbing brooms with their weapons clashing between them. At about thirty meters in height they dove back down doing pretty much the same thing, but this time balancing on top of their broomsticks as they dropped from the sky in what looked like free fall. At about seven feet over the ground they dove by either side of their parents low to the ground and fast. Wind and grass clippings filled the air as the adults clothes and hair blew about.

The pair turned and drove right at each other, meeting in the center of the yard about fifteen meters overhead. They locked blades as their broomsticks pushed on their feet.

Lily looked shocked, and then angry. She glared at her husband and he shrank back a bit, then her eyes turned back to her children in the air. "Harry James Potter! Annabelle Violet Potter! You come down here right now! I don't believe this! James, how could..."

Both her children looked down at her, jumped off their broomsticks and landed on the ground in an almost casual manner. Both broomsticks flew into their hands as they did so and they walked towards her with grins on their faces.

"Yes Mum?" Anna looked oblivious.

Harry seemed to mirror the expression and seemed to wonder what she wanted. Both of them knew she was upset. She hadn't moved since they landed.

"Well, I didn't see the point of getting upset about it once they showed me they could do that." The man took his glasses off and cleaned them on his shirt. He put them back on as he landed, walked up and slapped her on her shoulder. "Man, that was great! Did you see it? Those two are amazing! Don't you think?" He was grinning and trying to get a response. His wife was standing and looking at the spot where her children had landed.

"James."

The man straightened up. "Yes?"

"I think I'm going to lie down for a bit." Her expression didn't change as she turned back to the house.

"Are you all right?" The man rushed up to her side looking worried.

"I-I'm fine. I'm just going to lie down for a bit." She nodded and walked back to the house.

"That was fun!" Harry was pleased with the ending.

"You dork. I think we broke Mom." Anna was looking at the house in a somewhat concerned fashion.

James chuckled and shrugged. "Nah. She's just surprised. I've done that to her a few times myself." He slapped them on the shoulder. "We're going to have to get ourselves a Snitch for practice."

Harry almost jumped. "Yeah! And we can use our wands again while we do it!"

Anna's lips turned down as she thought about it. "Hey. Good idea Harry."

"We'll make sure...um...your mother is distracted first. Yes?" James looked back at the door. "Come on. Put those away and we'll tool about the yard a bit more."

Anna chimed in as they lifted off. "Hey! We should get some Bludgers too! Four of them would be cool!"

"Yeah!" Harry lit up with agreement.

"We'll...talk about it." James wasn't so sure he liked the way the conversation was going. "Later."

OooOOooOO

Tenacious D was standing on stage in Manchester. 76,098 people were screaming, waving banners, holding up lighters, and waving goodbye to the greatest band in the world. The children walked off stage gasping for breath and toweling off. Each had a large water bottle and was gulping it down. They'd gone through thirty five liters of it over the course of the concert.

Harry rushed up to greet Ron and Hermione as they moved up from the edge of the stage to speak with him. The Grangers were standing behind her, looking rather small and quiet. Molly Weasley stepped up to the boy with the rest of her family.

The Potter boy had a rather wide grin on his face as he looked around at everyone. Bill took his hat off and nodded. "I appreciate the tickets."

"Sure." Harry nodded and smiled at him.

"Y-yes. Us as well." Hermione's mother spoke up first.

"It was very generous of you." Arthur grinned and put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

Fred and George were looking around the stage making faces at a particular area of the crowd. "Those dorks didn't believe us."

"Ha! Look at them now. They've gone and noticed us." They were both waving at the crowd.

"Yes. How nice to see you both." Anna appeared behind them and they turned to greet her with cheerful grins.

"Thanks. It was nice of you..."

"...to send enough for all of us." The pair was mooning the people they'd been looking at as they said it to her.

The girl's face flashed with surprise. She sort of zoned out and shrugged. "No problem. Come on, we're going to the dressing rooms." As she led the way, she sort of zoned out. Percy and Ginny were thanking Harry for the tickets as she passed by. "Come on. The others are already back there."

Ginny noticed her and moved up beside her with a flush on her cheeks. Anna was muttering something she almost didn't catch. "If not those two, then who? Hmmm. I had a feeling it wasn't them."

She put her finger up and spoke up. "Um, excuse me."

The redhead looked down and smiled. "Oh, hello Ginny."

"Thank you for the tickets." She looked very shy. Her face flushed as the girl said her name.

"You're welcome. Come on, we're heading back stage. Harry seems to be taking his time, but he'll show up." The redhead put her hand on her shoulder and walked with her.

OooOOooOO

Ron Weasley noticed his parents hadn't moved from the doorway. "Um, Harry. What's wrong with my parents?"

The boy looked up at the two stunned adults. None of the children seemed aware, but the two adults no one recognized seemed to be the focus. "It's just them."

"Um, who are...?"

Arthur Weasley answered his youngest son's question. "James? Lily? James and Lily Potter?"

Bill ambled up behind them and looked about. Everyone in the room was looking at the Potter parents. He slapped his dad on the shoulder and chuckled. "I told you they weren't fake. I ran across their names in the Gringotts records and went to see for myself one day. I'm glad I had my camera. I was thinking I might catch a bit of fraud."

Ginny was confused. "What's going on?"

The redhead looked up at her and shrugged. The pair was munching on a bowl of chips in the corner. It was on a small end table, and they were sitting on either side of it. "It's nothing. My brother figured out how to bring our parents back to life." She brushed a few crumbs off her black leather jacket.

The young girl's head whipped around and she looked at her with wide eyes. "R-really?"

Anna nodded, her parents were looking a little annoyed with her. "Yeah. That's them right there. See."

The smaller redhead nodded. "Oh. Okay. That's pretty cool."

"I wasn't sure at first, turns out it is though." Anna nodded.

Harry walked by singing the lyrics to Seether's 'Fake it' under his breath at her.

She narrowed her eyes and looked over to Ron. Arthur and Molly had started to talk with James and Lily. Hermione was holding her parents hand as they looked at the scene with wide eyes. She looked just as dumbstruck as her parents. They were sitting on the other end of the long couch. "So, how's your summer been?"

Melvin, Pansy, Margaret all walked over and started lounging around in the folding chairs strewn about the room. It was a very large space and the wizarding adults and older children had all grouped together about James and Lily.

"Sorry. They've been dead a while." Melvin looked up at Hermione's parents and shrugged.

Hermione looked up at her parents and gave a weak smile. "Um, yes. So I'd heard. Well, we went to the zoo."

"We're going next week. After we play Wembly." Harry seemed very pleased with the idea.

Anna seemed to sense that things were becoming more awkward. "Um, so Ron. How was Romania? I've got to go for a week or so next year."

"It was really nice. Everyone was great, and the food was good, I had to sit through a few boring ceremonies, but it wasn't bad really. It was kind of nice. Then I got kidnapped by Death Eaters, thrown into Castle Dracula, and went to Hell for about a day."

Anna was frozen in the act of putting a chip in her mouth. "Okay. Maybe we should talk about something else then?"

Ron nodded, he didn't seem worried. "I guess. That last part was pretty horrible."

Harry, Hermione, and Anna were all giving him odd looks. He was acting different than before, and seemed very comfortable and relaxed. He popped a few nuts into his mouth from one of the nearby bowls and looked around.

Ginny looked over as Anna blinked and shook her head. "It's true. I got turned into a vampire. He destroyed Castle Dracula. They paid us even more money after that. I'm not sure how much though." She ate another potato chip. "He came back with all this weird Muggle stuff from Hell."

The other red haired girl put her head into her hand. "Sorry. It's not usually like this. We've been busy it seems."

"Since when?" Hermione furrowed her brow and frowned at her. "It's always like this with you two at Hogwarts."

Pansy leaned into her friend's shoulder with Margaret beside her. "I hate to say it, but she's right."

Margaret nodded. "Even Christmas was filled with it as I recall."

Melvin shrugged. "I think it's awesome."

Hermione frowned at him. "Sometimes. It does get a bet tedious though."

Ron blinked. "I've gone and caught a bit of it myself. Last year doesn't seem so bad now."

Harry was smiling at his friend with a cocked grin. "You? All you did was worry last year it seemed."

"He's right! What's gotten you so brave all of a sudden?" Hermione turned her nose up. Her parents were starting to relax a bit.

"Brave? Not really." The Weasley boy shrugged.

Fred and George pushed on his shoulders. "He's been acting off since we got back from Romania. We stuck a bogey in his closet a few days ago, and he sent it running off screaming." They passed the idea back and fourth between them.

Ron looked around and didn't seem worried or embarrassed. "I've been to Hell. It doesn't get worse than that." He shrugged and chewed on a few more nuts.

"I suppose that makes sense." Harry looked thoughtful and shrugged.

Hermione looked cross with Ron. "Stop jerking our leg! You're scaring my parents!"

Anna glanced over from talking to her friends. "I'm inclined to believe him. I've heard of another gateway to Hell somewhere in California. I'm pen pals with a witch who lives in the area. Causes all sorts of trouble. Dracula's Castle is a likely place to find something like that really. He did destroy him after all, so how he got there is plausible as well." She wasn't sure what to make of Ron's emotional state and turned back to her friends. He was Harry's friend, and her brother would deal with it in his own way.

"Well, we've been all over Brittan. It was pretty cool! We saw all sorts of things." After a few moments, Harry had Hermione's parents and his friends wrapped up in a conversation about different places about the territories.

OooOOooOO

James and Lily were quite pleased to see Arthur and Molly. They spoke with them, and their oldest children about the past ten years in the Weasley family. It was a pleasant topic and everyone was cheerful. Bill, Arthur, and Molly kept expressing disbelief. Both the Potters found themselves grabbed in warm hugs more than once.

As Arthur finished explaining Ron's accomplishments with his chest puffed out. Lily spoke out something she'd just noticed. "Why are you wearing a towel? Why is everyone wearing a towel?"

The man blinked and got a cheerful grin on his face. He shrugged. "They're incredibly useful it seems. Everyone is wearing them these days. You should get a couple for yourselves. I'm surprised your children let you out and about without one."

Molly nodded. "I admit, I was a bit skeptical at first. It turns out it's true. I've never been sorry I've had it since I started wearing it."

Bill tugged on his. "Even a lot of Muggles carry towels now. It's not just wizarding folk."

"Really?" James pushed his glasses up his nose as he looked confused.

"A towel is about the most useful thing someone can have should something go wrong." Arthur nodded with a serious look on his face.

"That's silly!" Lily's jaw hung a bit. "Are you sure?"

Bill chimed in with a smirk on his face. "Can you think of something going wrong with anything where a towel might not be useful?"

Both Potters looked thoughtful. After a moment they looked surprised and thoughtful.

"I suppose not." James shrugged and looked at his wife.

"Well, I can't. I suppose. Maybe if I think about it?" Lily frowned a bit. "Nothing off the top of my head really. How odd."

"I heard every student at Hogwarts is required to have one next year." Bill was sipping on a soda from a nearby cooler. It was filled with things to drink, and lots of ice. "Ron swears by his towel. Says your daughter told him about it."

Lily seemed surprised. "Annabelle? Really? I wonder what brought that on?"

"Stroke of genius if you ask me." Molly seemed pleased as she grabbed the womans hands. "You must be so proud of both of them!"

The pair flushed and nodded in silence.

The conversation continued as each adult gave a few stories about how their towels had been useful.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was in a dance club in Stockholm. The show was over, and the band was doing a bit of PR work for the radio to promote other concerts. They were playing in big venues, but also hitting a lot of smaller auditoriums in between. She was sitting with Pansy and Margaret at a table in the VIP section of the club. It was some sort of weekly teen night, and her parents were a few tables over with Sirius and Pansy's mother. The music wasn't near as loud as near the dance floor and bar because of the acoustic set up of the room.

Harry and Melvin were down in the club surrounded by a large number of people on the dance floor. There was quite a bit of their own music playing, mixed with a few other top fifty artist and popular older songs.

The VIP section was a balcony above the club with tables in small rooms built into the wall. An intimidating man in a black suit stood guard on the stairs near the floor. The floor took up the middle of the club, it was black lit and had neon lights on the walls in different lines and shapes. There was a stage with a DJ against the back wall of the floor, just below the VIP tables.

"Should we dance?" Pansy was looking a bit nervous. Her hair was dark brown and cut at her shoulders. She'd taken the dye out and gone back to her natural color while touring. More to avoid the hassle of the extra time in the make up chair than anything else.

Margaret sipped on a glass of punch and shrugged. "I'm fine right here. I don't see how my brother has the energy to be out there still. I'm worn out." The girl looked annoyed, imagining, correctly so, that he was taking the opportunity to feel up any girl who would let him. There were quite a few at the club she imagined. Her eye was twitching.

"Melvin is fine." She put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's not like he can bring any of them home."

The raven haired girl grumbled a little. "I don't have the energy to drag him back and nail him to his seat right now anyway."

"Well, Anna will come, won't you?" Pansy stuck her lip out a bit.

"I'm not interested enough in males right now to bother." The redhead shrugged. "I'll come down with you if you like, but I'm not dancing."

"Yeah. Right." Pansy smirked at her and crossed her arms as she gave her a side long glance.

"I've not seen you here before. What, did you win a contest with the radio or something?" It didn't sound much like a fan. The girl looked up and noticed a girl with long straight blond hair tied back in a pony tail. She was very thin, and had a tight top on that pushed up her almost non existent breast. The newcomer looked like she was about fourteen, she had her arms crossed and was trying to look unimpressed.

"I'm Anna Potter. Who the hell are you?" Her features fell a bit as she straightened up and looked up at the girl without fear.

The girl laughed, two girls had moved up to flank her from nearby. They seemed to do so just to help her laugh. "As if you didn't know me. I'm Brittney."

"I'm not a fan." The girl shrugged. "I've heard the name about, but never cared enough to find out. Did you want something, or did you just come here to be annoying?"

Pansy and Margaret both got wide eyed expressions on their faces as they turned to look at her.

"I've been the best selling artist in Europe for the past three years." The girl looked a bit disgusted with the redhead. It was obvious she thought herself very pretty.

"Great. You've been deposed then." The redhead nodded and grinned. "Sorry."

"You'll be gone next week." The blond snorted and put her hand on her hip. "I'm the queen of the pop charts. Your little incursion to the top is already over. You've dropped to number three, I'm back where I belong."

"Um, you are aware we're a rock band?" Margaret sipped at her drink again and leaned back. Anna seemed to be enjoying the conversation.

"That was just a crossover song." Pansy shrugged and nodded.

"I kind of doubt it, our first album sold more than your last three combined. Look, I'm sure you enjoy gloating a great deal, and I'm sorry for ruining it for you. I just can't fake it." Anna found her nails quite interesting.

Pansy snickered at her friend's response. The brunette girl looked up at Brittney and shrugged. "She's right."

"Well, I'm sure I'll see you about. Word is, I'll be winning a Grammy in America this year. I've got the Brit awards on lock. You're not pretty enough to stay long. All those nasty marks will kill your career. I've got the number of a good surgeon, if you're interested."

"I do believe she's trying to make us angry." Magraret looked over at her friends as she sipped her drink again.

"Why? What good would it do her?" Anna seemed to think about it. "Look. I'm pretty sure you've imagined some sort of rivalry. I'm not really all that interested in finding out how successful and pretty you are. Did you want something, or are you just here to annoy us? If you're trying to make nice with us, you're going about it the wrong way."

"She sure is." Pansy frowned at the girl standing in front of the table and sat back with her arms behind her head.

She pulled two older boys with dark skin, hair, and large muscles onto her arms. Her two silent girlfriends looked shocked and appalled at the group in front of them. "Well. I can see you're not dancing. They're playing my new hit now." It was a pop song, and it sounded like she was talking about rubbing herself all over hot boys.

"It blows." The redhead shrugged. "I wasn't paying attention till you pointed it out." She looked a bit annoyed at the sound of it.

"Think you could do better?"

The redhead found herself wondering why people did it to her in the first place. Naturally, Anna jumped on it. "Now you're talking. Come on girls, lets go get the boys."

OooOOooOO

Brittney was frowning at the band setting up on stage. She had her two men at her side, with her girlfriends flanking them. There were spare instruments in the back room, as live music was one of the attractions to the club on some nights.

The rest of their family was leaning over the railing overhead looking down at the scene. It had caught the attention of everyone at the club. The radio station had made an announcement about the performance.

Brittney was going first, Anna was going to let her, but she bullied her way into it anyway. The males with her were back up dancers for her. The DJ still had his table set up next to them, and the other band was standing around the drum set holding their instruments.

"What's going on?" Harry leaned in to Pansy. "I've got a feeling this is another stupid rock off."

Melvin grumbled. "Yeah. I was talking to these six girls."

The boy who lived frowned back at him. "You're counting wrong. There were only three. Though, there was six of what you were looking at."

Melving tightened up in pain as a bass guitar crushed his toes. "Ouch!"

Pansy chuckled at the scene and nodded at the boy. "Yeah. We don't like this girl much."

A spotlight shined down on Brittney as her track started. She looked back at the redhead. "Carlito says he'll dance with you when we're done if you want. It's not like anyone else will, so you might as well. So, what would you say to Carlito?" She held the microphone with both hands and started singing. It wasn't awful, and she was hanging off of her two dancing boy toys as she did it. It turned out the name of the song was 'What would you say to Carlito?' The answer was an obvious yes.

The redhead was growing more and more cheerful as the song went on. "Wow. She's just handed this one to us."

Margaret nodded. "What are we doing?"

"What would you say to Carlito?" She was hanging off one of her dancers, who may or may not have been named 'Carlito'. The girl was looking right at the redhead and had a smug expression on her face.

Anna took the microphone and called out at the crowd. They were still cheering the other girl's song, and seemed to enjoy it. The radio broadcast was excited. "Hey. You really wanna know what I'd say to Carlito here huh?" The girl jerked her thumb towards the boy.

The rest of the band was looking over at her in confusion. "Um, what are we..." Margaret leaned in a little. The redhead played a short riff, and the band caught on. All of them looked quite pleased with the selection. Harry glanced up to see her mother frowning at her daughter and gripping the railing. The redhead was looking at the tall rather handsome male with a smirk on her face. Their father was glaring at the boy in much the same way.

Pansy smiled and started playing a beat as the group went into. Pink's 'U and UR hand'.

When they finished the older girl was glaring at them with a frown on her face. Her boy toy looked bemused and shook his head.

Anna snorted as she walked by and shoved the microphone into the girl's chest. The crowd was much louder than it had been before. The girls in it especially. "I win."

A few moments later they were back in their booth. Harry and Melvin had joined them. They were feeling good about what had happened and were having a good chuckle over the girls reaction. She'd slipped out of the club and gone elsewhere for the rest of the night.

"Wow! That was so awesome!" Another new girl walked up to the table. She was also blond, but had more curl to her hair. "I've never seen anyone do that to her. She's so awful!" She looked about sixteen and was grinning and looking pleased with them.

Harry grinned up at her and moved in a bit. "Thanks. You're Christina right? Melvin has a poster of you."

The boy was looking at her chest with wide eyes. "Yes. I do."

"Yeah. I've had to put up with her for years. She's been that way since she started. Thinks it's some sort of competition, like it's a beauty pageant or something." She sat down next to him and seemed pleased. "You guys are awesome! I was at the studio when she threw a tantrum after you knocked her off the number one spot. It was great!"

Margaret had her brother in a headlock with his forehead against the table. "Forgive my brother. He's a drummer."

"Oh, I'm used to it. Most of them are like that." She smiled and nodded at her. "It's hard putting up with her. She was awful after she beat me at the Brits this last year."

Anna shrugged and glanced over at her parents table. Lily was sitting taller than she had been and was talking and laughing with her husband. The woman glanced over and smiled at her before turning back to her conversation. "Nice to meet you."

"So, who writes your songs? That was so cool!" The girl looked excited.

Anna shrunk down in her chair a bit as everyone looked at her.

"R-really? You write your own stuff? Wow." Christina looked surprised. "How do you do it? You've put out four albums in less than a year? I'm lucky if I can write two or three songs myself for my albums."

The redhead shrugged. "I like to keep busy."

After that, the group talked shop until the end of the evening.

"Come on. It's time to go." The adults had come to collect their children. It was about one in the morning, and things were winding down in the club. Lily was smiling down at them as the other adults put on coats and gathered their things at their own table.

The group looked a bit disappointed, but got up without argument. Anna looked over at Christina. "Hey. It was nice meeting you."

The girl smiled and nodded. "Yes. I'll be seeing you around for sure."

Melvin watched her rear as she walked away and leaned over just to make it more obvious.

Margaret was cracking her knuckles and frowning.

The redhead yawned as she put her hand on her shoulder and started pushing her forward. "Don't worry about that one. She'll have him wrapped around her finger by the time he turns nineteen. Don't tell him, it'll be fun to watch. Trust me."

The dark haired girl worked her mouth and looked at her with wide eyes. "Wha? Are you...?"

Anna looked a bit dazed and glanced at her. "Huh?"

Margaret shook her head. "Nevermind."

OooOOooOO

Harry and Anna Potter were looking up at their mother with wide eyes. They were standing in the doorway to their home, having just returned from a trip to the zoo. Their father had gone in ahead of them as they chatted with their mother on the stairs. Both children had enjoyed the trip, but Anna had been more subdued about it as usual. She seemed to have fun watching him run about in cheerful amazement. The woman didn't know it, but Anna had been right about the snakes. They were behind glass and he couldn't try speaking with one. Harry was beaming about the trip just before his mother asked them both something neither one had bothered with thinking about.

"B-birthday party?" Harry stuttered it and looked over at his sister with a shocked expression.

"Hey. That sounds kind of cool. We've never had one before." The girl looked thoughtful and nodded. "I suppose we'd invite our friends and all?"

"R-really?" The boy's eyes got a bit wider.

"Of-of course. What do you mean you've never...?" The woman's jaw had dropped and she looked at them both with a cold fire burning in the back of her eyes.

The boy got a rather dumb looking grin on his face and nodded. "Great. Wonder what it'll be like?" He looked over at his sister.

"Well, we had one once. It was just a bowl of ice cream with a candle in it though. We were babies after all." She shrugged at him and looked up at her mother. "Right?"

At first she seemed surprised. "You're right...but..." The woman glared down at them. "Stop joking around! What did you want to do for your birthday party?"

"We don't know. What usually happens? We never hung around for Dudley's party. We just cleaned up after it." The boy blinked and his face fell a bit. "Um...we're not joking."

"They gave us a two pence for Christmas last year and told us to split it. Sent it through the mail taped to a note." The redhead shook her head and chuckled. "A birthday party? Are you kidding? If we were lucky they put Dudley's old clothes in a brown paper bag before tossing it into the closet with us on our birthday."

Harry nodded. "I'm going to tape about twenty hundred pound bank notes to a piece of paper and send it to them for Christmas next year."

The girl nodded and grinned. "Playful, yet evil. I like it."

"What do we do?" The boy looked over at his sister as their mother stood staring down at them.

"I um, guess we can talk about it later. Here is fine with me. Unless she thinks we should have it somewhere else for some reason?" The girl shrugged, she took a step back away from her mother and looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. It's not that big a deal. We'd like it."

The woman looked horrified. "Not that big a deal?" She turned and rushed into the home calling for her husband. "James! James!"

The children walked in and looked on as she rushed into her confused husband's arms. He had rushed out of his seat and was looking over at the pair. "What did you do to your mother?" He didn't quite look angry but was suspicious.

She pushed herself back a bit and thumped him on the chest with her hand. "You leave them alone. James," She sniffled and sobbed a bit more. "Our children have never had a birthday since we've been gone! Not one!"

The man looked confused. "You mean they're...immortal or something?"

"No. James." The womans eyes went a bit angry as she grabbed his shoulders. "They didn't even celebrate Christmas with them! It's awful! How could she..." She burst into tears again before she could finish.

The man's jaw went tight and the children were standing in front of the doorway and side stepping out from in front of his gaze. He kept looking at the door and holding her.

"Um, we're fine. Really." Harry was looking out from behind one of the arm chairs.

Anna was a bit up the stairs looking down. "Yes. No reason to get upset."

"Are you joking?" The man glanced up at her and then back at the door.

"I'd rather take care of it myself. Besides, you're too angry to go stomping about out there. You'd do something stupid and end up in trouble." The girl shrank back a bit under his gaze.

"She's right. We've lived with them for years. We know just how to annoy them!" Harry nodded and looked a bit nervous.

"Dudley's birthday is coming up. We could crash it, make a mess of things, and leave. You know, like last time." Anna was hiding behind the railing. Both of her parents were only growing angrier.

James Potter looked down at his wife. "I'm afraid not."

Together they both walked outside and the door closed behind them.

"Should we go and watch?" Harry swallowed a bit and looked up at his sister.

"Are you joking? I'm not going anywhere near that scene!" The redhead shook her head in a violent manner. "You can go if you want."

"I'm thinking they know what they can get away with. I hope." The boy looked out the window and frowned. "They've aparated anyway. It would be over by the time we got there."

OooOOooOO

Petunia Dursley was doing the absolute worst thing she could be doing at that very moment. She was sitting with her family in the living room, Vernon and Dudley were leaning over brochures and magazines, planning the boy's next birthday party. Well, she had been before her sister and her husband walked into her home. The door was hanging off the hinges, and bolts of lighting crackled across a gray sky outside. Each adult was holding a wand and glaring down at the family.

"Petunia."

"L-Lily." The woman was shaking with her husband, clutching each other. The fat boy had backed away from them and rushed into the kitchen. He peered around the corner and swallowed as he watched with wide eyes.

James Potter spoke up as he tossed about pictures of cakes, a pony rental service, and clown ads. "Oh. Look! Lily, they're planning on a party! I thought that was unusual around here. I wonder who it's for?"

Vernon stuttered at the man as he pulled the brochures and magazines off the table with one arm and held them against his chest. "Our son, he's...he..."

"Certainly not our children." Lily spoke up and frowned at him.

Petunia jumped up, only to have her sister turn her head away before she could open her mouth with a hard slap. She turned her head back and didn't look her in they eye as she spat an angry muttering at her. "We didn't ask for them. We were forced to take them."

The redhead punched the woman dead in the face, and tackled her to the ground, beating repeatedly about her head, chest, and shoulders with her wand in her fist. She hooked her on each cheek a few times as she screamed in rage. "You bitch! Your own Nephew! How dare you! Do you think mother would be proud? Do you?!"

Vernon had almost stood up, but James shook his head as he glared at the man. "If your son wasn't around, you'd be on the floor with her. Don't do anything stupid that might change my mind."

Lily stood up and shook off her fist as she turned to glare at her sister's husband. "We aren't finished with you yet. There will never be another party or celebration in this home ever again. I assure you of that. Don't bother making plans. You'll regret it if you do." Her sister was on the ground, awake, but in a lot of pain.

"We'll be seeing you." James grinned and slapped Vernon on the shoulder. He'd turned red and didn't dare move from his seat.

The angry parents walked away. As soon as they were gone, the storm outside vanished, leaving only a sunny day and a broken door in their wake.

OooOOooOO

James and Lily Potter walked back into their home with smiles on their faces. The redhead dusted her hands off and sighed as she grinned at her children. "There. I feel much better now!"

Their father looked much the same. "All right. What did you want to do for your birthday party then?"

"We're not going to get a visit from the Aurors later are we?" Harry stood up and gave a weak grin back at them.

"No. No reason for that." The man seemed relaxed as he sat down by hopping over the back of the couch to land between them. "We'll invite all your friends, have a big cake, have presents."

"We're rich enough to buy what we want. We really don't need 'presents'." The girl shrugged at the both of them.

Her mother sat down on the arm of the couch and put her hands on her shoulders as she smiled at her. "That's not the point."

The girl's eyebrow was twitching a bit as she noticed there was a bit of blood on her knuckles. "Right. No Aurors then. Well, I suppose that sounds good. We'll have to make a list or something then. Um, who should we ask?"

Her father chuckled and shrugged. "Well, don't invite all of Hogwarts or anything, but as many as you like. We've got room enough I think. If not, we can rent a hall or something."

The children stayed quiet and nodded, each giving their parents a sidelong glance.

The woman seemed to notice her children were uneasy and shook her daughter by the shoulder. "Don't worry. I think I'm starting to get why you wanted us back so badly." The woman hauled her into her lap as she slid onto the couch. Anna clenched up a bit, but didn't resist. Her mother kissed her forehead and squeezed her a bit. "You've done a good job taking care of your brother. I'm proud of you. It's our job to take care of you now though." She whispered it into the girl's ear and she flushed.

"That's what worries me." Anna looked a bit dazed.

"I know. We'll work on that though, won't we?" The woman rubbed her nose into the girl's neck and she balled up a bit more.

OooOOooOO

A short time later, James was the only one awake. The mirror was showing sports scores with no sound as he looked at it with half lidded eyes and a grin on his face. He had his arm across his son's shoulders, his other arm holding his wife, and his daughter had her head on the woman's lap and was passed out.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next Time: The best birthday ever.

AN: Yeah. I know about some of the misspelled names and such. [I know someone named Lilly, and I've discovered I've got an irritating habit of adding an extra 'r' to Severus when I'm not paying attention. I've been bad, and posting drafts. I've been putting off doing an edit since about ch. 17. I'll be fixing it in the next few days or so. So, the last Summer chapter will probably get delayed because of it.


	24. Chapter 24

A matter of force.

Part 24

The best birthday ever.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter had a wide grin on her face as she strolled along a sidewalk in the suburbs of London. Her parents were having a visit with Sirius, and Lissa had been there with her daughter already. They were all lugging a more portable version of their instruments along with them, Melvin was wearing a drum set designed for marching bands. He cracked his neck and looked at the redhead leading the party.

She was standing on a doorstep knocking on another door. The children moved up around her, each holding an instrument with a built in amplifier. The door opened and a thirty something man looked down at them. He had a pipe in his teeth and looked very impatient, dressed a checkered shirt with a sleeveless sweater. "Yes. I'm afraid I've just returned from work and I'm..." He trailed off a bit as he realized there was a group of children at his doorstep.

Tenacious D played Finger Eleven's 'Paralyzer' as soon as he looked at them.

The man had cheered up a bit and clapped a little as he looked on in wonder. "Yes. Thank you, that was very nice. Um." He looked a bit confused as the children moved away waving and smiling as they moved on to the next house.

The past hour and a half had been spent getting doors slammed in their faces a scattered few times, but mostly people looked at them with a bit of bemused wonder, two people had passed out, and ten homes had started screaming and jumping about. They'd had a bit of a crowd following them for a bit of the road, but it had mostly dispersed.

"Well, that was the last one." Anna shrugged and looked over at her friends. No one appeared to be home at the last door along the street.

"Why are we doing this again?" Melvin scratched at the side of his head and glanced over at her. "I mean, I'm not complaining or anything, but...I'm confused."

"I don't know. Door to door rocking has been pretty cool so far." Harry looked pleased and was shaking his wrist a little to loosen it up a bit.

"The tour is done, and it's an interesting way to practice." The redhead shrugged.

"I thought it was fun. Mum was a bit worried I think." Pansy nodded and grinned.

"It's odd. I get rid of one and the other moves in. I'll never get to be alone now." Margaret glanced over at the brunette and smiled at her.

"We've been spending a lot of time over here." The girl's face flushed a bit and she nodded.

Anna spoke up immediately. "Get used to it. You'll be living here when we come back next summer."

Both girls looked at her with wide eyes. Melvin shrugged and glanced at Harry. "I kinda figured that. They usually spend the night."

"Wait. We've got a flat." Pansy got a panicked look on her face.

The redhead shrugged. "I told you we don't ever live together didn't I? I'm not living here now."

The girl looked saddened. "Wait." Margaret had moved back with the boys and gone quiet. "I didn't think you meant..."

"Um? Sorry?" The redhead didn't like the look the girl had on her face. "Your mom really likes him. Don't worry, he'll be...good to both of you." She put her hand on the girl's shoulder and looked guilty. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

A tear ran down the girl's face and she looked up at the redhead. "When is the wedding then? I'm guessing that's what you mean." She sniffed and grinned at her.

Anna felt horrible. "I um...I'm not sure. Summer I'd say, she'd want you to be there I'd think."

Harry walked up and put his hand on Pansy's shoulder. "Come on. We should head back now." Margaret rushed up and put her arm across her shoulders. Melvin looked at Anna in confusion as he moved up beside her, he'd taken up the rear. The girl had a glare in her eyes and tears were rolling down her cheeks. "Hey. You..."

She looked up at him and softened her eyes a bit. "No. I'm not. I can't control it."

He looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I'll say things. Sometimes when a topic comes up, or someone asks me a question. I'll answer it. I can't not do it. If I fight too hard, I black out and say it anyway. I've a feeling it's been happening more than I realize. Sometimes I remember bits of it, usually not. It happens with visions sometimes too. I'll zone out for a minute or two. I can't control it. I've tried." She was holding her tarot deck in her hand and looking at it. "It's gotten me in trouble more than once. I don't like it."

The boy shrugged and stayed beside her as she started walking ahead. "Thats why you told Pansy about her mum then?"

The girl nodded. "I'm not sure I should explain myself. If word of it gets out, it could become a dangerous problem for me. I'm afraid I'm at a bit of a loss."

"Why tell me then?" Melvin looked confused.

"I know I can trust you. Don't tell anyone about this. It could be more dangerous than you realize. I may decide to have a talk with Pansy and Harry later. I don't want word of this getting out." She stiffened up and started walking. "Maybe I can find a way to subdue or control it. At least stop it from taking over somehow. I know you'll be talking it over with your sister soon enough. I'm hoping if I work at it, I'll have the option of not saying anything at least."

He nodded his head as if her reason for trusting him should have been obvious. "Oh. That's not good. Will England with the cup this year?"

"No. I've got to go smooth things over with Pansy. She's upset. I know her mother doesn't like her father, but that doesn't mean she didn't." Anna stuck her bottom lip out a bit and picked up her pace.

The boy looked annoyed. "He dumped her off too! I've heard her complaining about him. She doesn't like him either."

The girl glared at him. "It's not that easy. You, of all people, should understand that."

His features dropped and he grunted as he crossed his arms. "Low blow. I see what you mean though."

The girl was poking her fingers together with flushed cheeks. "Sorry. I'd let you go if I could. I don't like having slaves. Someday I will."

He glanced over at her and poked his finger into her chest. "Don't you dare. Not till this is over. If you screw it up, I could end up stuck with him again."

She looked up at him in surprise as he walked ahead of her. With a confused glance at the ground she kept walking, the Black home was just ahead.

OooOOooOO

The adults were sitting about, and Anna followed Melvin up the stairs to the bedrooms. One of them was set aside for Pansy's mother, though she only used it to hold her things while she visited. The adults had given themselves the delusion of being somewhat clandestine, and were thinking they had pulled the wool over the children's eyes.

The redhead shuffled into Margaret's room and put her guitar against the wall. Pansy rushed up and hugged her. The girl flushed again and patted the girl's shoulder. She wasn't crying, but still looked somber. "I like it here. Really." She was obviously trying to make her feel better. "I just..."

"Shit. I suppose I might as well tell you. You'll be as good as family soon enough. Sirius is our godfather, we're not related. He might as well be dad's brother though." Margaret looked up as Pansy pulled back, both looked confused. "Where are the boys?"

"Melvin's room." Margaret stood up and walked up to the redhead. "Tell us what?"

"There's something I need to tell you. I trust everyone else in the band enough, but we can't let anyone else know. Not even the adults. Not yet." The redhead was looking at Pansy the most, and the girl flushed.

OooOOooOO

Harry and Melvin were a bit confused at the intrusion and had been forced to stop playing air guitar to the radio from the top of Melvin's bed. Pansy had calmed, and Harry was letting Margaret smooth things over when his sister had come in. She went straight for the girls and he saw no need to bother himself with it. Melvin had come on and joined him just before his sister moved by.

The radio was turned down and Anna was looking at all of them. "This doesn't leave the room."

They all nodded. Harry spoke up. "Now what? Is our birthday going to be attacked or something?"

"No. I can't control my sight." Anna frowned at him and twitched her eyebrow. She was sitting on the side of the bed and kicking her leg.

Pansy blinked and put her finger up. "You're going blind then?"

The redhead put her forehead into her palm. "No. I can't stop predicting things at irritating times. It just comes out. I can't stop it, I've tried. If I'm lucky, I'll notice I'm saying something."

The children got a collective dazed stare as they all looked at her.

"So?" Harry shrugged.

"It's dangerous. If the wrong people find out I'll be a very interesting target. If I'm captured and contained, it can be used against us." The girl was looking at all of them. "It's not something I can talk about. I'm not sure how long I can hide it." She got a worried expression on her face. "I can't lie and fake it either. It won't let me. I just black out and do it anyway. I've tried fighting."

"Who is going to catch you?" Melvin snorted and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Difficult, not impossible. There is a difference." The girl frowned at him. "This is serious."

"Talk to Mum and Dad about it then." Harry shrugged at her. Margaret and Pansy looked up at him and nodded in agreement.

"We'll help if we can, but...I'm not sure what I could do." The raven haired girl looked at her nails.

"She's right. I suppose we could distract people sometimes." Melvin nodded and shrugged. He was sitting on his bed with his hands in his lap.

The girl glared at them. "I'm not so sure. It causes me to say things at bad times. It's like, psychic...oh god." Her eyes went wide and she held the sides of her head. "I've got Psychic Tourettes Syndrome!"

"That's just weird." Melvin looked half horrified, half amazed. He pushed himself off the wall.

Harry was looking at her in confusion. "Y-you do?"

"Yes. I hope I can get a grip on this. It really sucks." She was rocking a bit and clutching her arms.

Harry walked up and grabbed her arm. "Come on then."

She pulled back a bit, but allowed him to pull her out the door. Pansy and Margaret looked over at Melvin, he shrugged back and walked over to turn the radio on. "It is weird though."

The raven haired girl frowned at him. "So?"

He started nodding his head as the music came back. "Pretty much yeah."

Both girls turned their noses up and walked back out to Margaret's room.

OooOOooOO

Anna was frowning and halfway down the stairs with her brother dragging her along. "What are you doing?"

"We're going to see Mum and Dad." The boy glanced back at her and continued to pull.

"No! I don't want them to kno..." The girl was cut off as her parents loomed over them they were holding their things and looked to be coming to get them both. "Nuts."

"What is it she doesn't want us to know about?" James adjusted his glasses and looked at the boy.

"Yes, please. Do tell." Lily was looking at Anna in a suspicious way.

"She says she's got Psychic Tourettes Syndrome." The boy looked up at them and frowned.

The adults' faces fell.

"She's what?" Lily looked confused and scrunched her face up.

"Come on you two. Go say goodbye to your friends. We're about to head out. We can talk about it later." The man seemed to decide his children were playing some sort of odd game. Harry was annoying her, most likely on purpose.

OooOOooOO

Anna was glaring at her brother. Who had just related the particulars of her problem over to his parents.

The parents seemed confused and were looking over at her. She was sitting on the opposite end of the couches with her arms crossed as far away from the three of them as she could get.

"What?" Lily looked confused. "What sort of visions?"

"We keep telling you I can see the future." The girl glared at both of them. "The past too."

James shook his head. "Pardon, but I took Divination at Hogwarts. I'm not sure why it's still getting taught to be honest. I've read about a few famous psychics, but most of them only got one or two things right. The lucky ones had as many as three."

Lily slapped his shoulder and glared at him. "James! Not right now!"

"Because of people like me." The girl was in a sour mood and giving her brother nasty looking glances.

The boy didn't seem worried and stuck his tongue out at her as he pulled on one eyelid.

"Fine, Germany and England played today. I know you've not seen it. What's the score then? Ireland and Scotland played today as well." He was grinning as if he'd just uncovered their little ruse. Harry and Melvin both grumbled a bit about it while they were out and about. The girl didn't care much about professional Quidditch, it was a mild interest at best. Though her family had discovered she could watch baseball for hours. They got the American wizarding broadcast as well, and in a strange anomaly, they seemed to enjoy the game as well as wizarding sports. More than the Muggles did in recent years. The population of America had a passion for their style of football.

Lily looked irate and was about to scold him.

"Forty five to twenty, Germany, sixty five to twenty seven, Ireland." The girl shuddered and cringed as she spat out the scores.

Lily was surprised and pleased, thinking the girl had enough to shut her husband up. The children had gone out just before the second half of the first game. Neither one had lasted forty five minutes. "She's right."

The man frowned. "All right. They probably found out while they were gone somehow. We weren't the only ones watching you know."

Lily let go of her husband's neck as the redhead spoke up and gave him an irate looking frown. She wasn't in a very good mood. "I know about Remus Lupin, the Whomping Willow, and how Severus Snape came to be in your debt. That map you and your friends made. I know you're an animangus, and why you learned. A big stag. I know who got mother into Hogwarts. I know my mother was Professor Slughorn's favorite student. I know how that cloak came to be in Dumbledore's possession. I even know why your jealous sister hated us. She envied you." The girl was glaring at them both and didn't sound pleased. She looked cornered and afraid. "This is not a laughing matter, and it's not a joke. If I can't control what I say...think how valuable I could be to someone like Voldemort, or the Ministry. I will not become someones tool." She sounded angry and forceful as she said it and clenched her fist.

The adults had gone rather pale. Lily rushed over to her side and put her arms around her. "Annabelle! Are you all right?"

"I'm not sure." She shrugged and seemed to lose all her anger as she looked saddened.

James sat down beside his wife. Harry remained seated and smirked at her.

She glanced over at him and shook her head. "I hope you're right."

Her mother looked over at him and glanced back at her. "What?"

"She was planning on trying to hide it from you." Harry shrugged and stood up. He popped his back and started for the stairs. "I don't think she should."

The girl was biting her thumb and looking at the fireplace in a dazed state. Her mother pulled her up to her side, and the girl stayed zoned out.

The woman leaned into her ear and gave a small sigh. "You can trust us. You know that don't you?"

"I can't trust myself to keep my mouth shut." She nodded after she said it. "It doesn't really matter who I trust, does it?"

"Maybe if you don't say anything?" James was at a bit of a loss and leaned up against his wife.

"I just black out and say it anyway. I've tried." She looked back at the fireplace again. "I hate it. It's been nothing but trouble since it started. I thought I'd have a leg up, but the mess is bigger than I'd anticipated."

The woman kissed the side of her head. "You'll be fine Annabelle."

The girl sniffed a bit. "Yeah. I guess I will. I'm still getting back at my brother for running his mouth. I hope you understand."

"Hey. You should..." James stopped talking and smiled as she grinned up at him.

"Yes. I also know it was you who froze my shorts in the changing room a few weeks ago with that wand of yours." The girl seemed to cheer up a bit. "I'll be remembering that as well."

"I did nothing of..." The man flushed and pulled back from the pair a bit. Lily was looking at him with her eyebrow arched.

"I'm psychic. I know it was you. Had a good chuckle over that one did we?" The girl clutched her mother a little and leaned across her lap towards him. The man didn't know it, but a bit of her hair, chopped into a fine powder was sprinkling itself into his shorts at that very moment in his room. She shifted and seemed to relax against her mother.

"James! You didn't!" The woman saw the look on his face, he saw the look on hers, and rushed up the stairs. "He did! I don't believe him!" Lily didn't get up to chase him and seemed to calm. "I'm going to have to corner him and scold him about it later." She shook the girl's arm and looked up at the mirror. "Shall we see what's on then?"

The girl shrugged. "I guess." There wasn't much anyone could do about her new problem. "I've got to figure out how to control this," she thought to herself as she settled in a bit. She looked up at her mother. "Mum, just remember one thing okay?"

The woman looked down at her with interest. "What is it?"

"If you don't really want to know, don't ask." The girl settled in a bit more. "I might not have a choice about telling you."

The woman nodded and smiled at her. "I'll remember that."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was enjoying a walk alone. It was a sunny day, and she wanted to have a look about the neighborhood. It was a dirt road, with wooden fences or low stone walls on either side. There was a good deal of shade along the way mixed in with spots of sunlight as the grove of trees along either side of the road left spots of pleasant cooling air along the way. Birds were chirping, and it was relaxing.

"A-Anna?"

The girl froze, her heart stopped for a moment. Someone had moved by her on a bike, glanced back, and fallen face first onto the road over the bars. She looked down at him and her features fell a bit. "Oh. Right. I remember I was going to run into you again over the summer."

Cedric Diggory was sitting on his rear with an pained expression on his face. "Ouch. I can't believe I..."

"You're not hurt are you?" The girl was frowning down at him and offered her hand.

"No, just dirty. Thanks." His face was red as she pulled him to his feet.

"What are you doing here?" The girl looked back in the direction he'd come from.

"Huh? I could ask you the same thing you know." The boy was dusting off his shoulders and seemed no more than a bit embarrassed. He fumbled a bit as he pulled his bike off the ground and walked with her.

"I live up the road a bit now." She was shaking her head and chuckling at him. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Fine. No problem." He moved the bike up to walk with her, and hit himself on the shin with one of the pedals in the process. He hopped along on one leg for a moment to keep up with her as she walked. "I'm on the way home myself. Wait. Did you just say you live here?"

The girl nodded. "Yes. With my parents."

The boy gave her an odd expression. "I'd heard you were living with Muggles."

"No. My brother brought our parents back to life with a time machine and some vampire venom. It's kind of hard to explain." The girl shrugged and kept walking.

"Sorry. I didn't mean..." The boy sounded a bit taken by what seemed like a snide comment.

"No. I really mean it. I'm still not sure if I've forgiven him for it." The girl looked cross for a moment and gripped her biceps a little as she glared into one of the yards. "So. How have you been? It's nice to see you."

He just looked confused and stumbled to catch up. "Wow. You're really living right up the road then? This is great! None of my friends believed me when I told them I knew you. The Jordans live up the road a bit, but no one else attends Hogwarts around here. Most of them attend the British Academy of Magic in London. They come home after school on a bus up the road." He glanced back over his shoulder and smiled at her.

"What? Lee didn't back you up?" The girl arched her eyebrow.

"They've been gone most of the summer." He shrugged and dropped his head a bit. "It's been awful. They all think I have some sort of obsessional crush on you."

"Yes. Annoying isn't it? Pansy and Margaret are convinced I'm after you. I'm not sure how." The girl looked annoyed again and gave a small sigh. "Well. I'm out and about today I suppose." She seemed to have a thought. "I know it's a bit of a reach, but have you heard anything about who turned me into a boy?"

The boy shrugged and shook his head. "No. Sorry. Not much talk of Hogwarts around here. Like I said, Lee Jordan, and that's pretty much it."

She glanced down the road. "I'll have to swing by and visit one of these days. It's a way for the Weasley boys to get to me over the summer."

"They stopped by once or twice last year. I'm not entirely certain they were supposed too be here, or how they got here." Cedric frowned a bit as he looked back.

"It's nice to know." She looked a bit pleased.

The boy nodded. "How was your summer?"

"Better than Ron's it seems." She smirked a bit. "I've been on tour. You didn't catch the show? I'll get you tickets next year. We'll be playing London at least once."

He scratched his head and looked embarrassed. "Hey. Thanks. I'd like that. You're not doing anything then? I'll introduce you to everyone. Word around here was a couple of newlyweds bought the place. We'd not seen much of you. I guess since you were on tour all the time." He nodded and shook his head. "I dunno. I guess I figured you'd be living in a mansion somewhere."

The girl shrugged. "Don't really need one. Our house is big enough. It was the biggest one on the street from what I've seen, not by much though. It's quiet and out of the way here. Don't have to be careful about what I say. No Muggles who don't know."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter had a cheerful grin on her face as she found herself looking up at a pleased looking woman in her early forties. "Oh. Hello Cedric, the others are all in Mark's room." She looked over at the girl as both children peered up at her. "And who is this?"

"Hi. I'm Anna. Nice to meet you. We just moved in up the road this summer." The girl seemed pleasant.

"I'm Mark's mother, Mrs. Norris." The woman stepped aside. "I'm sure Cedric can show you the way. You kids have fun now."

Anna's grin was growing wider, she could hear the sound of the band's newest album. It was all Beatles songs. 'Help' was blaring on a speaker from one of the rooms. The cover had the whole band dressed in suits and ties with stylized vintage microphones in front of them. It was pretty much anything of note the band did.

Cedric opened the door and walked in with a wide grin on his face.

"Hey! Cedric! Brian has the new Tenacious D album! It's two disks!" A younger Asian girl with long white hair and gray eyes rushed up to him looking pleased.

"Jeez, you'd think she wanted to make out with Anna Potter too." A confident boy about a year older than Cedric with shaggy blond hair was leaning against the wall. He was chuckling at his own comment.

Another boy with curly brown hair was laid out across his belly on a bed in the middle of the room. The room was decked out with rock posters and everyone in the room was wearing jeans and a band shirt. Only the girl had Tenacious D. The boy looked up and snorted at the boy's grin. "What are you smiling about? He's right. You'll never meet her. If you know her so well, how come you couldn't get tickets?"

"Because he never bothered to ask me." Anna popped her head around the doorway and looked about the room. "Hmm. Not bad."

Everyone but Cedric was just staring at her. The boy on the bed jumped off and rushed from the room. "DAD! DAD! Holy..." He vanished into one of the rooms.

The girl started screaming and the smug looking boy on the wall pushed off his shoulders and took a staggering step forward. "I'm guessing that makes you Brian?" The younger girl looked to be about ten, and had to take a breath after screaming. "He must be Mark." She jerked her thumb and looked up at the boy who had led her to the group.

"Right. This is Noriko. Everyone calls her Nori." Cedric rubbed her hair as she stared at the new girl with wide eyes while taking short shallow breaths.

Anna smiled at her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Anna. So, is this what you guys do for fun around here?" She looked about the room.

"What?" Cedric and Brian got odd looks on their faces.

The white haired girl blinked in surprise. "Um, yeah. Kind of..." She responded in Japanese getting more confused glances from both boys. She looked at the tall blond boy and shrugged.

Mark was pulling a man behind him. He was balding, and tall and thin, looked somewhat like an accountant. "What is it son? Dad's busy right now."

The boy pointed at the redhead and looked up at the man. "That."

The man's eyes went wide. "Oh. What? It...it is! You're Anna Potter!" The man started laughing and walked up to shake her hand. "I love your band! What brings you here?"

The girl shrugged and gave a polite smile. "We just moved into the neighborhood."

"Oh. Well, I do hope you like it here!" The man was beaming and stood tall again. "Well. It's wonderful to meet you. I'm afraid I've got a bit of work to do. I hope we'll be seeing you again then."

"Whoa." The blond boy finally spoke up. "So, you like, really do know her?"

The redhead nodded. "I used to hang out with him a bit in school last year."

Cedric frowned and crossed his arms as he leaned in a bit. "I told you I did."

The boy thought about it for a moment. "So, she's like, really your girlfriend?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Americans."

The boy laughed and pointed at her. "Yeah. I get a lot of that."

Cedric looked frustrated. "No. You said that."

Brian winked at him and grinned. "Don't worry bro, I'll help ya out."

The redhead sighed. "Hi. You must be Mark." The boy was still gawking.

"Y-yes." He managed to squeak it out. "Thisismyroom." He put his arm out as if to show her and was shifting his feet.

The girl pouted for a moment. "Hmmm. You were right Cedric. This was fun." She looked over at the girl and started speaking Japanese again. "So. Nori, were you the only other girl around here?"

"Marci lives down the street. She's gotten sick. She doesn't like us much, her parents don't talk to anyone. Anyway, she's not very nice." The girl swallowed and nodded. "Wow! You're so awesome!"

The redhead shied back a little. "Thank you. So, what do you guys do for fun around here?" She noticed the boys in the room looking about in a suspicious manner.

Mark blinked. "We're, doing it now. We just hang out. There's nothing but grass and trees for miles. We run about outside sometimes, but there's not much around."

Anna nodded and put her fist into her chin. "Hmm. I suppose I should let Harry in on this."

The girl sucked in a quick breath. "You mean...he's here too?"

The redhead blinked in surprise. "Well, he is my brother after all. We're not quite old enough to be out on our own just yet."

It was more than the girl could take. She took a couple of steps and slumped down in a nearby chair in a dead faint.

"Well, I suppose we could go and get him. I know he'd enjoy it. That is, if you don't mind walking a bit." She looked over at Cedric and shrugged.

He looked at her and nodded. "I don't mind."

Brian was chuckling about something and shook his head as he walked by. "Holiday. Huh. It's called a vacation. Man."

Mark and Nori, who was stumbling a bit still, fumbled by as the group walked towards the door.

Mrs. Norris walked up and took note. "Where are we off too Mark?"

The boy looked at her with wide eyes. "I'm gonna go meet Harry Potter. He lives down the road now."

The woman chuckled and shook her head. "Yes. You do that dear. Be back by dinner."

"Yes Mum."

As they walked out into the yard as a group, Anna was leading with Cedric keeping pace beside her. "How long has he been here anyway?" She nodded towards Brian as she leaned in a bit closer to the boy.

"About eight years now. Why?"

"Only California creates that particular breed. An interesting anomaly." The redhead shrugged and looked back at him for a moment again. He'd been in the country for almost half his life, and he still hadn't figured it out.

"You're right. He was born there." The boy didn't seem that surprised and nodded. "Nori is his little sister."

The redhead nodded. "Pansy has found herself in almost the same situation I'd say. Her mother is going to marry our godfather next summer. He'd better let us be the wedding singers."

The boy gave her a small frown. "She could be adopted you know."

The redhead shrugged. "She's not. Stop posing."

Harry was walking towards the group just ahead. Anna and Cedric moved past the frozen group of children in the middle of the dirt road. "Hey. Oh, is this why you wanted to see me?" He grinned and waved his arm at his sister. "Hello Cedric."

The older boy shook his head with a grin on his face. "Hi. I'm surprised you remembered my name. We didn't talk much."

The boy pushed his glasses up his nose. "I'd heard about you. You live here then?"

The older boy scratched his head and nodded. "Yeah. Just up the road."

Anna walked up behind the girl and caught her as she fell over. "Quite a group it seems. There doesn't seem to be much to do around here. Lee Jordan lives down the other end of the street. He's away though."

Harry nodded and put his hand on her shoulder. "Well, that's good. Quiet around here then?"

"It seems that way. Should be nice." The girl glanced at the two boys and frowned. "This is Brian and Mark."

They both lifted their hands with somewhat dumbstruck expressions and muttered a hello.

Out of nowhere, a girl in a long sleeping gown, covered in boils and bandages rushed up and glared at the tall blond boy. "You! How dare you show your face here!" She started screaming and pointing at Brian. "You did this! Missy recognized it. Got it from that Jordan boy did you? Well, I'll be remembering this." She jabbed her finger at the ground and glared at him. The older boy was holding Mark between himself and the girl. The younger boy looked quite uncomfortable.

"I remember you. You're Marci then? I saw you hanging around with Missy at Hog's Head. Does she live around here as well?" Anna smiled as the girl's glare whipped around, she had short curly blond hair and was very angry.

"What are you doing here? You'd better clear off, my father..." The girl reacted as if someone had spit in her face.

Everyone was looking at the redhead. "Your father can't stop me from living up the road."

"My family is the richest on this pathetic street. You won't be here long." The girl was screeching and jabbing her finger at her.

The redhead looked up at the gray looming manor on a hilltop a short distance behind her. "Not anymore. You know, there is a potion that will fix your problem."

Brian snorted. "No one in that house can brew potions. Word is her family is cursed."

Anna nodded. "Well, mine isn't. Come on then, we'll get you fixed up. How long have you been this way anyway?"

The girl's face became shock. "Wh...what?" She was torn between being angry at the boy, and didn't look pleased with the redhead.

Everyone was looking at Anna with a rather dumbstruck expression her brother had gotten a half cocked grin on his face and stood behind everyone else.

"Jeeze. You've been that way for days haven't you? A trip to the alley would have fixed you up. It'll take weeks to go away on it's own." Anna was tapping her foot with her arms crossed. "Maybe she is a bit mean, but there's a point you shouldn't cross with a joke."

The girl was glaring at the ground with a shocked expression on her face. Her eyes were tearing up. "Weeks?"

"I admit, none of us care much for her. Really Brian. I out to clock you one." Cedric looked angry at the blond.

"I thought her parents would have gone to the alley by now." The boy was scratching his head and looking at the dirt.

"I don't need your pity!" spat the girl as she glared at the redhead.

"Fine. Go back to bed before you pop any more blisters and wait it out then. You'll be good as new in a few hours if you just come on. I'd offer to bring it to you, but I doubt your parents would look kindly at a Potter on their doorstep." The redhead shrugged and started walking.

OooOOooOO

Marci frowned and looked rather sullen and pale. Lily Potter was mixing her a cure for the boil curse with a cauldron in the kitchen. Anna was looking on and leaning against the counter as her mother worked.

"Honestly. A first year should be able to brew this!" The redheaded woman was a bit flustered with the quiet girl's condition. "You've had this curse for a week at least!"

"My family is cursed. I won't be taking Potions when I start school next year." She turned her eyes away and grumbled in annoyance.

Lily glanced at her and sighed. "Not worth a trip to the alley then? A sickle would buy this." She glanced at the girl and flushed. Her temper had gotten the better of her mouth. "I'm sorry. I'm glad to help. I don't mean to sound like I'm scolding you."

The girl nodded and muttered what could have been 'thanks'. A moment later the woman handed her a cup. She took it and drank it down. The girl looked ashamed and had turned red.

The woman took off her apron and sighed. "All right then. You should go home and get some rest. You'll be all right in an hour or two, but the scars from the broken boils will take a day or so to heal. I'm an accredited Potions Master, so don't be shy if you ever need something. Do come before it gets this bad next time."

The redhead shrugged and walked over next to the girl. "Come on. I'll make sure you make it back all right."

The girl gave her a small glare. "I'm fine. I'm grateful, but my parents wouldn't like me being here much."

Anna shrugged. "I know. You're not steady on your feet enough to walk all the way back yet. You messed up the bottom of your feet when you came out to...see us."

Lily started putting things away with a frown on her face and her brow furrowed a bit. James walked in with a grin on his face just as the door closed as the two girls left. "Harry's out in the yard with a bunch of kids from the neighborhood. Didn't think it would take long." He washed his hands and toweled them off.

"Yes. Anna came in with a girl who had picked up some sort of boils curse. I'm guessing it was a prank, but it should have been cured. She'd been wrapped up, but I've a feeling they were going to let it run it's course for some reason."

The man looked surprised. "Really? That's awful. I take it she's all right now then?" He noticed the cauldron and ingredients still about on the counter top.

OooOOooOO

"Well, I'll be seeing you at Hogwarts I suppose." Anna was walking along side the blond girl along the road. It was growing dark, and Mark could be seen ambling his way up the road towards his home. The other children were on their way as well.

Harry was walking with Cedric just behind them. The older boy glanced over at him and leaned in a bit. "I admit I'm surprised she'd help her. I feel I should warn, she's not likely to be very grateful."

The younger boy nodded. "I think she knows. She's been in Slytherin all year."

The girl was staggering a bit and had her hand on Anna's shoulder as she frowned down at the road. She'd yet to speak and shuddered a bit.

Anna continued to speak. "What do your parents do?"

"They own a shop on Knockturn Alley." She glanced over at the redhead.

Harry moved up beside the redhead dragging Cedric by the arm. "Hey!" The older boy seemed a little alarmed at the sudden increase of his pace.

"Anna. Something's wrong." The boy who lived was ignoring the older boy's alarm and looking about at the shadows along the edge of the road.

The redhead nodded. "Cedric. I'm sorry. Make sure she makes it home. My brother and I need to leave. Don't ask, just go." She shoved the pair together and started backing up.

"Hey! What's wrong?" The boy looked confused, but Harry ushered him on his way. He looked at him in a most serious manner and shoved the pair away.

"Go. Now. We don't have time to explain." He had his wand in his hand and jogged back to his sister's position. Both of them were jogging away and looking at the sides of the road.

The boy and girl looked on in dumbstruck confusion. That is, until the pair's wands ignited and lit up the roadside.

The tree line was crawling with twenty or more elves. They had black skin, and clung to the darkness of the shadows. They had red eyes with slits for irises and were armed with short blades and bows.

"What on earth?" Marci gasped as her eyes went wide.

"Drow!" Cedric's eyes went wide as he started pushing her forward. "No! Anna! Ru..." Both children started walking back at a slow pace as they watched with wide eyes.

OooOOooOO

"What have we here?" Harry narrowed his eyes as he looked at the creatures that surrounded them as soon as their cover was lost.

"Not sure what they are, they seem to be assassins." The redhead cocked her head and looked on. She raised her hand as three of them cocked back their bows and a group of six was tossed into the sides of the trees. Two of the bows broke and the whole group jumped back.

Harry waved his hand and five separate shots from the creatures' bows curved around them. "I don't suppose we can talk you out of this?"

One of the things snarled, and they all drew their blades and started to close in the ring.

The first two to try and jump in were hacked in two by the redhead. The rest rushed all at once stabbing and slashing at the pair.

Both children reacted with lethal force. Harry took one across the torso and then removed the head from another. His sister had gone up above the mass and tossed her weapon down, it cut through two before returning to her hand in time to cleave another in half as she landed.

A moment later, there was only one left. He was on his back and crawling across the dirt on his rear as he licked his lips and swallowed as he glanced back and fourth between the both of them.

Anna put up her hand as he tried to turn and run. "No you don't." He lifted off the ground and moved towards her grip.

"No! Don't touch it!" Cedric jogged forward and called out to her. Both of them were still watching from down the road.

She looked over and the drow stopped moving towards her, hanging in the air. "You were supposed to leave."

He frowned a bit and glared at her. "If I had you'd be poisoned."

"What are these things?" Harry looked at the creature as it struggled to move in the air. It was growing panicked and screeching a bit.

"Drow. Cave elves. Not so nice as the forest or house variety." The Diggory boy was keeping his distance and looked a bit worried.

Anna nodded. "We'd noticed. Does it speak?" She was looking at the creature with her head cocked and spoke to it.

"What does it want?" The creature was frightened and hissed at her as he spoke.

"Who are you working for? You didn't ambush us of your own volition." The girl snorted and shook her head. "Somebody sent you."

"Never! It dies first!" The thing started shrieking and pulling at the air in a more desperate way.

The redhead only grinned. "Perhaps I can persuade you then?" The creature gasped as it's screaming stopped. It was pulling at it's throat and looking at her in terror. "Who? Tell me and I will release you."

"Anna!" Harry was glaring at her. "Stop!"

"We need to know. I'd rather not jump at shadows and assume everyone who wants to kill us is named Voldemort. There are other options." She frowned at him as the creature continued to choke. It's legs were hanging in a limp manner and it was reaching for the sky. She focused her attention on it again. "Who? Tell me you little..." The thing fell to the ground and gasped for breath as she raised up her hands. Electric bolts shot from her fingers leaving the thing writing on the ground in agony.

Harry Potter hooked his fist across his sister's jaw, dropping her like a stone into the dirt. "I said stop." He looked down at her with his eyebrows arched.

The girl glared at the black elf as it scurried off into the shadows and vanished. "Fine. Have it your way. Let him report back to his master, and we'll see what comes of it."

The boy cocked his head to the side and nodded. "That we will. Come on." He took her hand and helped her to her feet. "Don't go thinking I'll be any easier on you just because you're my sister."

The girl nodded and rubbed her jaw. "You've still a great deal to learn. It was foolish to release him. He should have been captured. I'm sure the Ministry wouldn't mind asking him a few questions about this mess. I wouldn't have broken him. They probably have other ways to find out what they want."

The boy turned and glared at her as he put his finger into her chest. "Then you should let them do their job."

"It would have been nice to know ourselves wouldn't it? The Ministry wouldn't tell us if they did find out. Don't be so trusting." The girl frowned at him and looked away in a rather passive manner.

The pair turned about, Cedric and Marci were gawking at them both.

The boy spoke up first. "Remind me never to make you angry. I never imagined you were taking it so easy on Cho. I'd heard a few stories, but I didn't really think..."

The blond girl was clutching at his chest and not speaking. She didn't take her eyes off the redhead. Anna was looking at her and smiling in a cheerful manner as she wagged her finger at her. "Better be sure you're picking the right side."

Harry frowned at her. "Come on. We've got to tell Mum and Dad about this. Quit being a brat."

The girl's head fell and her shoulders drooped. She looked over at her brother and frowned. "Do we have too?"

"Someone is going to notice this mess Anna." The boy sighed. "Besides, there are two witnesses."

The girl frowned and looked over at them. "Yeah. I guess. Well, I'll be seeing you two." Anna waved as she was pulled by her elbow back towards their home.

Cedric and Marci both looked on with wide eyes and gave rather small waves in return. The boy looked down at her and sighed. "Come on then. It's just ahead. My mother is going to kill me. She'll never believe this."

OooOOooOO

James was looking down at a horrifying scene. Nineteen small black forms in pieces on the ground in the middle of the road. Lily was at his side with her hand covering her mouth. He was holding his wand over it and looking at it with wide eyes and a slacked jaw. There were arrows stuck about, and a few of the short blades had been melted clean through.

"Merlin." His wife spoke up. "What happened? How did you..." She trailed off and looked down at her daughter. Harry and Anna were looking at the bodies behind them with rather calm expressions. Dumbledore had shown them how their children had done it a few days after they'd arrived in their new lives.

The man clutched his wife a little tighter and turned to face his children. "I am glad you are safe. I must ask you though. Where did you learn this?"

The girl spoke up. "I remember my past life. I've been training us since we got to the Durleys."

The woman looked confused. "Past life?"

"Anna remembers who she was before she was born." Harry smiled at her. "Ever since that night."

The girl shrugged. "When he cast the killing curse, Mom sort of shorted it out somehow. It sort of woke me up." She kicked at the dirt and put her hands behind her back.

"Who are you then?" The man tensed up and looked at his wife.

"Anna Violet Potter. Look, I'm not possessed. The two of you had past lives too you know. You just can't remember." The girl was frowning and glaring at the two of them.

They relaxed a little and looked like they felt a little bad. "We need to know." James nodded and walked over, going to his knee in front of her. "How do you do these things? What happened here?"

"I told you. Someone is trying to kill us. Voldemort doesn't have a body, but he isn't dead. Dark magic keeps him here. One of his followers probably arranged this. I'm curious how they found us." Harry looked at his sister and shrugged.

"My words are Jedi and Sith. I'm not certain if it's really the same thing or not, but the word that best describes it I've seen here is Warlock." Anna looked back and fourth between her parents. "I tried looking it up at Hogwarts, and it was the closest thing I could find. It seemed crude, like a very simple version of it. Where I learned it, it had been refined for tens of thousands of years." Anna became nervous and wasn't sure if she'd blurted out 'Oh! I saw it in a movie once, and it just sort of worked' for a moment.

They were both looking back at the bodies. James glanced at her and nodded. "We'll need to contact the Ministry. We can't just leave them lying about here."

Lily looked nervous and was staring at her children with wide eyes. "Warlocks?" They were thought to be a thing of legend and fantasy. A simplistic wish of wizards in a simpler time, before the greater laws of magic had been unlocked. "No. That can't be it...can it?" She was looking at them both, moving her head back and fourth between them. "Merlin! It's true...isn't it?" She found herself wondering how she'd not seen it before and was leaning against her husband for support with her hand over her mouth.

"Should we move them off the road?" Harry looked up at his father.

"No. They'll want to have a look at the scene." The man sighed and squatted down. "Not much blood. That's good. Shouldn't hurt the plants around here much. It needs to be dealt with before it rains. Come on, we'll go back and contact the Ministry." He stood up and put his wand away, gently moving them along.

"James. What happened? What's going on?" The woman seemed confused and a bit hysterical.

"Nothing. The children aren't hurt. How are we going to explain this?" The man seemed at a bit of a loss.

OooOOooOO

Marci glared up at her father, her rear was still a bit tender. Both of her parents were looking on with horrified eyes. "I told you! See! The Potter girl has a wand made of light that she can turn into a sword! She can use magic without it. I saw her electrocute one of these things with her hands! She didn't even speak! They killed them easily, it was impossible...the way they moved..." The girl was looking at the bodies with wide eyes and gasping. "She doesn't hate me! I'm not crossing her! I don't care what the master thinks!"

The man looked at his wife and frowned. He had black hair tied back into a long ponytail and a hawk like nose. His lip curled up in a hateful sneer as he looked over the dead drow. "Yes. Make friends with her. It might be useful. Just don't bring her or her brother to my doorstep. They will find no help, or welcome here."

Her mother flattened out the shoulders of his suit. "Yes. Who knows what you might overhear that our Lord might find useful. Just don't get too close. He'll be about to take care of her soon enough." She was thin woman with a long drawn out frown on her face. She puffed on a cigarette under a permed mane of orange red hair, and she was wearing a long sleek blue dress with fur trim.

The girl looked confused and conflicted for a moment. "I've heard she can read minds, see the future, and I know I've seen her levitate things without a wand before. She's not shy about flaunting it. I'm not so sure I can..."

"She can't read your mind any more than I can dear. You know that." The man snorted and brushed the subject off.

"If I'm right, she knows you're sending me to spy on her already then." The girl glared at him and backed away. "I'm not so certain Voldemort will be the last wizard standing."

The woman slapped her hard. "Watch your mouth. Just for that, you'll go anyway. I was going to talk your father into letting you off the hook until you said that. Now you'll go and deal with it." The woman shoved a letter into her chest. "You've been invited to her birthday after all. The whole neighborhood has, we won't be attending. We're far too busy. You on the other hand, are going. Even if she does know we sent you."

The girl looked up at them in horror and swallowed. She looked down at the card her name was written across a white card with a short typed message inviting her to the Potter twins birthday party at the end of the month. "Marci Von Camp." was written out in neat swirls and dips.

The man dusted off his jacket and turned away. "Come along, we won't be answering the door this evening it seems. Lights out."

OooOOooOO

Early in the morning, before the sun had risen. The last of the Aurors had left the neighborhood. The family had endured a lot of questioning, but the men were familiar with the children because of the Vampire invasion of Hogwarts. It had been relatively painless, and they seemed more interested in finding out where the drow had come from. It was very unusual for them to work for any human interest. Anna and Harry were both in bed long before the last one left.

Lily and James were sitting on the couch looking worn out.

"What do we do?" The woman was a bit dazed and her hair was sticking about a bit.

James wasn't in much better condition and took his glasses off to clean them on his shirt. "We'll be all right. I'm worried, but I don't think our children are..."

"That's the point!" The woman looked up at him with fearful eyes. "What do we do? Harry already has a mother. What do I do about this? It's like our children have grown up."

"Harry isn't shy about letting us know he thinks he needs us." The man glanced down at her and put his glasses on. "In case you haven't noticed. So does she, probably more than he does. Maybe they are right, maybe they don't need us to protect them. It's pretty clear they need something from us."

The woman looked ashamed and flushed. "What though? I-I don't...I just don't know what to do!"

He sighed and shook her arm. "Harry is almost too easy. She's the one I worry about."

"You as well? It's almost like talking to adults when we talk to them. Harry is more mature. Nothing seems to bother him, but Anna is, well, she's a genius. I've a feeling it's because of what happened on that night. I'm worried. I don't think this is something St. Mungos can help us with James."

"We'll get by. I'll admit, this isn't what I had in mind when we decided to have children. We can't lock them up in the yard for the next four years every summer. We can't let them wander too far off either. Anna mentioned one of them got away, and that it could speak."

"James. We have to be careful." The woman nodded. "What can we do? I don't want to get stuck here either!"

He smirked at her. "Well, we'll be careful then. It's all we can do. I trust Dumbledore, Sirius, and Remus with my life. I thought I could trust Peter as well. I don't understand it." He shook his head and rubbed at his face. "Nevermind. I don't want to start thinking about that now." They both sat for a time, huddled together looking at the reflection of the room in the mirror.

"James, let's just go to bed. I don't want to wake up down here." The woman yawned and stretched her arms.

OooOOooOO

Anna looked about. She couldn't move, her vision was hazy. Above her was darkness, with a light being shined on her from the sides. She could see things moving over her, twisted shapes of gray and black to long and deformed to be arms. The haze lifted from her eyes a little. She could see darkness, with a smoke like haze above her.

"Where..."

There were robotic arms hovering over her, poking and prodding with long needle like. Her skin felt cool, and was covered in a light stinging sensation. The arms started to move in metalic limbs, her arms and legs began to scream in agony as sparks shot away from where the arms were working. She wanted to scream, but couldn't, the pain was too intense and she was strapped down. After a few moments the pain subsided. The maddening darkness loomed over her as she saw pieces being put into place over her body, she couldn't tell what they were. Each new part created an explosion of agony. Something moved over her face and everything went dark. A seal hissed into her ears, blasting her eardrums in a painful manner.

All at once she was able to breath, the world went green. She simply stayed, strapped to the table, being tilted upwards by an unseen force. She could turn her head, but was more interested in gasping for breath. Her breathing steadied and she glared forward with anger in her eyes.

A chilling voice amplified by speakers filled her ears. "Lord Vader, can you hear me?"

"Yes Master."

Anna Potter jumped up in her bed screaming. She was covered in sweat and gasping as her eyes focused on the wall opposite her bed. "What? No. I'm not...it's not real..." She was trying to steady herself when she felt arms around her. After a moment of confused sputtering she leaned in to her mother's chest. Her voice came through the ringing in her ears.

"It's all right! It was just a nightmare. Shhhhh." The woman was stroking her head and looked worried.

"Yes. I know." The girl sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "I'm fine. Just had a bit of a jolt." She sniffled and tried to laugh a bit.

"What happened?" The woman was speaking in a quiet tone.

"I didn't mean to wake you." The girl seemed flustered and hung her head. "I'm fine."

"Anna?" Harry was standing in the doorway. He was looking right at her.

The girl looked at him with wide eyes. "You...you saw?" She could tell right away that he had.

"It's all right Harry. She just had a nightmare." Lily gave him what was supposed to be a cheerful smile. She was still strung out. "You didn't wake us, we were just on the way."

"Yeah. Just a dream." The boy shuffled away and nodded.

It got an odd look from his mother, but she pushed her daughter back onto the mattress. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Thanks." The girl muttered it and pushed herself under the covers a bit. Lily kissed her forehead and stood up. The woman glanced over at the doorway. James was coming out of their room putting a bathrobe on.

"Is she?" The man looked at the room.

"She's fine. Just a nightmare. Those things must have give her a bit of a scare." The woman frowned and shook her head.

The man walked by and poked his head into her door. She was curled up on the mattress and seemed passed out. "Oh. Good. It's been a long night for all of us I guess."

Anna Potter was curled up in her bed listening to all of this. She was wide awake and facing away from the door in silence. Her eyes were wide and looked far off. For the first time in her life, she really wondered what was real, and what wasn't. She frowned as she stayed unmoving in bed, unsure of what to believe, or who she really was.

Harry was standing in her doorway as she turned over. She could see the moonlight shining in his glasses as he frowned at the scene. He walked over to her side and looked down at her.

She gave a small sigh as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "What are you so afraid of?"

"Nothing. I've..." The girl didn't look at him and scooted over a bit to make a bit of room for him. "I'm as Sith Harry. Not even you can live without fear. It's just a matter of learning to control it."

He nodded and looked at the carpet in the darkness. "Be careful. I worry."

The girl nodded. "Yeah. Me too. That's what started this isn't it?" She looked a bit sullen and sighed as she looked at him. "I'm not cross with you Harry. I do wish you'd have thought to keep him prisoner though. We might know who sent him if we had, at least someone might know."

He looked at her and nodded. "I suppose. I don't want to be the one who has to stop you."

"Don't worry. I've no intention of becoming..." She didn't finish and ran her fingers through her hair. "Get some sleep all right? Don't worry about him. He's dead. I'm on your side, Harry. I want that future too."

The boy turned away and left her alone. She hugged her knees for a moment before flopping back onto her pillow, trying to clear her mind.

OooOOooOO

Marci Von Camp stared with wide eyes at the scene before her. Ten top music groups, famous guitarist, pop singers, and Hugh Arms the star of the Death Reaver movies was talking to Harry while flexing his arm and looking excited and pleased. Melvin was standing next to the boy and was being praised as well. Nearby, Christina Milan was talking to the lead singer from the Mad Magicians. The Weird Sisters were over by the punch bowl talking to a balding man in a suit and sunglasses. She'd had to push through the other neighborhood kids, almost tripping over Lee Jordan's foot as she did so. They were standing in a state of shocked awe in the back door of the Potter home. There were two very long tables, a very large pile of presents, and a huge cake set up in the yard.

Fred and George Weasley rushed up and grabbed Lee Jordan's hand as they rushed up with huge grins and eyes wide with excitement. They passed the sentence along as the failed to pull him at first, but got him going with another sound tug. "Lee! You'll never... believe who we've just been talking too!"

He cocked his head a bit and got a goofy looking smile on his face. "Oh. I think I might."

Anna walked up to the group and took the two girls by the hand. "Come on then. It seems my manager got a few request for invitations. The band has a lot of fans it seems."

"Whoa!" The blond girl was dumbstruck and the Asian girl was holding her hand very tight.

Harry had already gone over to the boys just after his sister walked off with the girls. Ron was at his side with a cup in his hand. He was looking about as if he was at a family barbecue and smiling. He tipped his hat down as he greeted Harry's new friends. They'd spent a bit of time running about the street. Both of the twins were forbidden from going beyond. Hermione rushed up and tugged on the boy's arm with an excited grin on her face.

Anna pulled the two girls over to Pansy and Margaret. "This is Noriko and Marci. They live down the street from me." Ginny Weasley was sitting with them and grinning. She wasn't speaking much and seemed pleased they were sitting with her.

The girls smiled and introduced themselves, taking a rather limp handshake from both of them as they did.

Marci frowned a bit and looked thoughtful. "Parkinson. Missy knows you. You used to hang about her didn't you?"

The girl nodded and worked her jaw a bit as if the name was unpleasant. "Not anymore I'm afraid."

Nori looked at the younger redhead. "Weasley? As in Ron Weasley?"

The girl beamed with pride and nodded. "Yeah. He's my brother, he's over with Harry."

"Wow." Both girls looked impressed, and Marci looked over in the direction the girl had pointed.

Anna noticed them both peering over at the boys. "That's him in the hat. I'll introduce you if you'd like. He's my brothers friend. They're never far apart at Hogwarts. My brother, Ron, and Hermione Granger. She'll likely be remembered longer than the Weasley boy in the long run. After all, she did answer the ultimate question. Quite an accomplishment for any wizard, never mind a Muggle born witch."

Marci looked at her with a surprised expression on her face. "Wh-what?"

"Wow. So she's really smart?" Noriko seemed pleased to hear it.

Pansy nodded. "She got the highest marks out of the first years. She won an Order of Merlin as well."

Anna shrugged and looked about the table as it became quiet. "Anyway. We're having a big jam later. Would you like some punch?" A cup floated over to each of the neighborhood girl's and they looked at it with a dumb expression before plucking it out of the air in front of them.

Nori was glancing over at Marci, who just looked confused. She'd slumped down a bit and settled. She didn't look very comfortable. The Asian girl grinned over at the redhead. "So, um, you're turning twelve then?"

Anna shook her head. "No. I'll be thirteen. We spent a year or so in the future learning how to play. It's kind of an odd story, and it's pretty long. All of us in the band are a year or so older than our birth date implies."

"It's a bit more. It was sixteen months." Pansy smiled and nodded. "It did get a bit tedious at times, but it was fun."

"Yes, a very...interesting experience. Most excellent." Margaret agreed as the pair put their fist together.

"Wow. I thought your parents was a cool trick." The youngest girl was leaning on her elbows over the table and looking at the redhead.

"Well, that one is my brother's trick." The girl glanced at her. "The cheezy dork." She had a smirk on his face as she glanced towards where he was sitting. Harry and Ron were telling stories to the neighborhood boys. Before she glanced away, after Harry and Ron had finished, they pointed at Cedric and then back at her. She lingered for a moment longer as the oldest boy in the group looked a bit flushed and started talking. It didn't take long for her to realize he was talking about that mess that Margaret and Melvin had started. She smirked and looked back at the group.

Pansy and Margaret were grinning and looking at her in a quiet manner.

"Stop it. The other kids from Hogwarts are telling the neighborhood boys a few stories about last year. It was pretty eventful." The redhead's smile fell a bit, and she gave a small sigh as both grins widened a little.

"Yeah. Keep telling yourself that." Margaret sipped at her punch again and looked very relaxed as she glanced in the direction of the end of the table.

Pansy giggled a bit. "Yeah. Right. I totally believe you."

Ginny looked over and turned red. "He's cute."

"So um. You like Cedric then?" Nori looked confused and seemed to catch on.

"No. They just like teasing me about it because we're friends. I don't know him all that well." The redhead grumbled and rolled her eyes. "We used to talk sometimes between classes. I do that with a few other people too."

The girl with curly hair looked over with wide eyes. Her lip was twitching as she stared at the Asian girl. "Him? Who on earth would...?" She seemed confused even more by the strange and very powerful girl.

Ginny spoke up. "He is good looking. Most of the guys here are."

Pansy was looking at her nails and smiling. "He lives right down the road. Harry mentioned you had to convince your parents to move in here."

The redhead got a defiant look on her face as she poked the tabletop with her finger. "I didn't know he lived around here until we bumped into each other about a week ago on the road. I convinced her not to move into another house in London. It wasn't big enough to fit everything we needed into it."

Christina walked up and saved her from further embarrassment and irritation. "Hello, Anna. Do you mind if I sit here?" The group shifted a bit as the blond girl smiled at them and sat down. "Wow. This party is really something." There were streamers, balls of light, and balloon animals that walked about decorating the yard in the air. The food had appeared and everyone started eating. It was hamburgers, sausages, hot dogs, buns, and trimmings. Large baskets of chips dotted the tables and everyone dug in.

Anna glanced over at her. "Hey, Christy. So, how are things?"

"Great. Brittney is stuck in number two ever since that night in the club. That song was awesome!" The girl seemed pleased. "I kind of feel bad for her. She's locked herself up in her mansion for almost a week. The paparazzi are having a field day, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Not even her. I've got another album coming out in a few months. I've heard rumors you've got another?" The girl gripped the redhead's arm and looked aghast.

"Yeah. It's all girl rock." The redhead shrugged. "We want to mix it up a bit. Harry got to sing on Black." Black was their hardest metal album to date. It featured songs from Black Sabbath, Metallica, Korn, Anthrax, Rammstein, Rob Zombie, Marlyn Manson and Alice in Chains. All under the name Tenacious D.

"We're so excited!" Pansy seemed pleased as she clapped her hands.

"It is fun." Margaret smiled at the two quiet girls. They seemed to be fine just being near the conversation and ate as they watched.

"Yeah. We're gonna record it live later. I'm not going to just sit and watch on my own birthday. Feel free on your own if you'd like. I'd do it for free if I had too." The redhead grinned at them. "There's no way even my dork of a brother would miss it. You'll help out won't you?"

Pansy and Margaret both pretended to be annoyed as they threw their arms up. "Fine!" They cried before laughing.

The lights went out, and a rather star studded private concert went on. Not everyone played, but everyone who had come as a band decided to join in. The Potter twins jammed with everyone who wanted to, staying up for most of it. When it closed out, the rest of Tenacious D went on. Anna and Harry thanked everyone, and the band played a few new songs. Carrie Underwood's 'Before he cheats', 'Take it off' by the Donnas, 'UandUR hand' which was being used as a promo for the album, 'I hate myself for loving you' by Joan Jett, and '24' by Jem, 'Wake me up inside' by Evenasance, Red Tape from Agent Provocateur, Girlfriend by Avril Levagne. Miley Cyrus's 'I can't wait to see you again', Diamonds are a girl's best friend, 'Paranoid' by Garbage, Diamonds are forever from the James Bond film, and 'Bubbly' by Cobie Callat.

Harry and the boys played a bit as well with the girls helping out, but nothing new aside from 'Fake it' by Seether, and AC/DC's 'Have a drink on me'. When it was over, the crowd cheered, presents were opened, and cake was eaten.

Anna looked down at her cake as it appeared before her on the table. "You will be baked, and then there will be cake." She looked up to find everyone looking at her with a rather odd expression. "Sorry. Private joke." She flushed a bit and started in on a bit of the frosting. Harry was next to her, and anyone under the age of seventeen was sitting around them.

The party lasted well into the evening, all the children mingled amongst the crowd. The musicians talked shop, the parents who attended kept to themselves. Mark and Brian's parents were talking with Lily and James. Mark's parents she'd met, there was a muscular thirty something Japanese man with a pompadour and very white teeth standing with a tall blond woman with large breasts and a cheerful and somewhat vacant disposition. She had very long hair, and a few small braids tied into it. Lee Jordan's father had decided to come. He had his hair cropped close to his head and sported a mustache and glasses and was chatting with Mr and Mrs Norris. There were a few older artist talking with them as well.

The neighborhood children all left with a large number of autographs, CD's, and pictures.

Marci was the last of the neighborhood children to leave. She stood with Anna in the doorway to the home for a moment looking flustered and confused. "Um. Thank you for inviting me."

"No problem." The redhead shrugged as she waved her off. The girl shuffled away and broke into a jog for a short bit before slowing to a walk up the road a bit. "Hmm. I wonder what her story is? I've a feeling she was forced to come. Interesting."

OooOOooOO

Harry grinned at Brian and Mark, it took Cedric a moment to realize the boy was there. "Hey. You guys can sit over here. There's a bit of a show later it seems." The Potter boy looked pleased.

"Yeah. Awesome." The tall blond boy looked at the redhead in the odd hat who was standing next to Harry. "I'm Brian, this is Mark, and Cedric. You probably know him."

The boy looked up and shook his head. "Not really. I saw him about Hogwarts though. Hello."

Cedric smiled and nodded. "Ron."

Mark sucked in a quick breath and his head whipped to look at the boy. "Ron? As in Ron Weasley?"

The redhead nodded and shrugged. "Yeah."

The blond boy's jaw dropped. "Whoa! Dude, I totally thought you'd be taller."

Ron wrinkled his forehead. "I've heard a lot of that. Am I short or something? I'm only twelve."

Harry shook his head. "You're fine Ron." He slapped the boy on his shoulder.

Hermione walked up looking over her shoulder. "Wow. Harry, I admit I was looking forward to this, but I wasn't expecting all this." She looked a bit dazed as her eyes wandered through the crowd. There were quite a few faces most Muggles would recognize. "Is that Christina Milan?"

Harry pushed his glasses up his nose and nodded. "Yeah. She's a friend of Anna's, we met her at a club after a show a couple of weeks ago."

She noticed the two new boys and seemed surprised. "Oh. Hello."

Harry looked over at them and grinned. "This is Brian and Mark. They live down the road." He jerked his thumb back at her. "This is Hermione. Oh, you might remember Cedric."

The frazzle haired girl nodded. "Oh yes. Anna's boyfriend? She's over there." She pointed over her shoulder and seemed to be forcing a smile.

The boy's face fell. "She's not my girlfriend. I don't know how that got started." He'd noticed she'd taken an interest in Marci, and had pulled Noriko away with her. He'd almost followed, but thought better of it when he noticed his friends were looking at him expectantly, as if he should. He smirked a bit as he glanced over his shoulder at where she was sitting for a moment. "So, Harry. How are things?"

The boy shrugged. "Not too bad. It's not been quiet though. I would have liked a bit more of that. Oh well."

Ron looked over at him. "Quiet? With you? Not since I've know you."

Hermione nodded. "That mess with the stone, all those vampires, the band, his sister." She glowered at him a little as she mentioned the redhead. She glanced over at her table for a moment, but it was obvious she didn't really want to speak to her at any point in the near future.

Cedric shook his head. "I missed most of it, I'm kind of glad I did. His sister is just as bad."

Brian spoke up. "Yeah. I remember reading about that Vampire thing. What was that thing you were holding on top of the train anyway? There was a picture on the cover of the Prophet a little bit ago." He looked pleased.

"Yeah." Mark looked confused. "It says it's your wand, but I've not seen a wand that long before."

"What about the Vampires? What was that like?" Brian was almost hopping in his seat.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione related a few stories of their last year at Hogwarts. They'd gotten the attention of most of the people around them.

When they finished Cedric spoke up. "Wow. I'm still glad I missed most of it." He shuddered a little and rubbed his arms. He looked over and caught Anna's gaze for a moment. He felt an elbow in his side as Brian grinned at him. The boy rolled his eyes and shook his head. "There was that mess with the Death Trap. Something to do with Salazar's heir. I got dragged into some sort of hidden dungeon in Hogwarts with her and a few other people."

Harry blinked and sat up. "I'd not heard about that one."

Cedric looked surprised and shrugged. "It was more excitement than I would have liked." He glanced at Brian and Mark. "Stop that. I'd never date her. I don't want to die."

They got irate looks on their faces and seemed to pout at his response.

Harry and Ron burst into laughter. Hermione crossed her arms and gave them an annoyed glance. "It's good advice."

Cedric grinned as he started telling the story.

A short time later Anna walked up with Margaret and Pansy. The black haired girl had her brother by the ear and was dragging him along.

Harry smiled at the scene. "Hey Melvin. Having fun?"

The boy frowned as he twisted his head free. "Well, I was."

Anna grabbed his shoulders. "Come on. We're going to jam for a while. Then we'll do the new one, and you can play about a bit after." She smiled down at the boys. "We'll hang all hang out together after the show."

The boy frowned. "You mean we have to play on our birthday?"

The redheaded girl rolled her eyes.

"He shouldn't have too, you can't make him." Hermione grabbed his arm and frowned up at her.

Anna snorted. "Don't be so serious. He's joking, we'd be doing this if it was free."

The boy glanced at Hermione and nodded. "She's right. Sorry." He looked a bit flushed and scratched his head.

Ron chuckled and shook his head with his arms crossed over his chest.

Cedric looked as pleased at the news as the other neighborhood kids did.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter frowned as she looked in the mirror on the wall of the second floor between her and her brother's rooms. She had a wide grin on her face. She was wearing a denim ball cap, denim vest, blue jeans, and a gray T-shirt. She was grinning like an idiot in front of the mirror as she brushed her teeth with her finger and gave a small strange laugh as she gave herself a thumbs up. "Yes. You, Anna Potter, are one lovely young lady."

Harry was looking at her with his arms at his sides and his jaw hung a little. "Um. What are you doing?"

"Oh! Hey! The Dursleys are having a party. I'm gonna head on over and say hi!" The girl grinned at him and waved.

"How?" The boy looked confused. "You can't use magic, and Privett Drive is..."

"Well. The way I figure it, I can torment Vern all I want. You see, in order to do anything about it, they would have to take us to court. That would bring up questions about the time we were living there. We're a beloved world famous band, with huge piles of money, and an army of lawyers. I'm pretty sure old Vern knows that, and what might happen should our legions of fans discover it. Mom and Dad cursed them, and well, I aim to deliver." She strolled down the stairs and he followed after her. She walked up to the front door and the boy sat against the couch. "Anna. We aren't supposed to leave the street. Remember?"

"Sorry. I've been summoned!" The girl beamed as she opened the door. Privett Drive was just outside the doorway. The boy rolled his eyes and put his face into his hand.

"Great." He didn't move as the door closed and shrugged. "Well. I don't suppose I can do much about it now."

OooOOooOO

Anna gave Vernon Dursley a wide grin as she waved at him. "Hey Vern! It's me! Anna!"

The Dursleys were standing about their back yard, all of them were wearing party hats, and Vernon was holding a large plate of uncooked sausages, and a few steaks. The man had frozen in place, holding tongs next to the barbecue.

"Wow! A barbecue! Great idea! Why, I tell ya Vern, it is the perfect idea. Know what I mean?" The girl walked up and put her arm around his waist. The man couldn't move, he couldn't speak, and seemed stunned. "Yes. Such a beautiful day, to commune with nature, get to know mother nature's warm embrace as you enjoy the bounty of her sweet sweet, nectar!" The girl dipped her fingers into a bowl of dip and put it into her mouth. "Mmmm...mmmm! Now that is good dip." She picked up the bowl and used three of her fingers from the same hand to shovel it into her mouth.

"You! You'd better leave, or we'll..." Petunia jumped up and hissed at her.

The redhead shook her head. "Don't be silly. Vern wouldn't do that. We've known each other for years, there's no way he'd hurt me. We're practically family, remember?" She waved it off and rolled her eyes as if the very idea was silly. "I mean, it's not like I've got an army of ravenous fans that would just go crazy if certain things came out or anything. Don't be silly. I tell ya, me and Vern, we got somethin special. Know what I mean?"

Vernon's face twisted into a nasty grin. "You've got no proof!" He shook his tongs at her and bent down to glare at her.

"Yeah. That's all the proof I'd need really!" She slapped him on his back as his face fell. "Hey." She looked at the inside of the grill and frowned. "You'll never get it cooked with this Vern! Here, I'll show you how to get it cooked in no time!" She slapped his arm and started shoving anything that would burn into the fire. She shoved the man back and poured the entire bottle of lighter fluid into it, and added a canister of petrol to it as well. She'd managed to shove the tablecloth and a few hunks of wood into it as well. She put the metal grate back onto the top with the tongs from Vernon's hand, and poured the plate of meat from his hands on top.

She looked back and smiled. "You might want to step back, Vern. This is gonna be great! I tell ya, you'll be eating in no time!" She lit a match with the table and tossed it into the pile.

Privett Drive became bathed in an orange glow as the sky overhead grew dark for a moment. A mushroom cloud the size of a three story building rose into the air in the wake of the explosion.

Anna had her hand over her eyes. "I'll tell ya Vern, there's just something about a barbecue that makes a girl feel good about her country." She walked over and took the charred blackened hunks of coal the meat had become and put them back on the blood soaked plate. "There ya go Vern. Good eatin! I tell ya, you've got to make sure the meat is cooked all the way. See how there's no red here? It is one, perfectly done, tender and juicy piece of grade A beef. Or is that a sausage? I'm not really sure. Anyway, all that matters is that you're here with your family, enjoying this wonderful time of bonding. Know what I mean?"

A cloud of black dust came off of Vernon's shirt. Everyone in the yard looked like their skin had been cooked a little. There was black residue on their hair that was sticking up and about in a mess.

"Well, I won't keep you. I was just droppin in for a bit to say hi. Ya know, how ya been." The girl turned and waved, not seeming to notice herself bumping into a rake. It fell over and sent a wheelbarrow rushing towards the table. It hit a stone in the yard and flipped, sending a bag of fertilizer slamming down on top of the end of the table they had set up and sending a spray of filth over the rest of the food on the table. Petunia tried to put her hands up before her son's birthday cake landed square on her head after being tossed skyward from the impact.

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot!" She handed the boy a small stack of CD's and patted his head. "Happy Birthday Dudders! I'll be seein ya!"

Vernon looked on in horror at the scene, tears welling up in his eyes as he tossed the plate onto the ground. His wife was a mess and in tears, and his son was, rolling with laughter.

Dudley was red faced and holding his belly as he pointed at the both of them. He snorted as he laughed so hard tears were falling from his eyes.

The man growled and pointed at the home. "Shut up and go to your room."

OooOOooOO

Anna had a cheerful expression on her face as she walked back through the door to the house. "Wow!"

Her parents were looking at her with Harry standing between them. "See."

Both adults frowned and glanced at each other. "Oh dear." Her mother looked flushed.

"Great. I suppose we should remove the curse." James hung his head and sighed.

Lily looked ashamed. "I'm sorry, Anna. I wasn't expecting you to become the instrument. We'll take care of it right away."

The girl's eyes went wide and she backed into the door. "Don't you dare!" She grinned and put her hands on her hips. "That was even cooler than our party! It was awesome!"

Harry shook his head. "Anna. Come on now. Just leave them alone."

She frowned at him. "No way. It's too much fun! I can't wait until their next party! That was the best birthday party I've ever been too!"

The parents both looked surprised. Lily glanced at her husband's grin and sighed. "Fine. I'm keeping an eye on it though."

The boy looked surprised and turned a bit pink. "Great."

The girl stuck her tongue out at him and rushed away with her fist up in triumph.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next time: Book 2 starts.


	25. Chapter 25

A Matter of Force

Part 25

The end of summer.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter had a frown on her face. It was evening, and she was supposed to be at the Hog's Head with the rest of her family. The sun had vanished below the horizon just moments before, and she'd aparated onto Knockturn Alley. The wrong end of the alley, farthest from the entrance. She growled in frustration and looked around.

It was supposed to be one last show for the band before school started again, and an excuse for the adults to hang about together. It was still early in the evening, but the sky had grown dark.

Several people were looking at her, at first with surprise, then a sort of gleeful cruelty. A few of the shop owners were outside, locking up for the evening and pulling signs and outside displays into the safety of their shops.

An old ugly crone leered at her as she shuffled up to get into her face. "What's the matter little girl? Are you lost?"

Anna arched her eyebrow and looked over at her. "No. I know where I am."

She'd not stopped moving, and pushed aside the old woman as she tried to slow her by moving in front of her. She was thinking the girl was frightened, but found herself flat on her rear, looking up the girl's skirt as she passed over her head. "Eh?"

Anna turned as the alley's populace did as a cold adult voice called out over the alley in a subdued, but well heard tone. "Leave."

Doors closed and locked all around the girl. A few people who didn't own businesses had taken shelter with the shopkeepers. Before ten seconds had passed, the street was clear. The redhead smirked as she found herself looking at about ten black hooded men. They were huddled together in a group and glaring at her behind masks with a familiar symbol embroidered on them. "Well. I find myself wondering if ending up here was an accident. It doesn't seem likely."

"Get her." The one in the middle of the pack pointed at the redhead. Six wizards, and three witches rushed forward, all brandishing wands.

The girl set her feet and balled up her fists. "Well. I wonder what's gotten you so brash? This is an awful lot of trouble to go to over one little girl." She glared at the group as they walked towards her, she wasn't moving and seemed unafraid.

"Crucio!" One of the wizards jumped and flicked his wrist as her hand started to move to her side. She managed to grab her wand, but the spell was too fast at near point blank range. She screamed and fell to the ground, landing on her side. Her hand gripped the metal in her fist as she writhed and cramped up on the ground. Pain was coursing through her body. It intensified as another witch cast the spell again. A short fat wizard was cackling through his mask as he pointed his wand at her and did it again.

The girl was gasping and writhing on the ground. She went still and breathed in heavy shallow breaths with her face down towards the ground.

"No one is going to save you!" One of the witches jumped forward and kicked her over onto her back with a shot to the ribs. She pointed her wand down at her and glared with her face covered by her mask. "Avada..." Her voice trailed off as her face became contorted as she clawed at her own throat.

The girl had a calm expression on her face, and a dim red light had formed in the back of her irises. A flash of red and a low hum sounded. Before any of the group surrounding her could react, she was on her feet and crouched with her weapon cocked back as if finishing a strike. The witch who was standing over him didn't move and seemed frozen.

The teenage girl pushed her palm up to her attacker's face and the woman's head flew off of a clean cut back into the wall. The lifeless form fell to the ground at the redhead's side and she stood upright glaring at them all with a demonic and angry looking glare. She started speaking, keeping her eyes on the leader of the pack. He was standing with his arms crossed and the girl started speaking to him. "The time has come and so have I. I'll laugh last cause you came to die. The damage done, the pain subsides, and I can see the fear clear when I look in your eye."

The group started casting spells. Two stunning curses bounced off her blade as she jumped into the one closest to her. She planted her knee into his face and twisted in mid air as an arcing blade of air passed in front of her. "I never kneel and I'll never rest. You can tear the heart from my chest. I'll make you see what I do best, I'll succeed as you breathe your very last breath." The girl reached towards the witch who had cast the stunning spell while still in the air. The woman screamed as she was lifted off her feet and found her face in the girl's palm. Anna twisted as she hit the ground and planted her face into the ground. The woman went limp and didn't move again. The girl had a crazed looking grin on her face as she back flipped and performed a pair of splits on her hands as one of the wizards tried to cast another stunning spell at point blank range. She clamped down on his arm with her legs and pulled him in the air over herself. He was tossed headfirst into one of the witch's face and both crumpled to the ground.

"Now I know how the angel fell. I know the tale and I know it too well. I'll make you wish you had a soul to sell. When I strike you down and send you straight to hell!" Her wand reflected another stunning spell, taking a short round Death Eater in his chest and sending him on his back. She twisted into a kick that bent the remaining witch over her leg. Anna flipped again, sending her onto her back as she grabbed one of the wizard's arms, flipped over his shoulder, and threw him face first against the wall of one of the shops as she landed behind him. He fell onto an empty rack dripping blood from what was left of his face.

Three wizards were standing with their leader watching in shocked horror. They had her surrounded and two rushed her sides as another cast another cutting spell at her. The girl spun, causing the pair trying to grab her to butt heads. Her blade hit the side of the arc of air, and a few sparks flew as it seemed to grind off her weapon and into the ground at her side. A long line was carved into the street just beside her, just missing the two wizards piled together behind her. With a simple toss the man who cast the cutting spell lost his head, and her wand returned to her palm as she stabbed behind her taking another through the chest. "My army comes from deep within. Beneath my soul, beneath my skin. As you're ending, I'm about to begin. My strength, his bane, and I will never give in." She jumped into the air before the remaining wizard could fire another burst of magic at her. Her hand reached out just before the apex of her jump and he flew into her grip as the witch had. She spun him around in the air and tossed him into a heavy wooden sign over one of the doors. He bounced once on his head on the pavement before coming down face down about ten feet beyond it. A pool of blood began to form under him.

Two of the remaining wizards managed to stand, but the girl hooked them across their faces with a single hooking kick. They flew back as if they'd been hit by someone much larger and stronger than a young teen.

Anna raised her voice to just below a shout as she faced the end of the alley again. "I'll tell you now, I'm the one to survive! You never break my faith or my stride! I'll have you choke on your own demise! I make the angels scream, and the devil cry!" The girl was glaring right at the lead Death Eater as she started walking towards him unobstructed, punching her fist into her palm as she did so.

The girl put her hand over her head, all of her attackers were dead or disabled. A few wands littered the ground about the alley, but those who still had them couldn't pull themselves together enough to use them if they were awake at all. A ball of gray began to form over her palm as she spoke the next part. It looked like she was reciting a spell as the power grew in her hands as she spoke. She was really just using her fireball trick to make a ball of highly compressed air with no real heat in it. "My honored brethren, we come together, to unite as one, against those that are damned. We show no mercy, for we have none. Our enemy shall fall, as we apprise to claim our fate Now and forever. We'll be together in love and in hate." She jumped ten feet into the air over the middle of the Death Eater group.

The lead wizard was standing with his back to a wall. His fellow living death eaters were staggering and confused, holding wounds and trying to figure out where the girl had gone. The redhead came down right in front of him and crouched. A shock wave of heavy air pressure blew dust, and his friends off their feet, and slammed his back into the wall hard. He managed to keep his feet and found the girl's wand pointed square at his throat. It was far too strong for the force of her landing, and all of the adults were stunned and groaning in pain from their injuries on the ground.

The redhead was quite pleased with herself for the use of the opening part of 'Shall Never Surrender' from Devil May Cry 4. She looked at him with a cocky wide eyed and dangerous looking gaze. "It is a mistake to fear him more than me." She hopped up on top of an empty basket, keeping the blade close to his neck and forcing him to turn and fall onto his back. "Best make sure your friends remember!" She raised her weapon over her head with a wild eyed smile that was beyond unpleasant.

A blade of light caught her weapon as it came down at the leader's neck. Anna growled as she turned her eyes.

The blade was red, and Draco Malfoy was giving her a snarling glare. He had come from the roof of one of the shops, and wasn't wearing a costume like his friends. "Potter." The man on the ground kicked at the basket the girl was standing on. She hopped away, keeping her wand together with Draco's. They circled, ignoring the adults.

The blond boy kept his eyes on her as he spoke to the group. "Leave. You've failed miserably."

The only remaining witch spoke up. "Who? You?!" She seemed to recognize the boy and was about the only one with enough wit to speak. Only four had survived. He had the same sort of weapon as the girl and she looked back and fourth between them. "Help us then. You'll be rewarded, your family will be remembered by our Lord!"

Draco snorted and kept his eyes on the redhead. "She mangled you. I suggest you remember this. I'm not strong enough to take her. I can only hope to distract her long enough. Go. Now."

"You'd best listen. There's a group headed this way. It's best if you're not seen." The redhead didn't seem worried and was smiling at the boy. She seemed to be enjoying the surprise of finding him there. "Hello Draco. My, we've learned a bit over the summer have we? I take it you think you'll be leaving your old wand at home next year?" The adults collected their wands, used them to wake their stunned comrade, and sulked into the shadows looking wounded as he helped them. He was the most fortunate of the attackers. The girl unhooked her blade long enough to knock away two last moment stabs in the back. They shot into the walls and did nothing but disperse. Her blade was back against Draco's as he tried to stab and take advantage.

"You can't stop me from growing stronger." The boy snarled at her. He didn't look sure of himself, the glow in the back of her eyes, and the look on her face was throwing him off. Her fake looking grin was gone, and she looked quite serious.

The girl shook her head. "Well, I couldn't, before you gave me this opportunity to be rid of you. Imagine, a group of hoodlums, murdering a little girl, and the boy who died in the act." Her hand shot forward and bolts of electrical power slammed into the boy's chest. He grunted in pain and landed on the ground.

The adults were scattering, only the leader remained as he backed away with wide eyes. He gripped his wand but fumbled with it in an impotent manner. The boy was on the ground, and he turned and started staggering away to escape the alley's confinement. There were lots of small passages and cracks to slip away into along Knockturn Alley, but he found himself cornered and forced to stagger around them towards the main road.

Anna walked up to Draco with a small ball of orange light forming in her hand pointed down at the boy.

Draco rolled as she released it, his wand coming on as he knocked it away. A large hole was blown into the pavement behind the lead member of the Death Eater gang throwing him down onto his face as he tried to run in terror while watching the scene behind him over his shoulder.

The blond rolled and staggered to his feet in a crouch with his wand gripped in his hand. He was panting and looking nervous as he tried to back away. He didn't stumble, and moved past anything that might trip him up without looking. He kept his wand between himself and the girl in a defensive manner.

Anna simply stood watching him and shut her wand down as she looked on. Voices called her name from the other end of the alley, carrying over the silence. "Another time then. I'll find your master soon enough. I don't really need you to do it. You should think well on who you fear more. Go on, get out of here." She waved him away.

The boy rushed away into the shadows. All of the girl's surviving attackers had managed to slip into the darkness. She snorted an amused chuckle as she turned and started jogging towards the voices.

As she started towards them she glanced over her shoulder. "Why target me? What's going on here? This is more than I expected. They're too bold for this early on." She frowned a little and shook her head. "I doubt this was Draco's idea." She growled and clenched her fist as she saw her brother jogging around the corner on the other end of the alley.

"Anna!" The boy was gasping as he rushed up. He looked relieved as she smiled at him and jogged to meet him half way. "What happened?" His pace slowed as he drew near, there was something off about her eyes. It seemed to fade as she stared towards him in a calm stroll.

The girl shrugged. "I dunno. I ended up here instead of Hog's Head. Then a bunch of Death Eaters attacked me. There's some dead back there."

Harry's face fell. There were men standing around the both of them all of a sudden. He turned his head back to see his family rounding the corner. Worry was replaced by confusion as the group grew larger behind their parents. "What?"

Anna was looking up at the men. "Hi. I take it you're investigating something here?" The man she was looking at frowned a little, but another walked up. "I'm Captain Barker. There was an illegal interruption of..."

"Yes. Some jerks..." The girl started to speak, but was interrupted by one of the men behind them.

Harry was looking confused and worried. His parents were trying to get by the Aurors and were learning the details of the investigation. "Bodies! Sir!"

"They tried to kill me. Wasn't such a good idea." The girl looked like she wanted to say more. She bent forward clutching her belly as blood flew from between her lips. She felt someone grab her, but took a moment to realize it was her brother. She'd lost her breath, and a painful stabbing pain was coursing through her body. She heard her brother call out her name as the world faded in and out. The girl wasn't sure how she ended up on her back, but she could feel her body shaking in a painful series of cramps and waves of pain. The world went black and silent.

OooOOooOO

Harry smiled at his sister as her eyes cracked open. "I suppose it's my turn next then? Welcome back."

Anna frowned, she was still groggy. "One can only hope. The hospital again?"

The boy nodded. "Afraid so. Mum and Dad are sleeping." He glanced over his shoulder. There was a couch on the wall opposite the bed, and both adults were covered and leaning against each other.

"How long?" She scratched her skull and pushed herself onto her back. It made her head swim a bit, but it faded.

"About two days. I'd wake up Mum and Dad, but they've not gotten any sleep. We kind of figured out what happened. The Aurors were able to use their wands to find out what sort of spells they were casting. They weren't trying to catch you." The boy hung his head and frowned.

"I noticed. I wonder what brought it about?" The redhead didn't want to think and it showed. "I'll worry about it later."

"Well, you killed six of them. I assume you can't identify any of them? The Aurors will be by later to ask about it."

She frowned at him and nodded. "Yeah. There were ten. I can't say who they were. Masks and all that. I could venture a guess, but I couldn't prove anything."

The boy smirked at her. "There's something you're not telling."

The redhead gave a small sigh. "We'll talk about that later. What happened to me?"

Harry sat down on the bed. "You got hit with quite a nasty spell. More than once. It messed you up pretty bad, a little internal bleeding, sprained muscles. Nothing that would kill you, but it had to hurt. Everyone seemed surprised you were able to move at all with all that. You moving about while under it made it worse they think." He scrunched his face up and didn't look pleased to be thinking about it. "They knew we were going to be there. Probably because of those posters we put up on the walls in the bar."

She nodded and looked up as the door opened. The wizard tending her recovery smiled as he walked in, and the two adults on the couch woke up at the sound of his entrance. "Well, hello Miss Potter."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter's face was a firm frown as she sat at a table in a well lit, small, and featureless room. She was glaring at the wall opposite her, and hadn't seen her family since she'd left the hospital. The Aurors had come for her no more than two hours after she'd woken up.

A man walked into the room. He had a mane of blond hair and a heavy beard. He had a firm frown on his face, and looked to be angry and Scottish. "Miss Potter."

"Mr. Scrimgeor I presume?" She gave him a nod and frowned back at him in a passive manner. She wasn't pleased, but seemed to be taking the affair in stride.

"I'm getting tired of cleaning up after you." He slapped a folder onto the table. "First vampires, then drow, now this. Six people are dead."

"I'd noticed." She nodded and shrugged. "Ten people kidnapped and tortured an adorable young girl. Four are left."

He growled a bit and flipped open the folder. "I've a feeling there's something you're not telling us." He didn't look up as he perused it's contents. It was thick with pages and he flipped about them. "Things would go easier if you cooperate."

"I am cooperating. Any word on what those drow wanted?" The girl turned her eyes towards the door and kicked her legs a bit.

The man turned his eyes up to look at her. She was smiling at him. "We're still gathering information, and cave elves don't associate with wizards much. I do hope you realize that you could be in serious trouble."

"For what? Not rolling over to die?" She scrunched her face up and looked to be irate with him. "You've got nothing to threaten me with. I've been a good little witch, and you've got people who weren't being very honest about how often the Imperius curse was used. I'm betting what you found will tell you that much. I bet you've known it for years though. Must be annoying."

"Well, you are the studious one. Been reading up a bit?" The man snorted. He was a little impressed, but seemed to loom over her in an intimidating way.

"I do hope you're smart enough to realize you can't puff yourself up big enough to scare me." The girl rubbed under her eye with her finger as she said it as if scratching an itch. "Of course I've looked up a bit. I don't care if the stupid prophecy is true or not. That doesn't stop idiots from trying to kill me." She crossed her arms and looked towards the door again. "Stop glaring at me that way. I'm not beyond control you know. You just have to keep people who might want to kill me for no good reason out of my hair."

"I suggest you share that with Kate Delane. You cut off her mother's head, and you'll be attending Hogwarts with her next year. You probably know her, she's to be a sixth year. A Prefect at that." The man tossed a photo onto the table with the girl sitting with her mother. "I'm sure you'll be getting to know her rather well."

Anna glared down at it and her eyes twitched. "Thanks for the warning. I hope she's smart enough not to let her mother's mistakes ruin her life."

"Yes. Quite a group you've collected." Five more photos were laid out across the table in front of her. Each with a family. Most weren't old enough for Hogwarts yet. "I imagine you'll be meeting some of them. Though, not all of them will be able to afford Hogwarts any longer. Thanks to you." The man put his palms onto the table and set his glare into her eyes.

She nodded at him and spoke, returning his stare. "I will not be killed by a cult of lunatics. I am sorry for their loss, I doubt they want to kill me any less now, but I hope they are afraid enough to not try something so stupid again. They will learn to fear me, if they continue to hunt me."

"You're going to get yourself killed." The man snorted and shook his head. "Bull headed brat." He had expected her to burst into tears as she looked at the photos. She was looking at them, her features twitching in what almost looked like anger. It had gotten to her, but in a much more subdued manner than he'd expected. "Do you feel anything at all?" He stood up and left the folder, letting her stare at the families. Her eyes were cool, and she shifted them a bit to get a better look.

"Pity, that someone would throw all this away, just to kill a child they don't know." She turned her nose up and watched him walk towards the door.

"We found no evidence of the Killing Curse in any of the wands we found at the scene." He glanced back at her with his hand on the knob.

"I cut off her head before she finished saying it. I've seen Avada Kedavra before, and I still remember it." The girl frowned at him and narrowed her eyes. "I notice you didn't mention any other, supposed, fabricated spells in those wands. You've got no grounds to prosecute me, in fact, I'm the victim. Why bother with trying to intimidate me? A curious position to take." She was looking at the photo of the older girl. There was no grief or remorse in her eyes, but she was thinking hard about something as she looked at the pictures.

He turned and spoke with the door still open. "Cut her loose. We have everything we need."

OooOOooOO

"I'm not sure what worries me more, the fact that someone tried to kill her, or that she killed six of them. James, some of them looked beat to death!" Lily was sitting in a hallway, her husband's coat over her shoulders, and a handkerchief gripped in her palm. She was in tears and leaning against his chest. The man looked very serious and looked over at his son.

The boy was kicking his feet and looking at the ground. He didn't seem bothered by his surroundings, or the events that had transpired. "Are you all right son?"

"I guess. Could have been me just as easily. Anna was right though, once we came back into the wizarding world, things got messy right away." He shrugged and looked at them. He didn't look worried. "I can't say one way or another whether more might have lived if it had been me. I'm kind of surprised, it was like something kept me from noticing it. I didn't realize that there had been a fight until we got there. That's strange." He seemed to think about it for a moment. His parents didn't push the matter, and he was relieved. He had no desire to spring the fact that someone else was trying to kill him on top of the Death Eaters. He should have known she was in danger. The Sith were involved somehow.

The man looked at his son with confused and a bit of wonder. "Harry. You do realize that your sister could be in a lot of trouble. There are people dead."

"For what?" The boy seemed confused. He sat up and adjusted his glasses. "They kidnapped her and tried to kill her. She gave them a rather nasty thrashing. I'm just glad she was able to shake that curse off long enough to fight them off. I'm not so sure I'd have done any better in that position." He frowned and shook his head. "We prefer peaceful solutions."

The adults were looking at him and huddled a little closer together.

"He's right. I doubt they'll do more than scare her a bit." The man shook his wife's arm.

"Not likely." Harry shrugged at that.

Lily sat up a bit more. "Somebody took her and hurt her, James." She still looked frightened and distraught. "We've got to do something!? We can't...what can we do?"

The boy hung his head and looked at his hands as he clasped them together between his knees. He felt his father's hand on his head and slumped down against his side as he pulled him closer. "I hope you're right, son."

"I'm pretty sure." The boy nodded.

OooOOooOO

It was dark, the moon hung high over Malfoy Manor. Draco was standing on the front porch of his home. He was sweating and panting for breath, his eye was black and swollen, and he was leaning against the railing and looking out over the lawn, frowning at his aching body. He didn't look upset, but calm and thoughtful.

Lucius strolled out on the porch. "What in the Dark Lord's name are you doing out here?" He didn't sound upset, but his tone worsened as the boy glanced over his shoulder and he noticed his injuries. "Where have you been? How did you get like this?" The man grabbed the boy's cheek to have a better look at his eye.

The boy grabbed his father's arm and shoved it aside. "What? How dare you speak to me that way you worm!"

The older man fell to his knees and the boy kicked him in the face and onto his back. Draco's stare leveled on him and he stalked forward stepping on the man's chest. His father was turning red, spit flying from his lips as he grasped at his throat.

The boy snarled at him. "Don't forget which of us ran screaming from that brat. I won't be saving your skin again if you're stupid enough to try again. She's far beyond your pathetic magic power." The older man's head relaxed and he sucked in his breath, the boy pushed down with his foot enough to make it more of a struggle. "I've not forgotten, see that you don't either, Father. I will not cower before that dog you call a master. I've seen what's left of him, and I'm less than impressed. My Master is far stronger than even Voldemort can imagine. Ruling a planet is nothing to a Sith, our kind is destined to hold the fate of Galaxies within their grip! You don't need to ask any more questions, or worry about what I'm doing again." The boy walked back into the house and turned his head back to speak without showing the man his face. "I saved you once because I care. Stay out of this, I'm no concern of yours any more. I have moved beyond mere Wizarding. You'll get killed, my Master isn't very forgiving. I belong to my Master, for now."

Lucius Malfoy had a shocked expression on his face. His hands were shaking and tears streamed down his cheeks, he whimpered as he realized that his crotch was fast becoming cooler as the air cooled the area he'd wet himself in. He staggered to his rear and sat on the porch looking at the door with wide eyes. He put his hand up to his neck and felt the rough skin on the long thin burn mark just under his chin. "What in Merlin's name...?"

OooOOooOO

"Are you all right?" Melvin shook Harry's shoulder. He was sitting on the couch with the boy with the mirror in front of them on a gardening tips show. They were visiting Sirius, and the girls were in Pansy's room together. Harry wasn't really watching the show, and Melvin was half reading a magazine.

"Yeah. I'm just worried about Anna. Mum and Dad won't let us out of the house without them." The boy shifted a bit and seemed to shake out of a zone. "I dunno. I felt something off when I found her. She looked strange for a moment."

The dark haired boy shrugged. "I dunno. They did torture her a bit."

Harry sat back and adjusted his glasses. "I guess. She's pretty upset with herself for being so slow with her wand. She got cocky and caught off guard." He paused and noticed what his friend was reading. "Is that..."

"Yeah. Vague. There's an article about your sister." He moved their shoulders together and showed him. "She's this big feminine Icon it seems. All sorts of women's groups are going nuts. Something about 'Girl Power' and not acting like a man accessory. It doesn't say Quidditch, but it mentions she plays sports at school, writes all the songs, and such. Look, 'Anna Potter, as young and new to the scene as she is, is probably one of the biggest voices for feminine empowerment and women's rights today. Not just in her songs, but also in her words, and I'm beautiful without spandex and a push up bra attitude."Melvin looked up to see Harry holding his stomach and laughing himself to tears beside him. "What?" He seemed confused. "Look, there's a whole stack of magazines with stuff like that in it."

"Wow! This is great!" Harry jumped up and took an armload. "Come on! We're going to annoy her!"

Melvin was pleased. "Excellent!"

OooOOooOO

Anna's cheeks were red and she looked both horrified and stunned. Melvin and Harry were snickering at the expression she had. The girl didn't seem to notice.

"What? You didn't notice?" Pansy seemed surprised as she sat down next to the girl. "All sorts of people talk about us that way. You especially. It's awesome!"

Margaret shook her shoulders and wrinkled her nose as she grinned at them both. "Did she notice? Are you kidding? The only thing she reads is Guitar World, Rock Today, and Metal Magazine. She doesn't even watch Entertainment Talk, or Wizarding Gossip Today."

Pansy looked shocked. "You don't read Sorceress Teen Beat, Young Witch, or anything?" It was as if she didn't comprehend such a thing.

"No." Anna frowned at her and sighed. "I don't want to be bothered with crap like this. I am not a feminine Icon! I just want to rock."

"Well, you've figured out the secret formula then." Harry shrugged and shook his head. It was obvious he was pleased and amused.

"Great. I hate thinking about stuff like that." The redhead hung her head and tossed the magazine over her shoulder. A bunny caught it mid air and zipped out the room.

Melvin turned and went after it. "Hey! I'm not done with that!"

The redhead fell flat on her back and put her arms up. "Ugh. I'm sick of being stuck inside already! It's only been two days!"

"Sorry you got grounded." Pansy shuffled her feet.

Harry shook his head. "People died. It's for the best, and she knows it."

The girl's stare turned into a small glare at the ceiling. "Speak for yourself. I'd love the chance to thin the ranks with legal impunity. I'm not stupid enough to go looking for trouble. I'm not going to pass up an opportune moment though."

The boy shook his head. "I don't share your enthusiasm." He'd lost a bit of his cheer, but didn't seem angry. "Careful what you wish for."

"I agree." Pansy nodded. "It's best to avoid trouble."

Anna nodded and scrunched up her face a bit. "I know. I know it's coming anyway though."

"I don't think she did anything wrong." Margaret frowned at Harry and the brunette girl.

"Tell that to their children and family and see what it gets you." The redhead rubbed at her eyes. "Can we talk about something else? That wasn't something I enjoyed you know. It hurt quite a bit."

Pansy frowned at the redhead. "We aren't really going to try and squeeze in another album before we go back are we? I think my head is getting full, I can't remember half the songs on our first album without hearing them first."

Harry shook his head. "Naw. I already talked to her about slowing down a bit. Two or three a year is plenty."

Margaret fell onto the mattress. "Thank Merlin!"

"Rock pussies." Anna crossed her arms and grumbled. She'd caved pretty easily on the matter. They'd eat through it all before they graduated Hogwarts at the rate they were going.

"Hey. After 'cock push ups' you've got no right to say that to me." The boy narrowed his eyes and jabbed his finger in a comical manner.

"What? What good is that?" Pansy looked confused. "Cock push ups? Like a chicken?"

"Just let it go." Margaret put her hand on the girl's shoulder and shook her head.

"Yeah. You'll find out when you're older." Anna chuckled and lifted one of the magazine's up to flip through it.

"We're the same age!" Pansy turned her nose up and seemed a bit miffed.

"I wonder if Melvin caught that bunny?" Harry decided it was a good time to leave.

Margaret laid flat next to Anna. "So. I've heard Cedric has been hanging about over your house."

Pansy laid down on the opposite side. "Right. Your Mum mentioned it."

"He's been hanging around my brother." The redhead moved the magazine she was holding open over her down a bit. "We're both stuck inside. The whole neighborhood hangs around there."

"That's not what Harry said. He says he spends most of his time sitting with you and those two girls." The raven haired girl was inspecting her nails.

The magazine was almost covering her face. "I hate you both. Look, neither one of us trust Lee Jordan. The Weasley boys have it out for both of us. They found out he helped me turn the whites of their eyes purple. I had to get Mom to brew up a cure for a hiccups curse last week. I am not dating him. I don't like him that much. What is it with you two and this odd fixation? I talk to other boys you know."

"But, you do like boys then yes?" Pansy was looking pleased as she leaned on her elbow and kicked her legs a bit.

"Yes." Anna grumbled it from under her magazine. It was just laid out across her face.

"He is a cute one isn't he?" Margaret was doing the same thing.

"There's nothing wrong with him. No. Look, I'm more worried about the people trying to kill my family than who I'd like to have tea with. I do understand and all, but I've got priorities." She took the magazine off her face and looked back and fourth between them.

"So, you would like to have tea with him then?" Pansy leaned in and pushed her shoulder a little.

"I'm not admitting anything." Anna looked annoyed and flipped through the pages.

"Hmm, but you're not denying it either." Margaret nodded and looked at Pansy.

"Yeah. She's totally into him. Though, that guy Brian wasn't too bad either." The other girl agreed and they both sat up and talked as if the redhead wasn't laid out between them.

"He's as dumb as a rock. Nice guy though." Anna commented.

Pansy gave a small sigh. "Not for me then. I've got to be able to talk to someone."

Margaret nodded. "I suppose. I think obedience is more important. I could get by without listening to sports stories and the latest in action adventure entertainment."

"Well, you're just going to have to learn to deal with it. Most boys are like that. Have you seen the look Harry and Melvin get when we even walk towards a shoe store?" Pansy gave a small snort as she giggled about it for a moment.

"Why do I have so many shoes anyway?" Anna propped herself up with her elbows and looked at her feet. "I've got like thirty pairs. I only use a few of them."

Pansy furrowed her brow and looked amazed. "Are you kidding? You'll be glad you've got them when you find the perfect outfit to go with them!"

Anna fell back again. "Whatever."

Margaret chuckled and shook her knee. "You shouldn't pose. Your brother is no better than mine about shoe stores."

Anna almost mentioned that it was probably her mother's fault, but shrugged and said nothing.

OooOOooOO

Harry was sitting in a large ring of neighborhood kids on the floor to his home. He was playing a wizarding card game with the boys, and the girls were sitting about watching and talking with them.

"Are you sure you don't want to try?" Harry's dragon was dealing damage to some sort of ogre in the center of the circle. It was something akin to 'Yugi Oh' or 'Magic: The Gathering' for wizarding youth.

Anna scrunched her face up a bit. "No. I've enough trouble with the deck I've already got."

Marci leaned in with her finger on her bottom lip. She looked a bit nervous. "Um, deck?" She was sitting furthest away from the redhead next to Lee Jordan. Noriko was between Cedric and Harry looking on at the game.

The asian girl turned and grinned at her. "You play something else then?"

"She's talking about the Tarot deck she keeps in her pocket." Harry slapped another card down and some sort of meteor took out a small section of the carpet.

Cedric shifted a bit in his seat and looked back and fourth between the twins. He didn't say anything and countered with something that froze a patch of the carpet, and Harry's dragon over.

"I heard there's a rumor going about that someone attacked you in London." Lee spoke up and grinned at them. "Way I heard it, some people got killed." He seemed to find the idea amusing and interesting.

"Don't be silly. That was just that Skeeter running her mouth again." Mark furrowed his eyebrows. "Mum doesn't care much for her. She ruined a friendship for her a while back."

"I heard about that. It sounded scary!" Marci shifted and looked over at the girl.

Both Potter twins had gone silent. Harry slapped another card down as the group looked at the two of them in a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"Well, you won't be hearing about it here." Anna looked at the group and shrugged as she realized it was going to last until one of them spoke up.

"What about those cards then?" Nori stood up and walked over to her side. "You can do readings then? They don't teach it in London. You've got to go to Manchester Sorcery Academy if you want to take Divination."

Marci looked interested as well. "Right. So, um...you can see the future?"

Nori grinned. "I had a great aunt who was said to be a great psychic in Japan. She used to do fire readings, and told fortunes at New Years."

Anna shrugged. "I'm pretty good at it."

"Will you give us readings then?" The asian girl looked pleased and excited.

"I-I suppose it can't hurt." Marci had managed to shuffle over a bit closer. She seemed flushed and quiet, but had come by as much as any of the others had.

"Yeah. It's still early, you could do it for all of us right?" Nori was hanging off her arm.

Cedric slapped a card down. "Count me out. Once was enough for me."

The redhead hung her head for a moment and frowned. "Maybe some other time. I don't like doing it very often. Readings can get a bit strange sometimes. It's better if I do it one on one anyway. I only give private readings."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was walking by the bathroom with a letter in his hand. Anna had just stepped out and closed the door behind herself. She was wearing a pair of pajamas and had a towel wrapped over her hair."Hey. Hermione and Ron's family are going to meet..." The boy paused and followed her as she seemed to ignore him and go into her room. She was sitting on the end of her bed staring at the floor with a somewhat dazed expression on her face. "Um. Are you all right?"

The girl looked up and seemed to notice him. "Oh. Sorry. Just answered one of the great questions of the universe."

"Great. Um, anyway. We're going to the Alley tomorrow, to get our stuff from school." The boy nodded. "Ron and Hermione are going to meet us with their families."

Anna nodded. "Oh. We'll meet Mr. Lockheart then I expect. We'll be needing to buy all of his books at least. He'll be teaching Defense of Dark Arts next year. Totally unqualified. He's kind of a glory stealing jerk. The only thing he can cast is a memory charm, but he doesn't seem to realize it. He's a bumbling idiot, and I'm left wondering why Dumbledore hired him in the first place. He's not even very good at lying. He's a con artist and a criminal."

Her brother's face fell. "Oh. That's, um, great I guess. What's this about some great question? I thought Hermione answered that."

The girl was rubbing her hair dry with a towel and frowned at him. "Not that one."

"What then?"

She shrugged. "It's better for girls."

"What?" He looked irate and confused.

"Sorry, but it is." She seemed to frown a bit as she said it and looked away towards the corner of her room near the floor.

"Whatever. We'll be leaving around ten. Just wanted to let you know." The boy sighed and shook his head. "What's with her anyway? What's better for girls?"

The redhead smiled to herself, wondering how long it would take him to figure out what she was talking about. She found herself hoping she'd be around to witness it.

OooOOooOO

A rather large group of children walked down Diagon Alley amongst a crowd. The whole alley was dead quiet, and everyone turned to watch the group pass as they moved by. The Granger parents seemed very aware of this fact and huddled over their daughter, grabbing her shoulders. The girl glanced up at them, but seemed unsure. She almost pulled her parents closer to Harry.

The boy was looking about observing the crowd. All around them the wizards parted, some looking on with wide eyes, others looking away and shuffling aside. Not everyone looked horrified, but everyone was interested and watching what they were doing. The boy looked over to her. "Something happened a few nights ago. A group of Death Eaters pulled my sister out of the Floo Network. Some people died."

The girl's eyes went wide. "What?"

The boy didn't look comfortable. "We're trying to avoid talking about it. Anna got attacked, and she killed a few of them."

Ron was at the boy's side listening in. He arched his eyebrow a little. "Really? It's good that she's not hurt."

Harry nodded. "It'll be nice to be at Hogwarts again. We won't have to worry about angry mobs attacking us quite as much. It's been twice this summer."

Ron nodded. "Being famous is more dangerous than I'd thought." He tipped his hat up a little and looked very casual. "They don't like me much either. I've not done anything to them."

Anna glanced back over her shoulder. "How do you think we feel?"

"We don't care much for him either. He's not the kindest man." Melvin shrugged. His sister rolled her eyes as she almost asked her guardian what he thought of the matter. He seemed to be interested in the inside of Lissa Parkinson's top. Pansy's mother didn't seem to mind much.

Pansy had a rather subdued smile. "She won't talk about it. Neither one of them will." She looked back at Hermione and shrugged.

"Y-you're not famous...are you?" Hermione's father was looking at her with a rather blank expression.

The girl's eyes went wide. "N-no. Not like them anyway." She looked down, and found herself wondering about the answer to that question. She'd never been recognized, but solving the ultimate question had made her famous to some people.

Fred leaned in towards them. "We're not famous either. Don't worry."

Ron looked back. "I am."

"We noticed that Ronald. The rest of us aren't." Percy frowned at his youngest brother a little.

Hermione was still a bit put off by the new Ron Weasley. He was quiet, and seemed agreeable and thoughtful. He also slouched a little more, he wasn't brooding, but seemed relaxed in excess. It was different than the vibe she got from Harry. Ron seemed to swagger a bit more and seemed less interested and afraid about the world around him. "I'm looking forward to Hogwarts, we'll be safe there. Just ask Anna. She can see the future after all."

The girl gave her a small frown. "You'll live."

The frazzle haired girl seemed pleased. "See? I'll be fine." It seemed to settle her parents a bit more. It hadn't escaped their attention that the Potter girl was being very quiet and seemed to be the focus of attention. The Potter parents were looming over her more than her brother. Pansy and Margaret were relatively silent as a result.

Ron looked over at Melvin. "My sister is attending this year. You'd better leave her alone."

The boy looked surprised. "Huh? Nah, I'm aiming higher. She's just a first year, nothing to worry about. Not from me anyway."

"She won't be forever. I'd pay attention now, so it doesn't come up later." Harry nodded and glanced at him. The soon to be second year boys were keeping their voices down. The girl was at her mother's side, and looked like she'd rather be walking with the older girls not far away.

Ron arched his eyebrow a bit and looked a little insulted. "Aiming higher?"

The dark haired boy shrugged at him. "I like older women."

"He did promise to leave her be." The boy who lived rolled his eyes a little. "He's a pervert, but not a liar."

"Fine. Whatever." The raven haired boy looked a bit annoyed as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Anna seems to like her anyway. Don't worry about it. I'm not stupid enough to piss her off that way."

"Ginny is always talking about your sister." Ron nodded and frowned a bit. "Lots of girls like her from what I've heard. Not much, I've only heard a bit while I was here with my family. She says she's been very nice to her."

"Well, I'm sure she can find a better influence once we get to, Hogwarts." Hermione stuck her nose up a little. "I'll look after her. She's bound to end up with us anyway. Everyone else in your family has after all."

Ron's eyes went a little wide. "Hey. You could say the same thing about him."

Harry seemed to realize it. "He's right."

The girl flushed a bit. "She'll be fine Ron. I'll look after her. Even if it is another house, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff. I'm sure I know someone who will help her a bit here and there."

Anna was looking a bit flushed as she looked around. They were still the object of attention of course, but business had started up again, and people while staring, were moving about to do what they had come for.

Pansy noticed and leaned in towards the girl. "What is it?"

"Every girl here is dressed like me." Anna turned a bit more red and both of her girlfriends realized that her eyes were very wide and surprised. She shifted behind them and ducked her head down into her shoulders. "It's kind of creepy." There were variations on different outfits that she'd worn on album covers and in concert, but it was everywhere. There were a few boys wearing jackets and jeans like her brother's, but it was only a few. Almost every girl within sight under the age of sixteen was dressed like her. Skirts, leather jackets, jeans, bike gloves, lacy gloves, large earrings, several beaded necklaces, ponytails, multiple bracelets, and large sweatbands.

"I suppose she does live out in the country." Margaret looked at Pansy and shrugged.

The brunette girl nodded and shrugged. "It's like this everywhere."

"I'm not dressed like her. Neither is that girl over there!" Hermione put her nose up and pointed at someone standing by one of the doors.

"Yeah. Thanks for that." Anna grinned at her and moved back to shake her shoulder.

Harry was about to speak, but they were nearing a large crowd around the entrance to Flourish and Blotts. His once optimistic hope that his sister might be wrong about something shattered before him in one surprising jolt of a moment. "Uh oh."

Anna Potter had a smirk on her face as the crowd around him seemed to notice them and part. Gilderoy walked right down the middle of the part. He was a tall man, with long blond hair and a huge grin on his face. He had noticed the streets crawl to a dead stop and strolled out to see what was going on. "Ah! You must be the Potter twins, and this must be your band. My, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger!" The man leaned in towards Anna, Hermione, Margaret, and Pansy. All of the girls were looking up at the man in a group. Lily flushed a bit, and most of the women seemed impressed. The little redhead was sure she saw a glint of light shine off his teeth.

Anna was the first of the girls to speak up. The rest swallowed in unison. "How did you do that thing with your teeth?" She looked somewhat spaced out and shook her head a bit. "Cool. Can you teach me? It was all tingly and whatnot!" She grabbed his lips and pulled them apart to peer at his teeth a bit closer.

The man was surprised and pulled away, wiping his face a bit. He smiled at her and did it again. Her knees buckled a little, the rest of the girls seemed to follow suit. Her face hardened a bit. "I'll figure it out!"

The man seemed pleased. "How charming! Well, it's nice to meet you all here." Harry was looking at his sister with a small frown on his face. He gave the man a limp handshake. Ron's grip was a bit firmer and he seemed a bit pleased to meet the man.

Anna was grinning at him behind his back, the girls around her were looking amazed at the announcement and most of the adults looked impressed. Harry was taking glances as Gilderoy started trying to herd them into a photo opportunity. He didn't take his eyes off the girl during the shoot. She was watching the tall blond man with a look he didn't like one bit.

The girl's thoughts were devious enough and she didn't quite realize the vibe she was putting off. "Heh. I'll own him next year. With all I've got on this asshole, heh, he'll be eating out of the palm of my hand! It'll be great. Maybe I can use him to get around Snape a bit. Not too much, he's got no backbone." Her dark looking grin grew ever more sinister. She didn't seem to notice some of the photographers were starting to grow a little nervous.

After the photo shoot passed, a minute or so. Gilderoy was about to use the children to start a sales pitch and announce to the crowd his lauded new position in the administration of Hogwarts. Harry pulled on his cloak and waved him down.

"Yes. What can I do for you my boy?" The man grinned and seemed patient and cheerful. The boy could tell he was annoyed at the interruption.

The boy who lived put his hand on the man's shoulders, looked him dead in the eyes and whispered. "Think about what you're about to do. Perhaps it would be best if you just went home, and rethought your life."

A glaze covered the man's eyes, his features fell. His nose scrunched up as he gave the boy a horrified looking stare. "I...wha? He staggered back a bit, the crowd gasped in confusion and shock, all eyes turning on the man. He was whipping his head about, looking at all of them. They all looked confused and concerned as tears began to fall from his ears. "Yes...yes...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I've got to..." He pulled his cloak tight and rushed away with his head down. "I can't...I just can't..."

The Potter boy looked over at his sister with his eyebrow arched. He gave her a small grin and nodded as her jaw dropped. The girl was watching the man leave with wide eyes. She turned her head and looked at her brother, working her jaw a little.

He gave her a small wave and tugged on Ron's arm.

The red haired boy was wondering the same thing as everyone else. The entire crowd of people was looking at the boy now. He was the first to blurt it out. "What did you say to him?"

"I'm sure it will come out sooner or later." The boy shrugged and looked uncomfortable. He was berating himself for not anticipating such a reaction. He could hear whispered murmurs in the crowd.

Hermione was insistent. "Come on now, Harry! You just scared off the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher! It's got to be...well..."

Harry's brain wracked for a moment. Finally his head fell a bit. "I just reminded him he'd forgotten something really important, and it would be a good idea to find it. That's all."

More of the crowd relaxed, a few looked dissatisfied, and a couple more seemed to flat out not believe him. Anna was at the boy's side by that point with a frown on her face and her arms crossed. "Oh, was that all it was?" She seemed steamed, but didn't look like she was going to talk about it either.

Pansy and Margaret seemed irate with him. They spoke up and the redhead's head dropped as her arms went lax. "Why did you do that?" Margaret had her nose up.

"Yeah! He was really hot!" Pansy had a disappointed pout on her face.

Melvin shook his head. "Trust me. When you're twenty five and he's sixty, it will matter."

Pansy flashed him an angry glare as her cheeks flushed. "There's more to love than looks you know."

Margaret blinked in surprise and seemed less annoyed. "What? We've already got money. I certainly don't need someone to take care of me anymore. Maybe to help out with the children later I suppose."

Anna ignored all this and gripped her brother's shoulders to shake him. "Do you have any idea how hard it will be to figure out how he does that thing with his teeth if he's not around?!"

"I've a feeling that wasn't the biggest of your plans for him." The boy shook his head and smiled at her despite it. "If you don't stop being such a brat I'm going to get in your way a lot more."

"What's he talking about?" James walked up with a grin on his face behind his son. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Yes. Please share it with all of us." Sirius seemed pleased. The group of children realized they were in the middle of a large crowd, surrounded by parents and family members.

Anna was shifting her foot about in the dirt and wishing she could smack the living hell out of the side of her brother's head. "Nothing. He's just being paranoid for no good reason."

The boy shrugged. "She's not being honest." A sharp pain ran through his toes as her heel crushed them in a quick strike. "Ouch."

"Cut it out you jerk!" She slapped his chest and the crowd seemed to be starting to lose direct interest in them. Most of the people there had business to attend.

OooOOooOO

"Potter." Draco Malfoy was standing before the Potter twins, Ron, and Ginny as they went about buying their books inside the Flourish and Blotts. "I can see you can't even seem to go into a book store without making the front page?"

"Yes, being famous does that for some odd reason." Anna answered, he was looking at her as he said it.

"Oh. It's you." Ron frowned a little and nodded at Draco as he tipped his hat in a surprising gesture of politeness. "Have a good summer then?"

The blond boy shook his head and smiled at the redhead, and then her brother. "Not really. I did a lot of work over the summer."

"Hmm, evil or not, you've learned to be more polite at least." Anna nodded and smirked. "Or are you just stumped because you can't use jokes about his family's income on him anymore?"

The blond boy snorted. "It won't last, they'll keep having children until they're poor again. It will be awful having to deal with so many."

"What? You rotten bastard!" Ginny flushed and shrank back as she hid behind Anna's back.

Ron frowned at her and grabbed her shoulder. "Come on. It's getting crowded."

"Ron!" Arthur Weasley pushed through the crowd as he took note of who the children were speaking too. The boy looked up at his father as the man took his youngest daughter's cauldron and shoved her towards the door in a gentle manner. "Come on, we've still got more to do before we leave." The man looked down at Harry and Anna. "Your friends are at the counter. Don't take too long." He turned and almost walked into Lucius Malfoy's chest.

"Well, if it isn't Arthur Weasley." His voice was tight and he looked over at his son with a small frown.

The red haired man frowned and nodded back. "Lucius."

"Busy time at the Ministry I hear. All those raids, it must be hard to enjoy your son's money with all that overtime." He reached into Ginny's cauldron and pulled out a new copy of 'A beginner's guide to Transfiguration'...

"I'm proud of my son." Arthur puffed out his chest.

"Yes, but if you don't learn to keep better friends, it won't matter much in the end. Try not to breed your own son's fortune away Weasley. Who knows, he might be something someday?" Lucius glanced over at the Granger parents, who were both watching nearby hovering over their worried daughter.

"As if he's not worth something now? I didn't see him killing any vampires," commented Harry. Neither of the adults seemed to notice, but Draco frowned at the pair.

Anna stepped between, put her hand up to Mr. Weasley's chest, and snatched the book from Lucius Malfoy's hand. The red haired man looked confused as he realized he'd not jumped forward as planned, and couldn't drop his daughter's cauldron.

"You li..." Lucius started to scold her with a scowl on his face, but she spoke up and interrupted.

"That's a nasty mark. You should pick up something from the Potion's shop to take care of it. Who knows what it might lead too." The girl smiled up at him as he sputtered at her lack of respect. "It's probably why you're in such an awful mood. You really shouldn't take it out on other people." The girl was smiling, but her eyes went narrow. "It doesn't make you look good if you run about starting trouble you know."

The older man snarled down at her. "You'll get what's coming to you yet, brat."

"Shut up would you? I hate her guts, but she's right. You're making us look bad, everyone is staring." Draco nodded at the man as he walked by and frowned up at him. Lucius watched this, and realized that the boy wasn't planning on backing him up. "Just come on. I'll have enough of them at school. You're attracting the rest."

Lucius growled as he realized that Sirius Black, and James Potter were standing behind him. "Try to enjoy your son's money. It won't save you in the end." He strolled away, letting his cape flutter in a dramatic way.

Arthur looked down at the redhead. "You shouldn't have done that."

The girl frowned at him and nodded. "Sorry. Next time I'll just let you both beat on each other in public and embarrass the rest of us."

"Wouldn't have been so embarrassing." Sirius snorted in amusement as he glanced over his shoulder towards where Lucius had gone.

"It's worth a pint later anyway. Come on Arthur, we'll let the kids go about. Lily wants to go to shopping with Lissa, and Molly anyway." James shook the man's shoulder and his anger faded a bit.

"Well, I'm jus glad I didn have ter step in. Got a bit worried for a moment." Hagrid looked down at the group and grinned from behind them. 'Malfoy's not worth listenin ter, bad blood it is. Rotten to the core, the whole family, everyone knows it."

Anna frowned up at the half giant. "It's got nothing to do with blood. Someone taught him to be a jerk."

Molly puffed her chest out and frowned at her husband. "Well, I for one am grateful my dear, you don't listen to those meat headed males. Honestly Aurthur, I saw you try and jump! Trying to start a fight in public? What kind of example is that?!" She put her hand on the Potter girl's shoulder and shook it as they left. "I'm glad you're all right. My husband is right though, you shouldn't do things like that. You could have been hurt. Still, it's no excuse for him."

Harry walked up beside her with a subdued expression as they moved to meet the rest of their friends outside. "You've met his dad before? Why do I get the feeling there's more to what just happened than you're letting on, yet again?"

The girl frowned at him, but her features softened. "Nothing I can prove." Her eyes were hard, and she was focused on another problem. Lucius Malfoy hadn't slipped Ginny Weasley Tom Riddle's diary. She'd been very careful, and took a peek for herself when no one was paying attention. Something else had changed.

"What's with you?" the boy decided to push a bit and seemed amused with her mood. "First Lockheart makes you all screwy, now this."

"It's nothing, really. Just...forget it." She shook her head and sighed as she relaxed a bit more. "I'll tell you when it comes up. Hopefully it never will, but I doubt it. No point in worrying about it now."

"Anna, Harry!" Pansy rushed up to the pair and gave a sunny smile. "Come on. Our parents are letting us off on our own for a bit!"

OooOOooOO

Ginny Weasley was sitting in the seat just behind her brother and the Potter twins. The seats in that compartment were all taken. Neville Longbottom sat across from the two girls with a cheerful, if somewhat dumb looking grin. "You're Marci right? You were at the Potter birthday."

"Um, yes." The girl had curly blond hair and looked to be sulking into the corner, trying not to be seen. "It's nice to see you again."

"Wow. Sounds like you had a better summer than I did. I was stuck inside most of the time, with my Gran." Neville scrunched his face up a bit. "It wasn't bad." He seemed to realize neither looked interested in hearing about it.

Ginny felt a little bad, but wasn't sure if she'd regret asking him a question. "What house are you in?"

The boy shrugged. "Griffindor."

"Mum and Dad say I'll be in Slytherin." Marci nodded and shrugged.

"My brothers all say that would be awful. I guess you'll get to hang around with Anna." The redhead seemed pleased. "I'll likely be in Gryffindor, all of my family was."

"Sometimes it goes like that." Neville shrugged. "Slytherin and Gryffindor are especially bad about it. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff not so much."

Marci furrowed her brow and put her finger up to her lip. "Um, why?"

The boy shrugged. He seemed pleased that someone wanted to speak with him.

Another boy sat down next to Neville. He was slim, with sandy blond hair. Another boy came in with him. They nodded at the rest of the car. "Hi." The other boy spoke up first, he was a slim black boy with short hair and a wide grin. He seemed to regard the girls a bit more than his friend.

"Hello, Seamus, Dean." Neville seemed pleased to see them and shifted a bit to make more room.

"Hey. How are things Neville?" The black boy seemed to notice he was sitting there.

"Not bad, pretty boring though. I spent most of my time helping Gran out this summer." He didn't elaborate and flushed a bit.

"You're Ron Weasley's sister? Ginny?" The slim white boy had an Irish accent and looked over at the redhead.

The girl shrugged. "Yeah."

"Cool." Dean nodded and seemed a little more interested. "I got turned into a Vampire last year."

Finnigan nodded. "Yeah. Both of us. We both hang around with Harry and Ron sometimes. We were just wondering."

"There you are! What are you doing in here?" A rather shrill and obnoxious tone filled the car and all the children's heads whipped to face it. A second year girl with her hand on her hip was frowning as she looked into the seats. "We've been looking for you."

Marci's eyes had gone wide and she shrank back a bit looking nervous and frightened. "Oh, hi Melissa, I...I I...um..." She cowered back a bit and started shaking. "I um...kind of can't.."

"What? Why not? Surely you don't want to sit here with yet another Weasley, the biggest clutz in the whole school, and two drooling fanboys?" The girl whipped her brown hair over her shoulder and put her nose up.

"Well, um..." The blond girl hopped up and looked frantic. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think I remember something about being friends with Anna Potter. I'm pretty sure Mum said something like that." Marci didn't look very certain at all and looked towards the ground while playing with her feet. "Um...heh?"

The brunette girl's eyes went wide. "What? Friends with that brat? Marci, you idiot! Why would your Mum of all people tell you to do that?"

The blond girl's curls bounced as she grinned at her friend. "Oh! That's right! That's it!" She slapped her fist into her palm. "I'm supposed to spy on her for Mum and Dad! Fearless Leader will be pleased with us, once he comes back to destroy the...um...what's the word again? I forgot." The blond girl teared up a little as she tried to make her brain work.

"Mud Bloods. Like the people infesting this car." Melissa growled and grabbed the girl by the front of her shirt.

"Hey! You brat! I'm gonna tell her what you're doing! I don't believe this! She invited you to her birthday party!" Ginny's eyes went stern as she glared at the blond girl.

Von Camp shrugged, "I'm pretty sure she knows already." She scratched the side of her head. "It's not been so bad really. She's so nice!" The girl's grin returned.

"Oh. I don't believe you!" Melissa growled and tugged on the girl's robes and pulled her out of the seats.

"I thought I heard stupid." She ran right into Anna Potter, who was standing with her arms crossed just behind her. "Leave her alone. She's got orders, don't you Marci?"

"Um, right." The blond girl nodded and ducked back into her seat again. Everyone was looking at her with an odd and somewhat horrified expression.

Melissa put her nose into the redhead's face. "You think I'm going to let you make her sit with this Muggle born filth." She pointed at Dean Thomas and snarled as she made a grab at Marci's arm.

"He's a Half Blood. If you're going to insult someone at least get your facts straight. You should move on." The other second year girl didn't seem bothered or phased and blocked her attempt to grab the other girl.

Melissa hissed angrily as she stormed away. "Don't speak to me again, you traitor!" She jabbed her finger at the blond girl and spit on the ground.

"Wait! Lissa! I um...oh no. What should I?" Marci seemed to be at a loss and stumbled, uncertain of whether or not she should follow.

Ginny was glaring at her with her arms crossed, and the two boys didn't seem pleased with either of the two Slytherin girls.

Anna frowned at the group. "Hey. Be excellent to each other."

"Easy for you to say." Seamus snorted and looked out the window. Neville was scratching the back of his head.

Dean jumped up in her face. "Both my parents are muggles." He pointed his finger in her face and looked upset.

The redhead's eyes went a little wide. She spoke before she thought about it. "No, your father wasn't. The Death Eaters tried to recruit him, but murdered him when he refused. They'd have killed all of you if they'd stumbled across his family." Her hand slapped over her mouth and she rushed away.

Dean's eyes went wide and he stood there. "What? You...you..." He had his fist clenched and was breathing heavily through his nose. He stormed after her and threw the door open.

She looked very nervous, and everyone else was had stopped what they were doing to face the new intrusion. The redhead was standing with her arms behind her back, her legs crossed, and looking at the floor with a flush on her face.

"How dare you! Who the hell do you think you are?" Dean Thomas was pissed.

The girl's head shrank a little more. "Sorry. I didn't mean..."

"You don't tell me who my parents were! Both of my parents were Muggles. I don't need you..." The boy turned about and pulled at his hair in frustration.

The girl looked irate and interrupted. "So what? Her's are, and she solved the ultimate question!" She turned and crossed her arms. "I'm not wrong, write your Mum and ask her yourself!"

It didn't help the boy's temper. "What?!"

"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Check your facts before you lash out at me. If I'm wrong, I'll give you a million Galleons." The redhead turned her nose up. She felt horrible turning it around on him that way, but wasn't about to try and explain that she couldn't have not told him. "You know I'm good for it. You also can't mention the money when you ask. Just tell her you've found someone who says they know what happened to him." She stuck out her hand. "Do you want me to swear to it?" She pulled out her wand and held it up.

The boy's face fell. "I...what?" He still looked upset and was glaring at her with his head down a little. "Fine. Go ahead."

A small charm later and the pair clasped hands. The girl looked at him with a stern frown on his face.

"What was that about?" Harry turned his head towards his sister and frowned. He was going trading chocolate frog cards with Ron. Dean had left with a frown on his face while wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

"Don't worry about it. I just said something I should have kept to myself." The girl snorted and pulled her ball cap onto her head and down over her eyes.

"A million Galleons?" Hermione's eyes went wide. "Are you crazy?"

"I'll match it." Melvin smirked and looked over his magazine. He was talking with the other boys, but had no interest in the cards. "She wouldn't have done it if she thought she was wrong."

Pansy and Margaret both seemed annoyed at the entrance. The redhead had been in a good mood until she'd come back from dealing with Melissa.

OooOOooOO

Anna was sitting at her house table with her usual crowd around her. It was a bit different though. A great number of first year girls were watching her. More than anyone else at the table. They were trickling in one at a time, but most were very interested in where she was sitting. She was enjoying it for the most part, she didn't do it for every sorting, but was throwing out accurate predictions on what house the first years were ending up in.

There were a few wide eyes, but for the most part, just uncomfortable shifting amongst the older students.

"It's Lovegood. She's got to end up in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. She's too stupid for us or Ravenclaw." One of the third year girls a little way down the table cackled with her friends over it. Dumbledore glanced in that direction as the girl moved up to the hat with a small frown.

Anna sipped on a cup and spoke up. "Ravenclaw actually." She said it loud enough for the group to hear it, and they all turned to give her dirty looks. The hat agreed with her and she moved off towards her table. None of the older girls seemed pleased and continued to give her mean looking stares. No one noticed Dumbledore's subdued smile return as he continued to oversee the sorting.

A short time later, the sortings were nearly done. Anna grabbed Marci's arm as she walked by and gave her a small tug to pull her down next to her. "You can sit here. Not going to have much to report if you sit all the way down there are you?"

Marci grinned and seemed pleased. "Um, thank you. You're really nice! What with me spying on you and all. I kind of feel bad." The girl scrunched her face up a bit.

Anna shrugged. "Whatever." The girl seemed as dumb as a rock, and was easily twice as air headed as Pansy probably more. She was almost certain it wasn't some sort of clever act either. "Who knows, maybe I can make a decent double agent out of you?"

"Wow! Really?" The blond girl seemed amazed.

"Hey. It's Ron's sister!" Pansy pulled on Anna's shirt. "I bet even I can guess where she'll end up!"

Before anyone else could answer, the sorting hat's deep bellow filled the hall. "Slytherin!" The young redhead pumped her arm and started walking over looking pleased.

Everyone at Gryffindor's table was looking at the nearest Weasley. Percy, Fred, and George had dropped their arms out of an expected cheer and watched in stunned silence, just like their little brother.

Anna was very aware of this, and looked rather surprised. She watched the girl walk over and almost jerked her down beside her as soon as the younger girl was close enough, Pansy shifted a bit and seemed confused.

"Hey. I can sit with you then?" Ginny was overjoyed at being forced down next to her.

Anna worked her jaw a little and looked at her with wide eyes. "Um, yes." She nodded and looked at her friends and shrugged. The younger redhead looked over at the cheerful blond. "Hi. I guess we'll be together this year then?"

The blond nodded and seemed pleased. "Looks like it. I think it's kind of neat."

OooOOooOO

Ron, Percy, Fred and George were all standing around their sister. Each looked shocked, horrified, and downright unsure of what to say or do.

Anna was holding the younger girl's shoulder just away from the end of the house table as they approached. "Hi. Don't worry. I'll look after her."

Percy spoke up first. "This is your fault!" He glared at Anna, the other boys seemed to agree.

"I knew her interest was a bit more than healthy. All she's done since she met you was talk about you." Fred and George passed the idea between them and looked irate.

Ron hung his head a little and sighed. "You? Look after my sister?" Everyone looked at the boy. It was the first time he'd shown even the slightest worry since he'd returned from Romania. "No! Leave her alone! Please!"

Anna narrowed her eyes at them and patted the rather dumbstruck and flustered Ginny on her shoulder. "Well, you can't really stop me from looking after her. You're not going to do it from the dorms in Gryffindor, are you?" She turned away with her nose up, leaving them to have a moment with their sister alone.

"What happened?" Percy grabbed her shoulders and looked mortified. "Where did we go wrong?"

The girl kicked him in the shins. "That's where the stupid hat put me!"

"Oh. That must be it," Fred shrugged.

"I wish I could see the looks on Mum and Dad's face when they find out." George seemed to relax a bit and grinned about imagining it.

"Man, won't that be something?" His twin seemed to agree and smiled along with him.

"Well. Good luck I guess." Ron put his hand on her shoulder and turned away. He shook his head and smirked to himself. "Now I know how Harry felt last year."

Percy hung his head and gave a heavy sigh. "Just don't do anything stupid."

OooOOooOO

As soon as the students headed from the Great Hall to the dorms, Anna received a note from one of the prefects. It was from Professor Snape, and told her to meet with him on a balcony near the top floor of the school. She knew the location, as it was between two of the classes she had last year. The note mentioned something about 'discussing a few details regarding her apprenticeship in the coming year'. She'd just arrived and steeled herself for her first confrontation with the man. He had his back to her and was looking out over the grounds.

"Potter, you have a small problem." Severus Snape looked very angry at the girl standing in front of her.

The redhead wasn't pleased to be speaking with him, and found herself wondering why they were standing on the balcony behind Hogwarts instead of a less conspicuous location. The meeting was expected at some point, the location was a bit confusing. "Problem?"

"Yes. You'll be suffering for such an unbelievable blunder for the rest of the year under my thumb." He hissed and turned towards her, he looked very angry as he leaned in shaking his finger at her. He pointed down over the edge of the balcony after.

The girl's eyes went wide as she noticed what he was talking about. There were bunnies rushing about the grounds. Dozens of them. Their white fur made them easy to pick out, even in the dark, and her eyes only made it easier. "Me? I specifically told you to use a male rabbit! It was written into the directions, I took special care to mention it...you didn't read the warnings at the top of the page did you? You just skipped right down to the recipe part and ignored the rest?" She looked surprised and shocked. "You, of all people..." The girl looked stunned and leaned against the railing. "Always make sure you read everything. Even if it means reading a bit of the potion above, and below. Even if it means turning the page to make sure you don't miss one detail." She was quoting him back at his face.

The man was enraged. "Potter, perhaps you should reevaluate your position."

"I'm not letting you pin this one on me. Not after you made us write that a thousand times as a class because of Longbottom." The girl was more than irate with him. "Look. Neither one of us has to take the blame for this."

The man growled as he hung his head and leaned against the railing in frustration. "Don't be stupid, the problem is worse than you think," he muttered . "Have a look."

This time her eyes went even wider. Rows of house elves, armored in washboards, carrying knives, hammers, torches, and bows and arrows, were marching on the position of the bunnies. The dim witted fluffy creatures seemed unaware, and rather looked like passed out drunks.

The elves formed ranks and beat on the pot lids and washing boards they used as armor and shields. The archers drew back their bows. The redhead cringed as hoots and high pitched screams as hundreds of bunnies sprang up from the tall grass as the house elves began firing arrows. The shafts stuck into the fluffy creatures, but never went in very far. Bunnies were screaming, running around holding their rears , heads, and flailing arms as the deluge of sharp missiles poured down upon them. A moment later the offending object was pulled out and the crazed minions forgot about them. Almost all at once they seemed to notice the elves, the House Elves seemed very nervous, and a few rattles from shaking armor could be heard. The rodents' ears were up, their eyes wide, and all of the bunnies froze for a long moment. Finally, one gave out a battle cry, a pot and ladle were pulled from his mouth and waved about as he charged forward. Almost as one, the rest followed the charge.

The Elves were crushed by numbers. The bunnies pelted them with small stones, climbed all over them, beating them with small blunt objects. After several moments, the house elves crawled away towards the school looking tired and beaten. They'd managed to knock around quite a few of the creatures, but they were up and about a moment later as good as new. The house elves weren't so lucky.

One unfortunate house elf was left inside the mass of bunnies, surrounded and huddling as they all looked at him with their calm dumb stare. He was on his rear, shaking, licking his lips, looking about in every direction, seeing only pink twitching noses, and dull glassy eyes. They all screamed at once around him, he fell flat on his back and passed out. The creatures lifted him up and passed him over their hands, tossing him towards his compatriots. He woke up after his landing and scrambled towards the rest. One other house elf was waving him towards the door with a worried expression. He was using a pot lid to shield himself from rocks and sticks, though none had come close to striking him where he was.

The bunnies were leering and taunting them, middle fingers raised, rears being slapped, and small sticks and stones being tossed towards them. It didn't take the house elves long to make it back to the school, all managed to stumble to their feet as they escaped the swarm, and vanished into the school. Cries of "Nyaaaa! Nyaaaaaah!" from the crowd of bunnies could be heard from below the two humans who watched the exchange.

"Holy shit!" Anna was stunned.

"Yes. It's not just Hogwarts. The countryside is infested with them. We're just fortunate Muggles can't see them. It seems they've developed a taste for keys, something called credit cards, spectacles, pens, and left socks."

The girl couldn't take here eyes off the scene. "So, you're telling me that..."

The teacher nodded once and didn't look at her. "Yes. The house elves have declared war on you, and your little army."

The girl's face fell again. "I...wha...how did...no way...this is..."

"I said you would suffer this year. I never said I would be punishing you over this. Don't expect someone else to do your laundry this year. I'd be careful what I ate as well. They aren't allowed to harm you at Hogwarts. That doesn't mean they aren't willing to try and find someone who might. The elven elders have more power and influence than you might imagine," he snarled at her.

The girl's glare went hard. "Then you'd best hope they don't discover who supplied the female."

The man straightened his back and turned to leave. "Don't over estimate the value of a little leverage. Playing that game could be more dangerous than you think."

She frowned at him. "I'll remember that."

OooOOooOO

Anna was sitting and being adored by Ginny Weasley. They were in a corner of the common area, Pansy and Margaret were amusing themselves with talking to Marci close by. It was making her kind of uncomfortable. "So. Ginny. Any idea how you ended up here? Usually, only certain kinds of people do."

The younger girl seemed to think about it. "I want to be like you." She turned red and looked down in her lap with her hands folded there.

Anna snorted. "That's a terrible idea. I'm the last person you want to be like. I got attacked twice this summer, my parents were dead for eleven years, and the people they stuck us with weren't very nice. It's only been a bit more comfortable since we came to Hogwarts and got rid of those muggle toads." The older girl flushed at the surprise that registered on the younger girl's face. "Not because they're muggles mind you. They would have been toads if they were wizards too."

Ginny calmed a little and nodded. "You're still my hero though."

"I'm only two years older than you." Anna sighed and hung her head a bit. "I'm not the best role model. Besides, I couldn't teach you the whole Jedi thing anyway. You should be you. Your talents probably won't be the same as mine."

"Jedi?" The younger girl seemed confused. "Ron's said something about that."

"It's a long story." The redhead rolled her eyes. "Something I remember from a past life. It's was a very strange place, quite different from this one."

"I don't mind." The younger girl was almost bouncing in her seat.

Anna shrugged. "Well, a long long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."

OooOOooOO

The redhead ended the story just as she always had. Just up to the death of Darth Vader, and no farther. "That's about the best I can do to explain what a Jedi is." Two hours had passed and she paused and looked around. "Huh?"

"A past life huh?" She had about half the room looking on in half amused confusion. One of the girls behind her spoke up. The girl was leaning against the back of the chair and looking lazy and unimpressed. "Not bad, Potter."

"She's always been good at amusing people." A sixth year Asian boy with a ponytail chuckled. "Too bad she's not much use for anything else."

Melvin was as white as a sheet and looked uncomfortable. Margaret noticed, and was looking over at the redhead. Neither one of them had ever heard the story before. "Wow."

Pansy was chuckling. "I don't think she noticed everyone else had started listening."

"A past life? Who were you? That whiny prat that died, or the uptight prat of a daughter?" Melissa started cackling with a group of girls being ignored by the older boys in the middle of the room.

The redhead growled but said nothing. She looked over at Margaret and Melvin, and they seemed to be the only ones in the room who believed her.

"Maybe she was both." A raven haired fifth year girl with a crooked hooked nose.

The room filled with laughter. It only lasted a moment. Ginny looked angry, and there were a few other silent and uncomfortable looking first years.

After the laughter died down a voice no one was expecting to speak up. Crabbe and Goyle looked on in shock as Draco stood up with a grin on his face. "What's the matter Potter? Don't want them to know?" A familiar snap and hiss sounded in the room as everyone turned towards the new red light in Malfoy's hand.

The older redhead glared at him and stood up. She didn't speak, and smiled a bit. Ginny jumped up to try and say something, but the older girl pushed her back into her seat with a gentle but firm shove.

Everyone was looking at the second year boy as he walked up to within two meters and leveled his eyes on her. "She was telling the truth, and her name was Anakin Skywalker." You could have heard a pin drop if the hum from Malfoy's new wand wasn't radiating through the room.

"Been dying to show that off have you?" Anna's lips turned up in a cool looking smirk.

He waved it about at wand length. "Someday I'm going to kill you with it. I think I'll let you kill 'You Know Who' first if you can though. He'll be in the way later. I've a feeling you already know what to do. Odd that." He looked about the room over his shoulder at the rather quiet room. "This isn't a wand, it's a light saber. Interesting. I was wondering how you learned about this. My master will be pleased to hear about it." The blade extended to sword length. "Quite deadly as well, we've all heard about that I'm sure." He glanced back over his shoulder.

The redhead arched her eyebrow a bit. "You were wondering? Don't you mean 'he' was wondering? Someone in your position isn't rewarded for having thoughts of his own."

"Like I'd give you a hint." Draco looked smug as he put away his new wand. Without another word he walked up the stairs to the dorms.

"Dumbest thing I've ever heard." A heavy set fifth year boy with a shaggy mop of blond hair snorted and shook his head. There was a lot of agreement, but it wasn't universal. No one seemed to trust the story much, but some of them were uncomfortable and giving her glances. She sat down again and turned to Ginny. "I can handle myself. Don't go jumping in front of me that way. It might get you killed one day."

The younger girl flushed. "Sorry."

"Look, your brother is Harry's best friend. I like you too, so I'll help show you the ropes and whatnot. Don't worry." The older girl's face scrunched up. "And don't try to be me. You'd fail and end up miserable. You'll figure out your own thing. That's how it works, trust me."

"Good advice. Potter. I'll be keeping my eye on you." The older redhead looked up and got a rather surprised expression.

It was Kate Delane, she had her arms crossed over her chest and was glaring down at her with a stern looking frown. Her prefect patch was visible and it was obvious that exactly what the older girl wanted. Her eyes fell as she realized the younger girl hadn't flinched.

Anna's jaw went tight as she looked the older girl up and down. "Should I bother with offering my..."

"Shut up. I don't want your pity." The older girl's eyes went wide and she led her head up higher to glare down at her more easily. "I've got you under my thumb now, Potter. I'm going to enjoy it."

"Why are you talking to me? I'd think I'm the last person you'd want to meet." Anna growled and frowned at her. "I don't trust you, and I won't be intimidated. You should understand why. You seem to be trying to scare or make me feel guilty. Probably both. I'm not going to apologize for not letting her murder me. She shouldn't have been out trying to murder some child she didn't know, and got what she deserves for trying it."

The older girl didn't react and kept her firm frown and her nose high. "I'll always remember what you've done."

"I'm hopeful you remember how I deal with that kind of threat. I'll be no kinder to you should you try. One way or another, Voldemort will be destroyed. Human power has evolved beyond him, and I have already begun to destroy him."

The older girl turned her back to the redheads. Ginny was silent and looked nervous, she was almost curled up in the back of her chair. Anna was glaring at the back of the older girl's head. "This has nothing to do with him."

"Who do you think sent her to kill me in the first place? Why don't you ask Draco? After all, he stepped in to save one of them. Odd that he would ignore the others dying, and only step in to help out one. Voldemort may still be without his body, but he still has agents here. You should ask yourself, who really killed your mother. The one she was sent to murder, or the one who sent her, even knowing how dangerous it would be?"

"You're not shifting the blame elsewhere, Potter. I'll be watching you like I had a charm on my eyes." Kate snarled and walked away at a brisk pace.

Ginny moved close to Anna as soon as she slumped down in her seat and sighed. "Who was that?"

"The perfect example of how 'being like me' isn't a good idea." The older girl rubbed at her temples. "Sorry, I don't mean to sound like I'm picking on you or anything. It just sounds like a bad idea to me."

The younger girl nodded. "I guess I understand. I get what you mean though. You're still really cool."

"You'll be fine." Anna nodded and gave her hair a small ruff.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next time: The new teacher...


	26. Chapter 26

A matter of force.

Part 26

The replacement teacher.

OooOOooOO

Anna frowned as she looked down at her plate the morning after the sorting. Sitting in front of her, was a plate of raw eggs, bacon, and sausage, a tall glass of rather murky looking water, and a bowl of cold porridge. "Heh." The corner of her lip twitched a little.

"Eew!" Ginny Weasley scrunched up her nose. Anna was sitting between Pansy and Margaret at the end of the second year group across from Ginny and Marci. Her plate was fully cooked along with everyone else besides the Potter girl. Melvin was sitting beside them as well, but didn't seem all that interested in what the girls to his left were up too.

"What?" Margaret looked down and her face became disgusted. "They forgot to cook yours?"

"Hey Potter, what good is being famous if even the house elves forget you?" Michale Cretus tossed his shoulder length black hair out of his face as he walked by. His younger brother was a first year, and sat near the end of the table.

The redhead's expression was rather relaxed, but she didn't look pleased either. "Great. I can tell already this year will be fun." She grabbed the metal lid off of a covered plate of buttered toast in the middle of the table. A ball of light formed in her palm that flamed a bit as she put it under the lid and covered her food with it. After a moment, the metal lid moved back over the toast and settled down on top. She slapped Melvin's hand away as he tried to grab it. "Let it cool off first." She was looking at her now cooked breakfast not noticing everything around her had come to a complete stop.

The second year girls seated next to her group seemed to jump awake and scatter off their seats, screeching as they backed away. The redhead turned her head and saw nothing but people standing up all around her. Some were backing away, a few people tripped into others as they stumbled. Everyone had wide eyes and slacked jaws. "What?"

"Wow!" Ginny muttered in awe. Even Pansy and Margaret had gone silent.

"How did you do that?" The raven haired girl spoke up first.

"What? Did I miss something?" Melvin had been more interested in the inside of the girl's top next to him. He was chewing on some bacon while rubbing at his hand a little and chewing on his breakfast.

"What? You didn't believe Ron Weasley?" The redhead was munching on her eggs. "I thought he told everyone I was tossing fireballs about when I fought that stupid vampire."

"He didn't say you weren't using your wand!" Pansy looked like she was about to jump up out of her seat but settled for squirming a bit.

"Oh, well. I wasn't." Anna was munching on her bacon and ignoring the rather shocked reaction. "What's the big deal? I've been levitating stuff since I came here. No one seemed bothered by that, well, not like this. I can see the future too." She shrugged and looked about.

Snape had been attracted by the commotion. "What is the meaning of this?" He swooped in and glared down at the redhead as he loomed over the scene.

Mellissa Reinheart screeched and pointed. "She-she made some kind of fire in her hand! Without her wand!"

"If the house elves aren't going to cook my breakfast, I've got to do it myself." The redhead looked about, most of the students had calmed, and had moved back to their seats. Everyone within earshot, including the house table next to them, was watching and listening. "I didn't realize pyrokenisis was this unusual. No one seemed that surprised about me being telekenetic, so I didn't think anything of it."

"Potter. A word with you." The man motioned with his hand and started walking back towards the faculty table. It didn't take long to reach the corner of the room just below the raised platform where the teachers sat. He stood between her and the tables and leaned in. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I told you. I'm not going to starve, and I can't rely on the house elves. I'm pretty sure I'll be needing to wash my own clothes and bedding as well." The girl shrugged and turned her eyes away from him. "I'm used to that sort of work anyway. I'll live."

"Word about you has spread. As usual you don't seem to realize how dangerous your position is." The man growled at her. "Your showing off puts you at a disadvantage Potter. It's bad enough dealing with your name in my house. You've no idea the trouble you've caused just being here. Never mind this..." His voice trailed off as he realized she was smirking at him with a rather dark expression on her face.

"Showing off? With simple tricks and fluff?" The girl shook her head. "This is what you think I'm capable of? What I've allowed you and Dumbledore to see? I'm afraid you've yet to see the Force unleashed. The wizarding world will tremble in the wake of it's power. What you've seen, what they've seen, is nothing. I'm in no danger of losing any secrets here, and if they think that is the extent of my power, then they are the ones with the disadvantage."

The man's eye twitched for a moment, but he stood tall and remained cool. "Very well. I've no patience for flash Potter. You'll be punished as any other student for misusing your...gifts...just as you would with abuse of magic. You've been warned."

"Yes Professor." The girl nodded. She'd be spending a lot of time with him in the coming years. She spent an extra period with him that year. It was normally used for study by the other students and most of them would spend it in the library. She'd given up her right to elective classes, an exception had been made for Divination. After her second year, she would be spending a large part of her day in his dungeon. By her fifth year, it would be as much as four periods a day.

"I shall speak with Professor Dumbledore about the House Elves." The man muttered it as he stormed away. He didn't sound pleased with the prospect.

OooOOooOO

Naturally, Snape's conversation with Dumbledore landed the redheaded teen in his office a short time later.

"War? With the House Elves?" The old man was rubbing at his temples and had a rather zoned out expression on his face. "I am afraid I am at a bit of a loss. Such a thing has not happened in two thousand years." It had not been the easiest year to start at Hogwarts. His Defense Against Dark Arts teacher had left at the last moment. A replacement had been found, and would start in a week. This new problem made it seem pale in comparison.

"It seems the Bunnies offended them." The girl shrugged. "I'm not that worried."

Dumbledore seemed aghast. "My dear..."

The girl shook her head and chuckled. "Well, I do have an army at my service. I've conquered a Galaxy Professor. I can handle the House Elves. I suspect those drow I ran into over the summer are a result of this."

"You take this so lightly?" The man's eyes grew stern as he frowned at her and straightened his back up in his seat.

"Bunnies can't kill, but they can defend themselves, hold a line, take positions, and force the House Elves to negotiate. I feel I've got enough to work with." The girl seemed calm and serene, but something dark lurked in the back of her eyes the Headmaster didn't like. "It won't be a simple matter, but not too difficult either. Perhaps they do mean to kill me, and my forces, but I don't have the means to slaughter them. My goal is negotiation, not conquest."

The Headmaster stood up and walked around to the front of his desk. "I think you may be underestimating your opponent. I will allow no harm to come to you on Hogwarts grounds, the House Elves will perform their duties, and I expect to hear about it if they do not adhere. I will have no wars here." The man stood up and put his finger on the desktop. It was the firmest she'd ever seen him, and he seemed quite adamant about putting his foot down.

"Very well." The redhead nodded. She didn't need Hogwarts to push the elves. Controlling the Bunnies would prove simple enough. She had already sent her personal minions to collect others, and they'd managed to come back with word of at least two hundred more. All eager to serve, and fight. They'd done it without leaving the grounds. It was going to take time, and she needed to know more about the Elves. The only thing that gave her any pause, was Battle Meditation. She'd not yet tried it here, and it didn't help that she'd need to coordinate her attacks around her school schedule. It wasn't a technique she could do in class. "I'm not going to abandon my Bunnies."

The old man frowned and straightened his back. The look on her face, cold as steel, determined, and unmovable. He'd seen it before, not since the War, but he'd seen it many times, on the faces of those who commanded others. "I see. I shall do what I can of course. I will contact the Elder, and see if I can arrange a meeting. Hogwarts will be a safe place to negotiate. I suspect you know something of how to behave."

The girl nodded once. "I've dealt with this sort of thing before." Her eyes became rather dazed, it was as if she'd just realized it herself. The bottom of her lip trembled a bit for a moment, it was not a pleasant memory. In a moment, she went from confident, to lost, and he could see fear in her eyes.

"I cannot say what will happen once you return home. You will be safe here." The old man gave a small nod to reassure her. He looked tired and exasperated and sat on the edge of his desk with his hands clutched together in his lap. "I am hopeful this will be resolved before the end of the school year."

Anna shook her head. "I do not fear for my safety. I must be careful how I use what I remember. You've seen but a glimpse of the man I once was. I cannot allow that again." The girl turned towards the door. "May I be excused? I have a lot to think about."

The old man arched his eyebrow and nodded as he seemed to relax a bit. "Yes. Be careful." He'd found her condition alarming, and it still worried him, but her final statement had struck him. It gave him a bit of hope.

Anna felt herself shiver as she walked down the stairs towards the hall. Fear welled up inside her, uncertainty and confusion clouded her mind as she staggered for a moment as she passed the gargoyle statue. "Who was I really? I don't understand." She leaned against the wall as she tried to push back the waves of emotion that filled her spirit. "What am I?" She looked at her hand and squeezed her eyes shut. She steadied herself and took a few deep breaths. Shattered memories filled her mind.

A voice echoed through her head. "Anakin...steady yourself, clear your mind..." The girl fell to her knees in the hall as her emotions calmed.

"Who? ...Master...I..." She could feel a few stray tears falling down her cheeks. Her fist balled up as she used the wall to help herself stand. Her eyes opened and she looked ahead. Regardless of who she was, she knew well that Lord Vader was not the only one who had dealt with war and negotiations in her past. "Anakin..."

Still, it left uncertainty and confusion. Though she found enough will to push it away. If she had been Anakin Skywalker in her past, then who was the man who had heard all that music? Who had learned to play guitar, who had read all those books, and seen all those films? How was it she could remember all of it in such detail? Every note, lyric, and page. Yet Anakin Skywalker, Lord Vader, came to her in pieces, flashes of emotion, and through her training. Those memories were broken and fleeting. She'd not thought about Battle Meditation before, not been aware of it's existence. She was remembering things beyond mere films and books.

It almost overwhelmed her again. "Who am I? Do I even belong here?" She put her palm against her forehead and pushed it away. She still felt out of place, distant from where she was, as if she shouldn't be there. It was faint, but there regardless.

Another voice floated into her mind, aged and raspy, but kind and gentle. "Younglings...be aware...clear your minds...focus..."

The redhead's eyes grew hard as she put her palm against the windowsill and looked out over the green fields outside. It was a glorious day. She became steady again and closed her eyes as she nodded, this time taking in the voice that filled her mind. "Anakin, be mindful of where you are, and what you are doing." A familiar and almost casual admonition.

She cocked her head and nodded. "Yes, master." Her hands clasped together behind her back as she lowered her head and started walking towards her next class. Each step filled with more confidence as her mind cleared. She knew of problems in the future, the weight of them was almost crushing, but the here and now was pressing enough.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter sat down at the Gryffindor table for his first day of school with his friends Ron and Hermione. He gave a heavy sigh as Professor Snape walked over to calm a rather jolted group of students after his sister lit a fireball in front of everyone at the table. She'd been dragged off to the corner, admonished from the look of it, and returned to her seat a short time later. Muttered whispers filled the room from that side of the room that spread across the hall.

"We've not been her a whole day yet, and she's already started." The boy who lived shook his head and scratched the back of his neck.

"What's going on? I heard something about some sort of fire spell..." Hermione leaned towards him and noticed there were a great many students looking over at the table. "It's silly, they say she did some sort of magic without her wand."

Ron was chewing on his breakfast and had a rather lazy half asleep look about him. "I told everyone about that. What's the big deal?"

"Yes." Harry glanced over at him. "You didn't mention that she wasn't using her wand that I can recall though."

"What?" The girl's eyes went wide.

"I thought it was obvious." Ron blinked and woke up a bit more as he seemed to realize it. "I said she was using her wand like a sword at the time. She couldn't really have been casting any spells with it."

This of course garnered a large number of uncomfortable stares from all around them.

Hermione glanced towards the Weasley twins, who were nodding and seemed to be confirming this to students around them. They were holding their arms wide and waving them about to emphasize the size and scale of what she'd been doing.

"Really? I didn't think anything of it at the time. Now that you mention it, I suppose we all sort of expected everyone to assume." Patil Parvati was sitting beside her boyfriend and glanced around him towards the frazzle haired girl.

"I suppose." Hermione didn't seem that surprised after a moment of thought. Something about Harry's face when the girl spoke up made her a little uncomfortable.

"So, how was your summer, Neville?" The boy who lived nodded and looked at the boy next to him.

"It was nice. I expect my Gran will be sending me some of the things I forgot in the mail." The boy smiled pleased to be speaking with him. "I helped my Gran around the house most of the summer. She had me helping her in the greenhouse most of the summer. We've got a big one on the grounds behind the house."

The Potter boy perked up a bit. "Really?"

"Yes. My family is one of the leading suppliers of herbs for potions in England." The large boy seemed a bit surprised. "It's been like that for generations."

Hermione blinked and smiled at him. "Really? I suppose all those shops on the Alley have to get them from somewhere."

"That must make your family pretty important." Harry arched his eyebrow and nodded. "Do you think she'd mind if we stopped by to have a look over the summer one of these days? I bet it's something to see."

"Sure. I don't see why not." Neville was rather shocked.

Ron nodded. "I suppose it would be kind of cool to have a look at some of the plants. It's true everyone knows Longbottom Herbs are in just about every potion shop in England. Quite a few over here as well."

The large boy blushed and nodded. "Hogwarts grows it's own, but we do supply some of the rarer herbs. Some of them are difficult to grow and require a lot of care. Professor Sprout is a good friend of Gran's. She grows a lot here, but some types are too dangerous or finicky for her to keep properly here. I met her a few times before I started here." He seemed to puff out his chest just a bit in pride.

The boy who lived smiled as a package landed in front of Neville. The boy flushed and opened it up, revealing a few small school supplies he'd forgotten.

Ron was fending off Patil as she tried to feed him. "My arms work fine. Really."

Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed as she glanced at Harry from behind her book.

"Something on your mind?" The boy looked over at her.

"No, not really. I'm just not sure what to expect this year. We've gotten all these books for Defense Against Dark Arts, but word is Mr. Lockheart was forced away on other business. It's caused quite a stir from what I've heard. Some of the parents are angry about it." She had Voyages with Vampires propped up against a milk jug and was reading through it. "There are a lot of rumors buzzing about, and we've not even started classes yet. Something about drow being seen about, that mess with your sister at the alley, all sorts of things."

Harry shrugged. "I suppose there's not much to be done about it. We'll likely have our plates full once classes start."

Ron nodded and fed himself with his free arm. Patil had hers wrapped around his other and was talking Lavender Brown. "I hate to say it, but I'm kind of looking forward to a little peace and quiet. No way it could be as bad as last year."

"I've heard they've replaced Mr. Lockheart already." Patil looked over at the group. "The new teacher doesn't start till next week. I heard my mum talking about it at the station earlier."

"Well, that means we won't have that class until then." Ron nodded and smirked.

"We'll miss a whole week of classes then! That's horrible! We'll have a time catching up!" Hermione frowned at him and growled a bit as she poked her nose over her book to glare at him.

Harry chuckled. "Now, it's not that bad. I doubt we'll have that much trouble catching up. We'll probably only miss one or two classes because of it."

"Speaking of that." Hermione turned her head. McGonagall was handing out class schedules and making her way towards them.

OooOOooOO

The first class they attended was double Herbology with Hufflepuff. The second year trio made their way to the greenhouse and found themselves facing rows of little dirt filled troths with rather small leafy plants growing in them. They gave Harry a bad vibe, but he pushed it aside as the squat witch with a patched hat over her flyaway hair moved up to the front of both groups.

The woman called over the class and began explaining the lesson. Everyone had to put on earmuffs, everyone avoided the pink fluffy looking ones, but Harry took them anyway. He didn't care what color they were, and they worked fine. It turned out the lesson was about re-potting Mandrake plants. The leafy plants in front of them turned out to have what appeared to be a rather ugly and colicky baby attached to the leaves rather than roots. Hermione ended up winning a few house points for studying over the summer, and no one was surprised.

Harry turned towards Ron and Hermione and noticed they were both flushing. "What?"

"Why did you take the pink ones?" Ron arched his eyebrow a little. His now rather famous hat was resting on the edge of the troth next to him.

"What difference does it make? They look less worn out than the others." The boy who lived shrugged.

Hermione flushed a bit and nodded. Even she had avoided them. Hers were brown, and a bit ragged along the edges.

"Well, it's not like anyone is going to make fun of him. He's Harry Potter after all." A curly haired Hufflepuff boy that Harry had seen but never spoken too joined them. "Justin Finch-Fletchly." He spoke brightly and greeted them. "Everyone knows who you three are." He seemed pleased to meet them and cheerful. "My name was down for Eaton. I can't tell you how glad I am I came here instead. Even if I am a little disappointed that Mr. Lockheart won't be teaching this year. My mum was a bit disappointed, but after she read Mr. Lockhearts books, she seemed to think it might be nice to have a trained wizard in the family."

After that, they didn't have much time to speak. After the class ended the group walked back to the castle and to Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class. It was more difficult than Harry had expected. They were tasked with turning beetles into buttons. The boy who lived had managed to make a few buttons that crawled about on six legs after a few tries, but the lessons from last year were a bit dusty in his mind. Ron had similar success, and ended up with a few legless plastic bugs with holes in the abdomens.

"This new wand is working out pretty well." He seemed surprised at his limited success. All of his school things were new, and his sister had been spared having to ever use handed down materials. It was an inch longer than his old wand, and made of polished black ashewood with a core of black silver.

By the time the lunch bell rang, both boys were relieved. Harry had ended up with three coat buttons, Ron had managed to create one, and another button that was a button, but still shaped somewhat like an insect. Hermione had met them in the hall, and showed them several perfect buttons. She'd ended up partnered with a girl in their class neither boy had spoken too.

"Honestly." Hermione was a bit annoyed. "All she wanted to do was ask me about you two. As if the assignment wasn't difficult enough."

After they ate, the ended up in the courtyard, where Ron and Harry met up with Melvin. The trio started talking about Quidditch. After a moment Harry turned around. "Hello."

A first year boy on the smallish side flushed as he realized he'd been spotted. He was holding a camera and looked rather slack jawed as he swallowed a bit. "All right, Harry? I'm I'm Collin Creevy. I'm in Gryffindor too. Do you think, it would be all right, can I have a picture?" The boy somehow became even more flushed. "Of Melvin and Ron Weasley too? So I can prove I've met you? I've heard all about you, what with You Know Who, and how he disappeared and you got that scar, and your band is awesome!"

The older boy gave him a warm smile. "I don't see why not." He slapped the boy on his shoulder.

Colin's knees buckled a little. "It's amazing here! My dad is a milkman. I'm taking loads of pictures to send back to him, and it'd be really good if I had one of you." He looked over at Hermione. "Maybe your friend could take it, so I could stand with you, and then the three of you could sign it?"

Hermione shrugged and seemed a bit put off. "I guess there's no harm."

"We're used to this sort of thing. No need to be so shy." Melvin seemed pleased with meeting the boy. "Here. You can have one of these." He took a photo of the band out of one of his books. "It's signed and everything." The boy's eyes went wide as he accepted it and saw Tenacious D waving back at him cheerfully with their instruments. "If you listen to one of our albums near it, we'll play the song in the picture."

"Wow! Thanks! Could you still? I mean, so I'm in the..." Hermione rolled her eyes and took the camera.

"Signed Photos? You're giving out signed photos, Potter?" Draco Malfoy's voice echoed through the courtyard. He was flanked by Crabbe and Goyle as usual. Both boys were even larger and more thuggish than before.

"It's part of the job." Harry was as cheerful as usual, even when dealing with Draco. Ron frowned a bit, but said nothing.

Melvin nodded. "My wrist still hurts just thinking about the crowd outside, Wembley."

"Could you move? You're in the shot, Malfoy." Hermione was holding the camera and looked a little impatient.

Collin was still beet red and stood in the middle of the mess.

Draco gave a rough snort and turned to stroll away. "I suppose I should. You're likely to attract a mob if word gets out you're handing out signed photos, Potter."

"You're just jealous." Collin frowned at the Slytherin students.

"I don't see what's so special about getting a cut on your forehead and not dying." Draco gave an amused chuckle that was echoed by his cohorts.

"Well, there is the band." Melvin shrugged. "Don't be such a stick Malfoy. You're ruining the mud."

"Care to repeat that Boggs?" Crabbe growled and Goyle popped his knuckles as they both moved up to either side of the smaller boy.

"I understand you don't like, Anna. It's not my business anyway." The raven haired boy gave a fearless shrug. "Still, Harry's been a pretty nice guy to you considering. Besides, I'm not scared of you. Your friends should know better than to threaten me."

Draco shook his head and shrugged. "I wouldn't bother with it myself just yet. He'll get what's coming to him. You'll fall into line when that happens. You've got no choice after all. Stop acting like you've got any power of your own, Boggs. You'll only get hurt." He turned away behind his two friends and moved off. Neither of his bodyguards seemed to care and decided to torment the smaller weakling who was dumb enough to speak out of place.

"What are you going to do? Beat us with your sticks?" Crabbe poked the smaller boy in the chest.

"Go and cry to that brat? Having a girl protect you?" Goyle snorted in crude amusement.

"Nah. I don't need to bother her." Melvin looked around and smirked. "Go ahead and touch me again, and see what happens."

Harry had backed away and was hiding his grin with his hand. Hermione and Ron weren't doing anything to help the boy either.

"Hey! You get your hands off him!" Crabe and Goyle noticed Draco had already left, and a large group of students had surrounded them both. Not just Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students as well. None of the nearby Slytherin students was willing to back them up, and had moved back away from the scene to ignore it easier.

"Yeah! You can't talk to him that way!" A fourth year Hufflepuff boy who outweighed either boy cracked his knuckles as he glared down at the both of them. He was wearing a Tenacious D shirt under his robes.

"Maybe I'm not the front man for the band, but I've still got plenty of fans." Melvin smirked at them. "They'll be pretty upset if I get hurt, and can't play."

Both boys backed off and went off to find their leader.

"Enough! Just smile!" Hermione was getting tired of holding the camera. A moment later there was a flash of light, and a very red and pleased looking Collin stumbled away with his camera.

"Just bring it to us after you get it developed and we'll sign it for you." Harry smiled and waved at him.

"Make sure you catch band practice. We'll be doing a few open practices this year as well." Melvin turned towards Harry. "I should get a camera myself."

The boy who lived gave him a small frown. "Just be careful what sort of pictures you take with it."

"You know me too well." The black haired boy shook his shoulder as the class bell rang.

Ron snorted in half amusement. "Just don't expect the two of us to try and help you out if you land in trouble. Stay away from my sister."

"Jeez, get off that would you, Weasley?" Melvin rolled his eyes. "Ginny's been hanging around Anna anyway."

"What's next?" Harry looked over to Hermione.

The girl shrugged as she tucked Voyages with Vampires under her arm. "Study period. We're supposed to have Defense Against Dark Arts next, but it doesn't start till next week."

A slender hand took the book from under her arm from behind her and she whirled around. A girl of about sixteen, in a brown hooded cloak was peering at her in a half amused way. "Hey!"

"Voyages with Vampires?" She chuckled and looked down at the title.

Ron's jaw dropped a little. "Afina?"

The girl's lips turned up a bit as her hood shifted towards him. "Hello Ron."

Hermione accepted the book back and frowned at her. "You know her?"

"We met in Romania." The redhead scratched his head and smiled. "You're attending here? I didn't notice you at the sorting."

Patil seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Ron." She latched onto his arm and looked the older girl up and down. Harry had backed away a bit, and Lavender moved up beside him. Hermione noticed this and took position on his opposite side. She seemed to realize they were both backing away from the new girl and Ron's girlfriend. "Who's this?"

"I'm Afina Amanar. You'll have to call me Professor Amanar from now on I'm afraid." The girl smirked at the expression the girl got on her face.

Hermione gasped. "Professor? Are you kidding?"

Ron swallowed. "Oh. You're..."

"I'll be replacing Mr. Lockheart as the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher." The girl nodded and pulled back her hood. She looked very young, and was quite beautiful. "It's good to see you again. I was just stopping by to speak to Professor Dumbledore about the final details before I start teaching on Monday. Don't expect any special treatment. I'm afraid I've got to be professional and honor my duties."

"You're the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher?" Hermione was dumbfounded.

"Oh. Well, good luck with that." Ron seemed pleased. "I was wondering what happened to you."

"Romania wasn't safe for me. England was as good a place as any. I already speak the language, and across the pond can be a little rougher for me than others like me. I'm not remembered well in a lot of places on the mainland." Afina gave a small chuckle at the look of surprise everyone but Ron had.

"You're not..." Patil didn't look like she believed a word of it.

"I'm older than I look. Excuse me. I'm afraid I've only got time to say hello and be on my way." Miss Amanar turned away and her cape fluttered in her wake. They were the only students left in the courtyard at that point.

"Who is that? You know her?" Hermione spoke up before Harry could. She was a bit forceful and seemed annoyed, but cautious.

"Yeah. I met her in Castle Dracula while I was in Romania." The redhead seemed to realize Patil was digging her nails into his arm.

"She's some sort of Vampire Hunter?" Patil relaxed a bit, but still seemed wary.

Harry turned towards the door. "Come on. We'll have a bit of trouble if Filtch catches us here."

"Who is she? How do you know her?" Patil was glaring at her boyfriend.

"Yeah?" Hermione had been rubbed the wrong way, and didn't want to believe the girl. "She doesn't look older than seventeen. How can she..."

"She's probably a former vampire." Harry shrugged as they walked down the hall together.

Ron nodded. "Yeah. She was nice once I turned her. I never would have gotten out of hell without her help."

"I suppose she'll be a good teacher then." Harry smiled and nodded.

"You're only saying that because she's pretty!" Patil growled a bit. Lavender and Hermione both seemed to agree.

Harry gave an amused snort and started playing air guitar as he walked. "I think of all the education that I missed, but then my homework was never quite like this. I got it bad, I got it bad, I got it bad, I'm hot for teacher..."

"That's not funny!" snapped Hermione.

Ron was chuckling. "Yes it was. Don't be so serious."

"I was right! You pervert!" Patil dug her nails into Ron's arm.

The redhead winced in pain. "Hey! Come on now! She's like five hundred or something."

The girl's features lightened a bit. "Just watch it."

OooOOooOO

Anna scratched her head and grumbled. She was relaxing in the lab at the top of the dorms. Her computer was resting on the counter top. Several beakers and vials lined the area around her cauldron as a potion simmered over an open flame. She had three books opened up, the pages flipped lazily on their own as she floated on a stool. Several orange and blue screens were suspended in mid air, seeming to be projected from nothing. Sections lit up as she tapped them with her fingers as she worked.

Her first day had been pretty uneventful after breakfast. She'd gone to Herbology and her hands were still a bit dirty from that, and spent two periods cleaning things in the dungeon for Professor Snape. It hadn't been that bad, as he left her alone to work. She wasn't foolish enough to waste time goofing off around him, and he seemed to realize it. She'd had to retrieve a few ingredients for him a few times, but it had been a silent affair otherwise.

She was planning on summoning Kreacher, but decided to put it off for a bit. She was tired and dirty, and could deal with that once she'd settled into school a bit more. Her minions were off gathering forces for her army, and from what she could tell, there were no bunnies who refused. All of them were willing to join her ranks. She wasn't expecting them back until morning. As it was, she was working on her index. It was barely started, and would require a great deal of effort to finish. She doubted it would be completed that year, even with the aid of her new toy. She still had to manually input the information.

"Hey." Anna felt something strange and a cold chill ran down her spine. She turned and looked at her side.

Marci was standing beside her and peering at what she was doing. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Just a little personal project." She gave a small sigh and smiled at the girl.

"Oh. What's this?" The blond girl's eyes turned towards the cauldron.

Anna continued to work, ignoring the girl. "Nothing much. Just a little something for Professor Snape. We ran out of blasting solvent for cleaning cauldrons, so he's having me brew up a batch. Don't touch it, it's volatile." It was used to work off particularly solid potion residue. Certain potions created a film that was almost as hard as stone, and nearly impossible to chip away with just a scraper and mallet.

"Oh." The blond girl put her finger up to her lip and leaned in to peer at it. "What's that mean?" She turned her head as she leaned over the cauldron.

"If you..."

Marci tapped the side of the cauldron with her finger.

"No! You..."

The sound of a loud boom filled the dorms, causing everyone to jump.

A moment later Professor Snape stormed into the lab, a thick smoke was billowing out of the doorway as he glared at the two girls inside. His face fell at the scene he encountered.

Anna Potter was cowering behind an overturned table, holding her knees with a rather dazed expression on her face as she rocked back and fourth. Marci Von Camp was crying next to her.

"Waaaaahhhh! I'm sorry!"

Anna was ignoring the fact that the girl was hugging her and staring off into space. "It...it can't be...no way...it..."

"What happened?" Snape sounded firm as he looked over his shoulder. Margaret, Melvin, and Pansy all backed out of the doorway, along with a few other students attracted to the commotion.

Anna looked up at him. "Heh. She's a bubble headed idiot of course." She still didn't look to be quite there.

"What?" The man was cautious in his tone, but didn't soften his demeanor.

"I'm sorry!" Marci sniffled and looked at him with wide blue eyes.

"Come with me." The man snarled. "It seems you can't be trusted with something like this yet, Potter."

That snapped her out if it. She frowned up at him and jumped up. "What? Me? She's cursed! She'll destroy any potion she gets near!"

"What?" The man locked his eyes on her face.

She returned the glare. "You heard me! Damn it. I don't believe this." She glared down at Marci, the girl was on her knees and still crying. "Stop it would you?" She looked up at Snape. "Look, why do you think she's been excused from Potions?"

The man nodded and with much reluctance, seemed to understand. "I see."

"This will happen any time she gets into a lab with something going on inside." The redhead grumbled and clenched her fist. Marci was clutching at her robe. "Can it would you? You're fine! You're just lucky no one died! Bubble head!" Anna growled and crossed her arms. "Stupid Mihoshi. I don't believe this."

"What is a Mihoshi?" Snape seemed confused by the word.

"Yeah?" Marci sniffed but calmed and stood up to let Anna go.

The redhead flushed. "It's nothing. Look. Good luck trying to keep her out of the lab. She's cursed. I'm willing to bet it draws her like a moth to flame, literally."

"It's true." Marci shrugged. "I'm sorry." She hung her head and played with the floor with her toes.

Snape growled, he had enough with the start of the year, and didn't need to be bothered with foolishness. "I see." He turned his eyes to the mess that remained on the counter. "Clean up this mess Potter. As for you." He turned towards the blond girl. "Stay out of the lab. You're not permitted to enter this room if you're not attending a Potion's course." He looked at the redhead again and pulled Marci out by her wrist with a bit more force than he needed. "I expect you to be finished with this before lights out, Potter."

"Yes, Professor." Anna growled a bit. She knew better than to think his warning was going to be enough. "Great. Just what I need. Stupid Mihoshi..." Her head fell and she held back a few tears. "I don't believe this...how in the hell? This sucks."

OooOOooOO

Meanwhile...

"At last! Hedwing!" Carrot pointed his wing through the skylight of the now abandoned gnome room. "At long last, we can finally begin our plans to take over the world!"

"Ha ha! Narf! Excellent Carrot...um...how are we going to do that?" The larger owl seemed pleased as she sat on the wooden floor of the rather barren room.

"I'm glad you asked Hedwing!" The shorter owl puffed out his chest. He used his wing to remove the sheet from the only object in the room. "We're going to use...this!"

"Poit! Excellent idea Carrot, it's sure to work! Ha ha!" Hedwig seemed quite excited. She turned her head sideways and peered at the object. It was a foot tall metal box with a round antenna on top and a dial on the front. "Um...what is it?"

"It amazes me how you can be both correct, and utterly thoughtless at the same time." Carrot hopped on top of the antenna. "Say hello to the automatic vortex machine!"

"Narf! Hello! It's nice to meet you, I'm Hedwig! Mr. Automatic Voltron Machine!"

"No Hedwig. Automatic Vortex Machine." Carrot sounded a bit irate as he corrected her.

"Not very friendly is he?" The larger owl tapped the side of the machine with her beak. "Must be one of those quiet types."

Carrot shook his head. "I'd hurt you Hedwig, but I'm not large enough to carry the Automatic Vortex Machine myself."

"Narf! So we're taking him out then? Perhaps some dancing, oh! We'll be needing rubber gloves and nylons then!"

"No Hedwig...wait..what? Never mind." Carrot shook his head as his brain stopped on his cohort's line of thought. He hopped over to a chalkboard on the wall with a crude drawing detailing his plan. "With this machine we can create a vortex of air, a cyclone of such power and force, that the humans will tremble before it's might!" He slapped his wing on the board on a drawing of two owls carrying the machine with a cyclone under it. "Once we reach the proper altitude, we will activate the machine. With it, we will decimate the world financial districts, swooping in to take control in the ensuing chaos!"

Hedwig cocked her head. "Proper attitude? I suppose a proper attitude is important for anything, Carrot. You can't do much in life without the proper attitude."

The smaller owl thwacked the back of her head with his wing. "Not attitude, Hedwing, altitude. We must reach an altitude of five thousand meters before activating the machine. Otherwise it will be quite painful for the both of us."

"I'm not sure I like this plan, Carrot." In a surprising moment of forethought the larger owl seemed wary.

"There's no danger. Only a large pressure wave, such as a nearby explosion, will set off the machine without activating it first. Once we get it into the air, there's no real danger of that." Carrot shook his head. "There is no cause for concern. Now come! We've got to reach an altitude of five thousand feet."

Hedwig gripped the machine's antenna with her claws at the same time as the smaller own and they both flew out the skylight and into the night sky.

As they passed by one of the towers just outside the school, just as they passed by one of the windows, a resounding boom filled the air.

"Bother." It was the last thing Carrot could say before the machine started beeping. A moment later, a small but forceful cyclone consumed both owls and tore across the grounds away from the castle. It was quite painful.

About ten minutes later, both owls were lying in the grass of the pitch, with the shattered remains of the machine between them. Neither was moving.

"Ha ha! Narf! Mr Voltage was a better dancer than I'd thought! Poit!" Hedwig stood up and stumbled around in a wobbled circle.

"Shut up Hedwig. If I could walk straight, I'd smack you." Carrot staggered back in the general direction of the castle. "Come on Hedwig. It's time to go home to plan for tomorrow night!"

"Why? What are we going to do tomorrow night?" The larger owl paused her stumbling for a moment.

Carrot was feeling a little ill and haunched over to breathe. "The same thing we do every night Hedwig. Try to take over the world!" He pointed at the sky with his wing and fell flat on his beak.

"All right, Carrot, but I think we should try ballroom dancing next time."

OooOOooOO

She was alone in the darkness. Alone, abandoned, suffering. There was no joy, no light, only darkness. In a way, it was comforting, familiar. Her body shivered, cold against stone. Chains bound her wrists, nothing but stone and shadow surrounded her as she stared into the mouth of death itself. It's face inches away from her, waiting, patient and cruel. Feeding from her very soul, waiting for the last drops of her spirit to drain away, to take her into it's embrace with a final kiss.

Out of the darkness a face, familiar, featureless, cold. Something else stirred. Features formed upon death's face, looking her in the eyes, familiar, cold, cruel. "Master."

"My servant."

"My life...for you...my soul...for you." She whispered, her voice harsh and cold. Her screams long since faded. Only pain, suffering, and anger remained.

"You are weak, useless. I have no need of you as you are now."

"Yes." Her voice haggard, her hair fell over her face and eyes. Tears of bitter disappointment fell down her pale and gaunt cheeks.

"You will become strong."

"Yes."

"Soon. Our time will come."

"Yes...my..."

"No. You are mine, and you must suffer."

"For you...master."

"Yes. For me." His features faded, death returned to gaze into her eyes.

The screams of the fat one started again, his mad mutterings of terror and weakness. She wasn't sure how long it had been since he'd stopped. He was weak, the worm. He would be useful again, but now he was nothing, and he would be destroyed in the end. Useless and weak. She was no different, but it would change. She would become strong, she would make them suffer. The child who had dared defy the true master of the world, he would suffer, he would die. Everything he loved would be destroyed, and things would be as they should.

A window high above her head, small and useless save to mark the passing of day and night flashed as a crack of lighting lit up the sky outside the walls of Azkaban.

"Soon." She would be patient, she would suffer. It would not come soon enough. It was not yet time, but she would be free. Ripped from the arms of death itself. It was a matter of time. Inevitable.

She needed only to be patient. In time, what had been started could be finished as it should have twelve years ago. Their time would finally come.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter frowned as he sat up in bed and rubbed at his scar. It felt like it was burning, not as much as when he'd been in the chamber with Quirrel, but he felt uneasy. His eyes were hard to keep open, but he turned let his legs hang off the edge of his bed. His fingers rubbed at his scar and he squeezed his eyes shut. "I sense a disturbance in the Force." He muttered it and frowned. After a moment of sitting, rubbing at his scar, he sighed and pulled his legs back onto the bed, putting his head on his pillow. It didn't matter now, it was distant, and there was nothing he could do. He could only be mindful, and aware.

He closed his eyes, and rolled onto his side. He could get a few more hours before his sister came to fetch him for the morning routine.

TBC...

Next time: Defense Against Dark Arts, and a stirring in the shadows.


	27. Chapter 27

A matter of force.

Part 27

A call from the darkness.

OooOOooOO

Afina Amanar stood in front of the blackboard in the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom. She watched as her students filed into the room. Professor Amanar was written across the blackboard behind her. She remained silent, as the only students who didn't regard her with surprise and slacked jaws, were Ron, Harry, and Hermione. They sat at the back of the class, looking around at the room.

Afina was a beautiful girl, who appeared no older than seventeen. She had red lips, silky smooth skin, deep blue eyes, and long brown hair tied up into a bun on the back of her head. She strolled around the front of her desk with a bit more bounce to her chest than any of the other teachers. Her dress was a deep purple, long and sweeping, dragging behind her a bit on the floor as she walked, but showed just a bit of cleavage at the top before closing around her neck in a collar.

"Hello. I'm Professor Amanar. I'll be your instructor for this course this year. Mr. Lockheart had...other obligations." She smirked at the crowd. She'd met Mr. Lockheart before, and knew him for the man he was. "Seeing as you've been assigned Mr. Lockheart's books. You might recall me. I appear in chapter seven of Voyages with Vampires."

The male students were pretty much all leaning forward, looking with wide eyed slack jawed amazement. Praising whomever they prayed to for their luck. Most of the female students were surprised, and a few looked irate. For the most part, everyone seemed more surprised by their new instructors beauty and youth.

Hermione made a few small choking sounds and looked at Ron Weasley, who simply shrugged back at her and nodded.

Harry seemed confused, but kept his attention on the instructor. She was pretty, and it wasn't very hard to do.

"I suppose I should curb a few rumors before they start. I am a former vampire, I am over five hundred years old, and yes, I was once one of Count Dracula's brides." There was a collective gasp and the creaking of wood as everyone in the room sat back at once. "Which leaves me more than qualified to teach this course. After all, until very recently, I was serving the worst of what you will be learning about in this course." The girl leveled a hard gaze at the room and tapped her finger on the edge of the old course book. "We will also, not, be using Mr. Lockheart's text." She shook her head and dropped Voyages with Vampires into the arms of a waiting bunny, who promptly consumed it, fell over, and passed out in a rather lazy sprawl.

The entire class looked at each other.

"Not using his books? My parents have gone and bought them all already." Hermione scrunched her nose up and looked annoyed. The rest of the room seemed to be in agreement. Though most were still in a bit of shock from her second announcement.

"Yes. I'm afraid that is correct. While Mr. Lockheart's adventures are exciting, and you may find a few bits of useful information within them. I'm afraid I know a great deal more about such creatures than even he could possibly know. Over the years, I've lived the dark arts. It was the core of my very being, my only path, my only study. As heroic as he seems..." She rubbed the spine of a copy of Wanderings with Werewolves. "Do you really believe that he knows more about werewolves than someone who has commanded no less than a hundred of them? Do you think he knows more about trolls, than one who has used them to lay siege to entire villages more than once?" She kicked the bunny awake, and fed him two more books. Each of which he consumed with an eager and ravenous enthusiasm. "Do you think, he knows more of dark and forbidden potions, forbidden curses, mind control, and Yeti?" Her copy of Year with the Yeti dropped into the mouth of the creature and it eagerly chomped it down.

She sat down behind her desk, having rid herself of all the text. Her cold but still beautiful grin settled on mostly stark white faces. "Fear not. Thanks to Mr. Weasley, I've been cured of such things. I'll not drop more on you than you can handle. Don't expect an easy time of this course. You will work, you will learn. For there are darker times ahead for all of us. There always will be. It is the nature of the world to fill everyone's life with both light, and darkness." She slammed the old Defense Against Dark Arts text on her desk, raising a cloud of dust into the air. "It's made quite clear in your standard first year text. Which I will be using for this course. You'll find all the useful information in the whole of Mr. Lockheart's books, contained all in one place here. Without the filler. After all, knowing his favorite color is Lilac won't help you if you're staring down the muzzle of a werewolf. Will it?"

Harry gave a half amused snort. He liked this woman, she'd scared most of the class half to death, but had a sense of ironic humor about it.

Professor Amanar walked around the front of her desk again, continuing her speech. "My job, is to prepare you for the worst the wizarding world have to offer. I don't care if you're a Death Eater, a Muggle Sympathizer, a Half Blood, or Muggle Born. It makes no difference to me. You must be prepared, whether using these arts yourself, or defending against them, to deal with what awaits you when you face them either way." She snorted. "You all tasted the same to me."

"Did she have to put it that way?" Hermione frowned a bit and shuddered.

Ron shrugged. "Well, I think she's being honest at least."

Harry was starting to look forward to the class. "This should be interesting."

Hermione glared at him. Patil was sitting beside Lavender, and looking like she'd wished she'd sat with Ron.

Ron noticed it and sank into his chair a bit. "Don't tell her I said it, but I'm kind of glad she's over there." He was rubbing on his arm a bit as he leaned in towards Harry.

"A bit of warning. I'm afraid you'll likely find this class rather dry at first." Afina started writing on the board. "On the corner of your desk, you'll find a copy of the first year text for this course. You may do as you please with Mr. Lockheart's books. You'll not need them here again." She turned and started writing on the chalkboard, giving reading assignments for all of them. "You'll need to read the first three chapters before our next class. There's no reason you shouldn't finish that much before the end of the period. Expect a quiz the next time you come here. We've got a bit of catching up to do. I don't think it will be a problem." She smirked over her shoulder at them for a moment before continuing to write.

There were a few small groans, but the class complied, and the lesson started.

OooOOooOO

It was evening at Hogwarts. The doors to the Great Hall opened enough for a single person to walk between them. A black hooded figure strolled into the room, her head held low as she walked at a brisk pace into the room. She was wearing her black robes, a metallic cylinder hanging from her belt in plain view. The curtains were drawn on the wall of windows that usually lit the hall for daytime meals. Candles and torches lined the walls, giving the room a warm light.

Professor Dumbledore walked up to her side. "Miss Potter. I trust you..."

"With all due respect Professor. This is my war, and my negotiation. I understand your concern, but it is best if I speak for myself once you introduce us." The girl looked up at him and his heart almost stopped.

There was no fear, no nervousness. It was a cold stare, serious and calculating. She wasn't frowning, and her tone was quiet and even. She turned her eyes towards the faculty table. A short creature sat in the headmaster's chair, glaring down at her. He had a long white flowing beard that stretched under the table, all the way to the floor in front of the raised platform. On either side of him, were seven Drow, and seven House Elves. All of them were older elves with white hair and beards to rival Dumbledore, but none as aged as the elder. The only elf who appeared to have any youth about him, was a rather familiar Drow on the end of the dark elves row.

The Headmaster stepped forward. "Your Eminence, Miss Annabelle Potter." He looked at her and nodded. "This is Master Tinglebum. The elder of House Elves."

The girl nodded and stepped forward. "You may call me, Lady Potter."

"Lady?" The wizened old creature chuckled. "What claim do you have to such a title?"

"I am a Lady of the Sith." She bowed her head in a respectful manner. "Master Tinglebum." The name held no humor for her. It was obvious the elder elf was surprised. Most humans, especially young ones, expressed a crude amusement to his name upon hearing it.

"Very well." The old creature gave a nod. "Sith? I do not know this word."

"If we cannot reach an agreement. Your kind will learn to know what it means." The girl held her head high and looked the elder in his eyes from under her hood. The eldest Drow frowned as he looked down at her face. He had gone from lazy disinterest, to alert and attentive in an instant. Her eyes were steady and cool, she was unconcerned for her safety, and not fearful of punishment.

Tinglebum looked back at her with his dull gray eyes and lifted a crooked finger. "You should be more respectful child. You do not..."

"I am not here to discuss such trivial matters. What are your terms? I see already that you've got friends. Those aren't House Elves." She nodded towards the Drow. "You have come here to discuss terms of war. Do not expect trivial conversation with me."

"Yes. They are a warrior race. They will defend our cause, destroy the abominations, and rid the world of the one who made them to oppose us." The old elf nodded.

"Oppose you? If I had intended the bunnies to replace House Elves, I'd have made them smarter." The girl strolled forward towards the table.

The elves surrounding the elder stood up and glared at her. She simply waved her hand, and all of them were forced back into their seats. All at once, they froze and turned their heads towards her. She ignored them, and they stayed silent for a moment, looking insulted.

There was an uproar from the seated elves as they howled and snarled at her. Dumbledore gasped and closed his eyes, frowning a bit more and rubbing at his eyes. He wanted to speak up, but the elven elder calmed him a moment later. Anna was as collected as she'd been since her arrival, and seemed unconcerned with any of them but the Elder Drow and Elder Elf.

"Silence!" The elder chuckled again as those around him grew quiet in an instant. "I begin to understand. You are a warlock. We have not seen one in ages. How quaint."

The girl shook her head. "I am Sith."

Tinglebum ignored her. "Tell me, Lady Potter. How do we rid ourselves of this plague? Hmm? How do we end this conflict, and destroy...?"

"That isn't an option. The bunnies have a right to exist." The girl met his faded gray eyes without fear. "I will not help you destroy them."

The elder shook his head, it was obvious the others with him wished to speak up. "No. We will discover their weakness. We will preserve our way of life. Our forces will succeed, you will die, and your abominations with you."

"The bunnies cannot replace the House Elves." The girl shook her head. "They cannot make a bed, they cannot polish a doorknob, they cannot sand a floor, or cook a meal. The only thing they are good for, is cleaning up trash, and acting as a lab hand. Little more than a dog fetching a stick and keeping watch over simple task, like stirring, or watching a potion cure under flame. Why do you feel this is a threat?"

The elder wrapped his hands around the staff at his side, stood from his seat, and slammed it into the ground with a hateful glare. "Trash is the business of House Elves!" He coughed from the exertion.

The girl nodded and lowered her eyes, hiding all but her mouth from view under her hood. "I see."

The old elf chuckled. "You will die, your monsters with you. We have faced them, yes. They are disorganized, barbaric, stupid. With the Drow, we will crush them. They have no tactics, no organization, no will to fight if not provoked. You have no defense against us."

The redhead turned her eyes towards the dark elves. They all glared at her, but none spoke up. She nodded her head towards the one on the end, the youngest present, the only elven creature without a white hair or any hair for that matter. "Really? Ask him how defenseless I am. I've met him before."

He growled and stood to his feet with a knife in his hand.

She snorted and waved her hand, pushing him back into his seat again. "There will be no battle here. Control your temper, lest I lose mine." He was gasping and clawing at his throat for a moment before she lowered her hand and released him.

The other elves were alarmed by this. The elder tapped his staff on the ground again. "Enough. We come in peace, and we shall leave in peace. The time to fight has not yet come. She has no army, powerful though she is. She cannot oppose our numbers."

The girl shook her head. "I am afraid you are mistaken." She waved her arm and the curtains of the great hall opened up.

"Merlin's beard!" Dumbledore gasped as he turned to look out at the grounds. Not a speck of green could be seen on the ground. Before him was an ocean of fur, spotted, white, black, and brown. Bunnies of all sizes and colors. A few even towered as tall and wide as a troll. The grounds were lit up by torch light, stretching into the forest he could see dots of orange in the distance. Some of the bunnies, the larger ones in particular, were carrying them to light the drilling.

The elves were all on their feet, looking on in horror. There were easily a hundred thousand bunnies visible beyond the glass of the windows. All of them standing in rows, brandishing clubs. They were marching with military precision, barking at each other raising their arms in salute as Anna watched them go by with a dark smile on her face. "You do not face a disorganized force of idiots. You face an organized army that is two million strong, and growing with each passing day. I told you before, I am Sith, and I am familiar with war. The bunnies are programed to obey. They are fearless, and unconcerned with personal safety, or each other's safety. A relentless force, that has sworn itself to my command. The perfect soldier, should the need arise."

"A trap!" shrieked one of the Drow.

"No. A show of force." The girl shook her head. "If you will not negotiate a peaceful solution that benefits us both. I will shove it down your throat after I defeat you. You may leave the grounds in peace, return to your holes, and await the coming storm. Be aware, you have underestimated your opponent a great deal."

"You said nothing of this!" Dumbledore frowned at her and sounded very alarmed.

She looked over at him and spoke in a tone not very fitting for a student speaking to her Headmaster. "You wanted to distance Hogwarts, and yourself from this. Besides, why would I have told you of this?" She wasn't about to throw Snape under the bus explaining his involvement with the creation of her new army. It was as simple as having it available, she'd not planned on breeding them to begin with. She realized she might have lost a bit of the old man's trust and respect. She didn't like Snape, but she might need his connections, and what he knew about the Death Eaters. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that he would need to trust her, if she was ever to take advantage of that. "This is my War. It does not need to involve other wizards. It is between the Bunnies, and the House Elves. I act on behalf of the Bunnies, as the Drow act for the House Elves." She turned her eyes towards the Elder Elf. "You were the one who dragged me into this, and you will suffer for it. I am very aware that this meeting is not going the way you imagined. You will not find fear or complacency, I will not weep before you. I will crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and listen to the lamentations of their women. Make no mistake that you face a force you cannot begin to imagine." She gave the two eldest elven creatures a dark smirk, enjoying the irony of that statement.

The Elder Drow's eyes went wide, he remained silent and kept glancing at Tinglebum. His jaw was hard, and he growled a bit. He didn't seem angry, but rather shocked.

The Elder House Elf was gripping his staff and looking at the sea of fur as it marched by. They could only see a hundred thousand bunnies, but the steady flow of them going by made it obvious there were a great deal more outside the school. "So it would seem."

Dumbledore spoke up glaring at the table. "There will be no war here."

The elder nodded. "House Elves will respect the pact with Hogwarts. They will perform their duties as ordered. Lady Potter, will remain unharmed...here."

The redhead nodded. "I will honor that, so long as you do. You may have numbers outside these halls, but I would have little trouble removing the infestation from these halls on my own."

"I wouldn't allow it." Dumbledore stomped his foot and shook his finger at the girl.

She looked back at him with a sour looking glare. "I'm not going to care about getting expelled if they're trying to kill me, Professor. I'm not about to provoke anything here."

The old man wasn't pleased, but nodded. "I can accept that. On one condition."

She seemed surprised but nodded. "What is that?"

"If you are attacked, you harm only those who would harm you, and you find me immediately." He glared at her. She knew well he was telling her, that if it happened, she would have to leave the school. "You must swear this to me child."

She nodded and raised her wand. "I am willing to be bound by those terms while I am here at Hogwarts. I swear it."

He used his own wand to touch the side of the light of her wand. The House Elves seemed impressed, the Drow as well, they muttered to themselves. "Very well." The old man seemed relieved.

Anna turned back to the table. A garrison of bunnies would remain nearby as guards. Hogwarts had a lot of House Elves, and she'd discovered the Drow had a reputation for stealth and surprise attacks in the darkness. They were very good at getting into places.

The old elf stood and turned his back on her. "We will take our leave. There will be no negotiation. Only total victory for House Elves."

"If that is your choice, I will march on Eden Falls by year's end, and the Great Hall will be destroyed." The redhead smiled at the group.

All of the elves looked at her with slack jaws.

"Such arrogance!" shrieked the House Elf at the Elder's side.

"Such bravery." The oldest Drow was looking at her with a rather dark grin. He had his arms crossed over his chest and chuckled. The House Elves, save the Elder, were all gawking at him. Even the other Drow seemed surprised. "I look forward to meeting you in battle. For one so young to stand against us in defiance. You have my respect, my new enemy. I have my doubts, but it has been many years since the Drow have faced a worthy opponent. You have taken two of my sons, and now only one may sit at my side." He nodded towards the youngest Drow. "I do hope there is more to you than the elves believe. To lose a son is a sad day, to begin a war worthy of the Drow with your own death. This would be an honor there is no match for. Pray, you do not disappoint me. I did not expect this much from a human child. I fear I may be disappointed. I have my doubts you are what you seem here."

Anna turned her gaze at him and nodded. "What is your name?"

"Aticus." The creature swept his arm and bowed his head. His skin was a dark purple color in the light, his eyes yellow with cat's eye slits. A well trimmed white beard covered his face, and a thick mustache hid his lip under his long thin nose. He was as thin as the other Elves, but a head taller than the rest.

"I've a feeling I'm fighting a war with you, and not this dried up puppet." She smirked at him. "May we drink to the fallen, when the day has ended."

The Drow grew silent, all looked upon her with glares, but seemed much more relaxed.

They filed out of the hall, moving past Dumbledore and Anna as she looked out over her troops.

"Tinglebum." Aticus moved up to the Elder's side and put his hand on his shoulder.

The aged creature nodded with what was either a patronizing, or unaware smile. The Drow was never sure which it was, he'd known Tinglebum for most of his adult life, and it was still a mystery. "This should prove no problem. A few days work, and it will be ended. We will..."

The Drow shook his head. "No. We have a real fight on our hands. She will march on Eden Falls before the end of the year. That girl, is more than you anticipated."

"Do not be foolish, Aticus. She is but a human child. Dumbledore does his best, but he is naive. We will defeat her."

"Yes. The cost will be much higher than you think. She is no mere child." Aticus growled.

"Just because she knows how Drow part ways?" The old dusty House Elf shook his head.

"No, because she meant it. I believe that girl knows the true meaning of that phrase." The eldest Drow glanced at his son, who nodded back at him. "We face true war. Not the skirmish and slaughter you imagined. A great day indeed for the Drow, but perhaps a dark one for the House Elf Clans."

Tinglebum shook his head in a slow and deliberate manner. "No. Once again, you imagine more than is true. I do enjoy your enthusiasm, old friend. This time will be no different than before. The House Elves will triumph, with the Drow at our side. We will keep our honor and dignity, even servants deserve as such."

Aticus nodded and curled his lip. "Yes. The Drow are not servants. Live with your yolk old man, leave matters of war to me."

Tinglebum nodded. "As it always has been."

OooOOooOO

"Well, I suppose..." Dumbledore sat against the table, watching the bunnies drill behind Anna.

"It went better than you think." The girl smirked at him. "I've gained a great deal of respect with those with the most influence. Tinglebum isn't really paying attention to the war he's started."

The old man seemed a bit annoyed with her, but didn't scold her. "So it seems. Still, I cannot condone any act that puts Hogwarts or the students here in danger."

"Yes. Thank you for what you have done professor. I've learned a great deal here." The girl nodded at him, but turned her eyes towards the bunnies. "I'm fighting Aticus, not the House Elves. Though, I imagine he will use them."

Dumbledore arched his eyebrow. "Aticus? I'm afraid I don't know much about the cave elves. They don't often associate with humans."

"Yes. They are aggressive, but honorable. A warrior culture." The girl pulled back her hood and smirked into the glass. "I've a feeling even if I beat the House Elves. I'll be facing them again with the Death Eaters." She closed her eyes and frowned again. "I'm pretty sure this meeting has changed the Drow's position."

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore stood up and looked down at her.

"They've realized they aren't fighting the bunnies alone. They were expecting more of a hunting party than a war. They're fighting me as well, and they've just realized they've uncovered a snake when they were expecting a rabbit." She looked up at him. "The House Elves aren't warlike. They don't understand. Tinglebum, while wise, is naive to the nature of what is happening. He doesn't understand that what he's fighting for is petty, and not worth the risk he's taking. He's fighting for pride, and stature. He's trying to pacify a minor complaint with a simple answer."

"What do you fight for?" Dumbledore seemed a bit put off, but nodded in a slow manner. He seemed to realize that she was probably right. He'd met Tinglebum before, had dealings with him. He was a well intentioned ruler, wise, and fair with his charges. The fact was, the House Elves had very few needs in the way of Government. Most of them worked in homes and had masters for most of their lives. They would return through the gate and into their realm on occasion. Eden Falls was a place where freed elves could go, until they decided to return and work for another Wizarding family. It was essential to continue the species, it was they only place they would breed.

"Survival." She replied simply. "Not just for me, but them as well." Her eyes strayed out across the sea of bunnies.

The Headmaster gave a heavy sigh and shook his head. "Eden Falls? I think you may be overestimating..."

"No. I've no doubt I can do it. The House Elves don't have much will. It will be easy to break them. The Drow, that's another matter. Even when the House Elves are beaten, I do not think the battle with them will end. However unwittingly, the House Elves have started something much bigger than they imagine. I've got to be careful how I deal with the Drow. If I am careful, I may end up with new allies. Then again...warrior races can be difficult. I may already be an enemy they aren't willing to forgive."

"Not a very optimistic appraisal. Hardly a successful negotiation." Dumbledore shook his head and sighed.

"I'm better off than I was before." The redhead shrugged. "They thought of me as a joke before. Now they are taking me much more seriously. As they have more difficulty dealing with me and my bunnies, then negotiation will become possible. They had no intention of doing more than coming here and making demands. That dusty old bastard actually thought I'd start crying, and let them put me in chains."

"I would not have allowed that." The old man shook his head.

"They expected me to break Professor, immediately. They came here intending to take me prisoner, force me to tell them the secret to destroying my Bunnies, and imprison me. They actually thought I'd just go with them, seeing that I was wrong. They expected a child, a little girl." She was growling as she said it. Her eyes were hard and angry.

"You are not?" Dumbledore put his hand on her shoulder, and she calmed.

"I've never had an opportunity to be one. I am Sith, and my enemies are all around me. I did what I could to protect my brother. In the end, it cost me my youth, my childhood." She looked at the floor and back up at him with a deadly seriousness in her eyes. "Thing is, I'm not so sure I'd have had it anyway. I remember quite a bit of my past life..."

"You are still young." She relaxed a bit more and he gave her a small smile. "I think you have more of a childhood than you imagine. You have your friends, and your family now."

"Am I? I've wondered at times, just how old I really am? It's confusing, sometimes." She gave him a weak but genuine smile as she turned away towards the hall and her dorms. "Good night professor."

Dumbledore frowned to himself and nodded as he looked out at the army gathered on his grounds. They were vanishing, marching away into the countryside away from the school. "How much can I trust either side?" Tried as he might, he could not find a better place for her, or her brother. Hogwarts was the only option in his mind. Sending her to a rival abroad had crossed his mind, but it wouldn't really help solve her problems anymore.

The only question, was the safety of the other students. Even in that case, he couldn't ship her off to endanger students elsewhere. He had no real reason to believe she presented a danger. Still, it was something to keep a close eye on.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was pushing his wand down as his sister used hers to block him. He was pushing her back against one of the tables. They had the hall to themselves that morning, none of the faculty were about.

She spun around to his side, striking at his legs as she unlocked the blades. Her brother hopped up on the bench and blocked another strike at his belly, jumping back down to the ground just out of her blade's range. They circled each other for a moment, before she rushed forward, hacking at him in a flurry.

Both of them pushed back and fourth, attacking and blocking, moving across the floor around the tables with ease. Harry flipped over her head, blocking her attempt to catch him in mid air before she jumped and waved her arm to slide one of the benches to throw off his landing.

He landed on the plank and within a half second, the were both balancing on the bench in the middle of the room, pushing each other to the edges, and then moving the opposite way. Neither appeared to get the upper hand. Harry jumped back and landed on the opposite edge after pushing her back, launching her about ten feet above him.

She tossed her blade forcing him to block and stay in place as she landed and caught it again as it returned. She held it horizontal with her free arm pointing towards him and smirked. "Clever."

"Thanks." She'd almost tripped him up enough to catch one of his arms as he did it, but he'd managed to pull it off without taking a hit.

There was a clatter of wood hitting tile from the doorway. Both twins turned their heads and looked towards the doorway.

Oliver Wood was standing and staring at them both with his jaw hanging. "I um..."

"Wood." Anna smirked at him and turned her blade off. She raised her hand and Harry did the same.

The boy grinned at his team captain and jogged over. "Hey. What's up?"

"Wow." The older boy was dumbstruck. "Wh...what are you?"

"He's mine in the mornings till an hour before breakfast." The redhead looked pleased with herself and scratched the side of her head with her wand.

"Oh." The older boy wasn't sure what to say. "Um, we've got the pitch for Quidditch practice. I booked it for us, so we could get an early start this year." He was giving the redhead uncomfortable glances. "The whole team needs to be there in fifteen minutes."

Anna shrugged. "That's about all the time we have left anyway. I suppose we could cut it a bit short today. No harm."

Her brother grinned. "Thanks, Master."

Oliver looked both shocked and displeased. "Master?"

"Only during training." The girl shrugged at him.

"What sort of training is that anyway? Fencing? I'd rather have a good wand to be honest." Wood put his hand on the wand on his belt as a reflex.

"This is my wand, remember?" Harry smiled.

"I suppose the simplest explanation is that it's a mixture of martial arts and magic." Anna smiled at him and nodded. "It's how we bond."

Harry turned a bit green as his sister grabbed his arm and rubbed her cheek on his shoulder. "Uh. Cut it out would you?"

"Um. Right. I've got to admit it's impressive. No wonder you're so good in practice. You've been doing this a while then?" Wood was impressed and shifted his feet.

The younger boy nodded. "Since I could walk."

"Well, gather your gear and come to the pitch...er...alone. Nothing personal." Wood looked at the redhead.

"Actually, I'm supposed to be meeting Flint in a half hour or so. Something to do with some sort of meeting. I'm the only girl on the team this year it seems." Anna nodded and shrugged. "I guess I'll have the lockers to myself."

"Really? Maria isn't playing?" Harry walked towards the door with his sister as Wood kept pace, eager to hear any details about his team's biggest rivals.

The girl smirked at Oliver and shrugged. "Something to do with it being too much work, and she didn't do as well as she'd hoped on her OWLs last year. You'll have a handful this year. Between me and Draco. Don't expect to win."

"Yeah. Only hope, right?" Her brother smirked and didn't look to be buying any of what she was shoving at him.

"I'm going to kick your ass." She strolled away moving her hips in a swagger. She blew him a kiss over her shoulder and winked. "Bye boys. Enjoy your hope while it lasts."

Oliver cringed. "Wow. She's...something."

"Yeah. She is that." The young Seeker nodded. "I've got to drop by the dorms to get my uniform and broom."

The captain nodded. "Right. I'll see you on the pitch. We'll be starting in fifteen minutes. Try to get there as soon as you can."

OooOOooOO

"Hey, Collin." Harry nodded yet again as the first year boy called out to him. The boy who lived had a smile on his face and was a bit surprised. The boy greeted him whenever he passed. "It's a bit early isn't it?"

"I heard you were up. Look, I got this developed. Will you sign it?" The boy was looking at him with wide eyes. He had a gold and red towel across his shoulders, just like Harry's. In his hand, was a picture of himself with Harry, Ron, and Melvin.

"I'm sorry, I don't have a pen." Harry scratched his head and yawned. "I'm afraid I've got practice right now."

The young boy's eyes went wide. "Really? I'll come watch! I've never seen a Quidditch game before."

Harry had his broom over his shoulder as Collin scrambled up to his side. "I doubt we'll do much. It's only the first practice."

"Do you think you'll fly about on your broom a bit?" The first year was almost running in circles around him. "I've heard about you! Everyone talks about how you routed Slytherin on a school broom! They say you're the youngest seeker in a hundred years! Weren't you Harry? You must be brilliant. I've never flown. Is it easy? Is that your own broom? Is that the best one there is?"

Harry looked at his broom. It was a custom model he'd gotten over the summer. His sister had it's twin. "Well, my sister wasn't on the team last year. We won't have an easy time of it. Flying isn't that difficult. If you can ride a bike, you can fly a broom. It's not really any more difficult. What you can do from there depends on your skill as a rider. I really enjoy flying."

Collin blinked and nodded breathlessly. "I don't really understand Quidditch. Is it true there are four balls?"

Harry shook his head and gave a small sigh. "You certainly are excitable aren't you? Come on. It's the first practice. We'll likely be covering the basics. Calm down. If you pay attention, you'll figure out how it works pretty quick I think."

Collin swallowed and nodded. The older boy had a smile on his face as he said it and put his hand on his shoulder to stop him from circling him.

"So? I've heard you're the Seeker then?" Collin was still hopping with excitement.

"That's right. I control how long the match lasts. I have to find the smallest ball, and catch it, to end the match. The team that catches the Snitch usually wins the match." Harry nodded and continued his quick pace towards the pitch. "It's worth a lot of points."

By the time he'd reached the pitch, he'd ended up explaining the rules of Quidditch to the boy anyway. He finally lost his exuberant fan at the locker room.

When he walked in, Oliver Wood was the only person who looked awake. Angelina was pushing one of the male chasers off of her side while resting against Katie Bell. "Ah! Harry! What kept you?" said the Captain.

As George fell asleep against Alicia's shoulder Wood gave a prolonged speech about tactics and training. He tapped a board with colored lines that crawled about across a diagram of the field and continued to speak.

Harry was confused by what he'd said, despite having heard it all quite well. There wasn't a sound beyond a few muffled snores in the room besides the captain.

"So? Any questions?" Wood looked about with a mad eyed grin on his face.

Harry raised his hand. "What color line am I again?"

"You're the gold one, Harry." The Captain tapped the drawing again.

"Oh." The second year nodded and looked at the floor in confusion.

George looked up. "Why didn't you tell us all this yesterday? You know. When we were awake?"

Wood was not pleased. "Look here! The lot of you! We should have won Quidditch last year! We were easily the best team. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control..."

"Oh yes. That mess with Quirrel." Harry frowned and nodded.

"Right. That! We'll have an easy time of it this year! We're all here, stronger than ever." Wood slapped his foot onto one of the benches and glared at them all. "What?"

Harry shrugged. "I didn't say anything."

"You look like you want too." Oliver frowned and jerked his arm in the air. "Come on then, just out with it."

"Well. We won't have an easy time of it. Now, not only do we have to deal with my sister, but Draco Malfoy as well. He's a goal scoring monster if you remember." The boy stood up and cocked his head. "Slytherin will be our toughest match. I'm confident I can control the Snitch in the other matches. Bludgers are fairly useless against myself an Anna. The Beaters need to make sure they are kept on Draco, and away from us. It will keep him off balance, and hopefully prevent him from controlling the Quaffle. I'll have a hard enough time getting to the Snitch before my sister does. You've all seen her, and we've both been training over the summer."

The older boy didn't look happy. "This is my team."

Harry didn't look bothered. "Then don't ask. I wasn't going to say anything."

Angelina spoke up. "Come on Oliver. Don't be a prat." She stretched her arms and yawned. "He's right. I doubt he's interested in taking over the team. I think he's looking forward to the match a lot more than the rest of us."

The older boy glared at her, but nodded. "Well Harry?"

"I've only got one opponent in our next match. The rest of the game is up to the rest of you. I won't even get the chance to beat her if I'm not focused on her alone." The second year boy scratched at the side of his nose. "I take it we're missing breakfast today then?"

The team captain nodded, and a collective groan filled the room. "Look at it this way, you'll really enjoy your lunch then, won't you?" He started towards the doors. "Everyone onto the field."

Harry shouldered his broom and nodded. "I guess he's right."

Fred didn't look pleased, and neither did anyone else. "Right Harry."

George pushed his shoulder. "Don't put ideas like that in his head. It's bad enough. Can you believe the hour he got us up for this?"

The younger boy shook his head. "Think what you want, but I'm pretty sure he made up his mind when you mouthed off after his speech."

Alison nodded as she yawned. "Right again, Harry. Twice and it's not even sunup yet. Never seen a Weasley do that."

Fred and George mocked her in silence as they walked out behind her.

"You sound like you've planned this already." Angelina was frowning at the younger boy and looking almost, but not quite annoyed.

"I've been looking forward to it all summer." He shrugged at her and nodded. "She's no better you know." The girl had rolled her eyes and waved her hand.

"You're hopeless, Harry." She picked up her pace and moved up next to Katie and Alison.

The Potter boy shook his head. The team was a bundle of nerves, no one but himself and Oliver was looking forward to that match. Though, it was rather obvious that Wood wanted to get it over and done with.

OooOOooOO

"Huh? That's just Collin Creevy taking pictures. Nothing to worry about." Harry glanced at Fred as he stopped. George sped by and slowed into a turn that faced him towards the pair. "Why?"

Fred had called attention to the strange noise a short way down the field while taking swings at special Bludgers used in practice for Beaters. "You know him?"

"What's going on? Why is that first year taking pictures?" Wood swooped in between them. "I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy."

Harry hung his head. "No. He's in Gryffindor. It seems I've got quite a fan. Nothing to worry about. I wasn't much different when I first came here."

"And Slytherin doesn't need a spy, Oliver." George called out.

"What? Why not?" Wood turned about to frown at him.

"Because they're here in person." The Beater pointed down to the field, were the Green and Silver clad team had gathered.

Wood landed a bit harder than he'd intended in his anger, and limped towards the opposing team. Harry, Fred, and George followed after him. The rest of the team stayed in the air to look on.

"Anna." Harry nodded at his sister.

She returned his greeting with a sunny smile. "Nice day isn't it?"

Oliver had his face up to Flint's. "We've got the field. This is our practice time, we got up specially. You can clear off now."

The Slytherin boy smirked. "Plenty of room for all of us."

"I booked the field." Oliver was livid. "I booked it."

Flint shoved a note in his rival's face. "Too bad, I've got this then."

Oliver took it and opened it up. "...permission to practice today, due to the need to adjust to new equipment."

The Slytherin captain nodded. "Yes. It seems one of our chaser's father saw fit to make a donation to the school and his former house." He held up a broomstick with the words Nimbus two thousand one. "The very latest model, only came out last month. Outstrips the old two thousand model by a considerable amount." He nodded towards Harry.

"Actually. Mine's custom. They don't make a broom like this production. Anna has the same model." The Potter boy smiled. "I can still out fly you on a school broom, Flint."

"What? Care to try again?" Flint's eyes gleamed.

Harry shook his head. "I said you, not her." He nodded towards his sister.

The rest of the Gryffindor team had gathered behind them to face down the leering Slytherin team. His teammates chuckled at Harry's response.

"What's the matter? Scared of a girl, Potter?" Draco snorted.

Harry shrugged. "No, but I'm not dumb enough to try and take her with a handicap either."

"Flattery won't help you. I'm still going to kick your ass." The redhead was seated on her broom looking at her nails. "This testosterone conflict bores me though."

Flint turned his head and looked towards the stands. "Oh look. A field invasion."

Ron, Patil, Lavender, and Hermione jogged up to see what was happening.

"What's going on?" Ron pulled at the brim of his hat as he glanced at Flint and Draco. His eyebrow arched a bit at the seven brand new broomsticks in front of him.

The blond boy smirked and sneered at him. "Good, aren't they? Perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms too? You could raffle off those Comets, I'm sure a Museum would bid for them."

Everyone on Slytherin's team except Anna howled with laughter. The girl didn't look to be paying much attention to the dispute.

Hermione balled up her fist. "At least they got in on pure talent, and didn't have to buy their way in."

Draco didn't seem to hear her and turned a grin towards her. "I'm sorry. I thought I just heard someone with no talent speak up did I? Are you going to save your team by putting on a robe yourself? It's not your fault you've got no talent. After all, it's to be expected from a Mudblood."

Wood had gone silent and was glaring at Flint. The Slytherin captain looked quite smug.

Patil frowned at him as she took Hermione by the shoulder. Lavender followed her lead and helped pull the girl back as she glared at him.

"Yeah. I didn't see any of you solve the Ultimate Question." The red haired boy tipped his hat back and put his hands on his hips.

Draco snorted. "What's she going to do? Calculate my mouth shut?"

Anna pipped in. "Oh. That's an interesting idea. Do try dear. I've not found a potion for it yet."

Slytherin thought it was funny. Everyone but Draco. Hermione gave her a half angry, half confused frown.

"If you're not on the team, you've got no business on the field. Clear off, Mudblood brat. Take your dirty, poor friends with you." Malfoy spit on the ground at the three girls' feet.

"That's it!" Ron snarled as he drew his wand and pointed at Malfoy's face.

"Ron! No!" cried Anna and Harry at the same time.

A flash of red filled the air in front of Draco, just after a loud pop from Ron's wand. The red haired boy's hat flew off his head and fluttered to the ground as he took his own spell in his belly and fell to the ground.

"Ron!" Hermione squealed.

"Ron darling!" Patil shook his shoulders and moved in the way. She let the girl help him up.

Lavender looked mortified. Draco had his wand out and it hummed in his grip. His team was roaring with laughter behind him. "Careful Weasley. You might lose a limb next time." He smirked and shut it down as he put it away.

Anna growled, but there was nothing wrong with what Draco had done beyond running his mouth. "He's right, Weasley. I don't recommend trying that again."

Harry frowned at her as his friends looked up at her in horror. He was helping them get the boy to his feet.

"Ron. Are you all right?" Patil was slapping his cheeks. He gave a loud belch, and several slugs flew from his mouth. She jumped back, but didn't let him go. "Eew."

"Come on, Hagrid is closest." Harry frowned at the Slytherin team. All of them were laughing themselves to tears except his sister. She was returning his glare. "Ron. I really hate to say it, but Malfoy is dangerous. He's got no self control, and he can use that wand of his to take one of your limbs off. Don't try that again. Especially not that close up. If you throw something like that at him again, make sure you have enough room to dodge if he sends it back. Wands like ours can reflect magic."

"What?" Hermione gasped and looked shocked. She didn't lose her frown and buzzed about them, waiting for an opportunity to help out.

Ron belched up more slugs as he hung between Harry and Patil. "Thanks for tellin me." He gagged up another wave after saying it.

OooOOooOO

"We were taking him to Hagrid." Patil looked a bit nervous as she looked at the teacher no one was expecting to emerge from Hagrid's home.

Afina was frowning down at Ron Weasley. The boy was a green in color, and had belched a load onto her legs and shoes. She was wearing a shorter skirt that just covered her knees, and a blouse instead of a gown. Both girls looked rather amazed that she ignored it. She shifted his cheeks and looked into his eyes. "What happened to him?"

Harry shrugged and looked interested in finding a cure for his friend. "He tried to curse someone, and it backfired on him."

The woman gave a small sigh. "Really? Why is that?" She shook her head and stepped back, brushing slugs off her legs with her feet in a casual manner.

Hermione hung her head. "Draco Malfoy, called me a Mudblood. I'm not even sure what that means." She seemed a bit confused.

"It's a nasty word for Muggle born wizards." Afina nodded and let the boy's cheek go as she took a step back as he let another load loose on the grass.

"He called the rest of us dirty too you know." Patil glanced at Hermione and nodded. "It was nice of you to defend my honor, Ron. I'd give you a kiss on the cheek, but I'm afraid I'm not getting that close to your mouth for a long time after this."

Ron looked miserable, he had his hat gripped in his flailing arm, and in an obvious state of disarray. "Right. I'll live."

Her face fell and she growled, but kept holding him up.

"Hmm. You're lucky you didn't succeed. I'd have to take you to Dumbledore if you did. Don't forget, I can't go easy on you, Weasley. I'll be just as hard on any of you as any other teacher." She shook her head in half amusement. "I suspect you'll just have to suffer through it, Ron. Looks like an irritating charm, they usually don't last very long."

"I knew it was rude, but I still don't understand..." Hermione looked up at the teacher.

Professor Amanar nodded and took her shoulder. "It's similar to the old Nazi idea of purity. There are wizards that would regard you as a Nazi would a Jew. "

"Well, that's blunt." Patil nodded as she shifted Ron a little. Harry was bearing most of the weight.

"You're on your way to see Hagrid then?" The professor smiled at the group. "I'm afraid Mr. Weasley will have to stay out of sight for a bit if you don't want to explain what happened to another teacher. I suggest visiting for a bit. I'm sure he won't mind." She turned and left them.

"What's she doing here I wonder?" Hermione watched her walk away.

"I'm not sure." Harry didn't seem worried about it.

OooOOooOO

The Half Giant was pleased to greet them and welcomed all the children inside. Patil looked a little uncomfortable, but kept Ron upright and over a bucket at his side. Her towel was getting filthy from wiping all the slime off her boyfriend's mouth and cheeks. His was used up and sitting across a bench next to her covered in slug goo.

"Nice ter see ya." Hagrid served the three healthy students tea and poked at his fire. "I was wonderin when you were gonna visit." He turned and nodded at Ron. "I'm afraid Professor Amanar was right though. Yer jus gonna have ter wait it out."

"What was she doing here anyway?" Hermione piped up.

"Eh? Oh, I ran into her a few nights ago. Though she was a student up an about at night. Turns out she was jus finishin up her shift. She was takin care o' Ravenclaw, so Flitwick could take care of some personal business." The grounds keeper sat down between Harry and Hermione to keep an eye on Ron. "Nice lady. She was askin me about a few things for a couple demonstrations for her class. She's a brave lass takin that post. My heart about jumped out my throat when I saw her by the Forbidden Forest."

"You like her?" Patil chimed up. It didn't sound like she was pleased with the idea, but she had enough mind to try and not sound rude about it.

"Huh? Naw. Nuthin like that." Hagrid was flushed. "Didn't know she was a teacher. Them woods is dangerous. You mind what Professor Dumbledore says, and stay out 'o em."

"Why does that make her brave? Mr. Lockheart...well...never mind." Harry hung his head and shook it.

Hagrid shrugged. "Ain't never heard 'o him. Not outside hearin he'd be teachin here. Word is though, the Defense Against Dark Arts post is jinxed. He was the on'y man fer the job. An I mean the on'y one. No one else would take it. Getting hard to find anyone fer the job. No one's lasted more n a short time. Professor Amanar said she was used to that sort 'o thing. Now, who were ye tryin te curse?"

"Draco Malfoy. He called Hermione a Mudblood, and the rest of us dirty." Patil shrank back a bit as Ron tossed a slug off his lip into the bin Hagrid had given him.

"Nasty word." Hagrid frowned at the girl.

Harry nodded. "Professor Amanar explained it. I knew about it, but never really had perspective for it until now I suppose."

"I'm fine, really. I'd rather you didn't get in trouble." Hermione glanced at the ill looking redhead.

"Yeah. Next time I'll be careful." Ron nodded.

Hagrid stood up. "Come an see what I've been growin." He waved for them to follow and was looking pleased with himself.

A moment later, Harry and Hermione looked at the biggest pumpkins either had ever seen.

"Wow. Those are huge." Harry was impressed.

Hagrid leaned in. "Well, you know, I've been givin em a bit o help."

The boy nodded and glanced over to the umbrella leaning against the wall. He knew there was a wand hidden in there, and that Hagrid wasn't supposed to have one. Still, he trusted him with it more than any Malfoy.

Hermione was halfway between amused and disapproving. "An engorgement charm I suppose? Well, you've done a good job of it."

"Thas what Ron's sister said." Hagrid nodded. "Found her wanderin about with that girl Marci. A real shame, they both seem like such nice girls. Endin up in Slytherin. Must be awful, I hope Professor Snape is...n'ermind."

Hermione snorted. "That house could use a few nice girls. His sister certainly isn't going to help with that any."

"Hey. Come on now, she's not that bad." Harry hung his head.

"Yeah? You think she's right to tell us to do whatever Malfoy says?" The girl growled at him.

"I think she's right to tell you that a direct assault against him will end badly for you. There are other ways to deal with him." The boy gave a small sigh and looked out the sides of his eyes towards her.

"What? I'm not a good enough witch? I can't beat you? Is that what you're saying?" The girl frowned and glared at him. "Because if you are, you're no better than the wizards who call me Mudblood."

"I'm not a wizard Hermione. I'm a Jedi." He looked away from her. "Draco is more powerful than you think. My sister ripped ten full grown fully trained wizards to shreds. She wasn't missing for more than ten minutes before we found her again either."

She balled up her fists and teared up. "So that makes you better than the rest of us? I should let him push me around then?"

"No. If you're not careful with Draco, I'm afraid he might kill you. Do you remember the story I told you? The one about Lord Vader? Do you understand what he is becoming? Do you think I like having to stand here and watch it happen?" Harry was looking at his hand with his wand gripped in it. He put it back on his belt and shook his head.

"Yeah? What about your sister?" The girl looked like she regretted saying it the moment it left her mouth.

Harry shook his head. "They used forbidden curses, kidnapped her, and tried to kill her. This is not the same thing. I can't treat it as if it was. I'm sorry."

Hagrid looked towards the house. Patil was keeping Ron company inside the cabin while he recovered. Hermione stayed quiet and looked a bit shocked. "So, thas true then, is it?" The half giant shook his head.

The Potter boy nodded. "I'm taking this very seriously. Draco is a dangerous problem that will only grow worse. Thing is, right now, my hands are tied. It's frustrating enough."

"You're frustrated?!" Hermione almost laughed but it was clear she was upset. She was feeling horrible, but said it anyway. "You don't even blink, Harry. You never do, you never waver. It...it's..." It hurt a little, but she didn't want to say it.

"What would you have me do? Cut him in half? Throw him into the pond?" The boy looked over at her and spoke in a calm and serious tone. "Get myself expelled, and accomplish nothing but a moment of discomfort for him?" With that said, he walked towards the cabin. "I'm going to check on Ron and Patil. I'm sorry, Hermione. I can't become him to fight him."

Once the boy was out of sight, Hagrid leaned in to the girl who was near to tears. "He's right. I know he don't like people sayin nuthin, so don' tell 'im I told ye, but... I seen what he an his sister ave been doin in the mornings. Mostly they stay in the Great Hall, but sometimes they come near the forest or on the lake." Hagrid nodded at her and shook her shoulder. He gave Hermione a gentle smile.

"You're taking his side?" Hermione looked aghast.

"Aye. An I don't think any less o yeh. There's not a spell that's been written yeh can't do." He shook Hermione's shoulder. "What Harry's got, is different than your magic. I've seen things no one but Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and Professor McGonagall know about. If he says Draco Malfoy is that dangerous. I believe em."

The girl looked confused as a tear fell down her cheek. "What things?"

"I'd say that boy is stronger n' Professor Snape, or even Professor McGonagall..." he lowered his voice and leaned into her. "...an I ain't certain. but I'd say he might even give Professor Dumbledore a bit o' trouble. That ain't no small matter either."

"If he's so strong, then why..." Hermione clenched her jaw. She knew Harry was powerful, he seemed to skate through classes without a care or worry. He was always calm, serene, and patient. Collin Creevy was driving even her nuts, but he always greeted the first year boy with a warm smile.

"I'll tell yeh somethin he told me las year. Surprised me, an I ain't never heard a student say anythin like it before. It was jus after that rotten Quirrel tried to steal that stone." Hagrid kneeled down beside her as she looked at the ground.

"What's that?" She was still frowning, but her eyes were dry again.

"With great power, comes great responsibility. Harry knows he's different than other wizards. Maybe that's why I get along with em so well. It ain't as easy as you might think. Even for someone like you, it's hard ter understand. Lots of Muggle born wizards about, never seen anyone like Harry or his sister." He winked at her. "Don't go thinkin I feel sorry fer him either. I don' think he wants that."

"Power and responsibility? Humph. Maybe he should tell that to his sister." She looked away, her frown fading a little more.

"Nah. He don't have ter." The Half Giant stood up and popped his back with a few small grunts.

"Why not? That brat." The girl felt better, but didn't want to let on.

"He says she's the one that taught 'im that." He dusted off his hands and started back for his cabin. "Come on. Yer friend Ron probably needs a new bucket by now."

She nodded and followed after him in silence, hanging back a bit. Harry was always quiet, but not even close to shy. It was a confusing puzzle. She knew of his wealth, but he talked with her and other students as if he was no different. He never spoke of new things he'd gotten, or bragged about where he'd been, and who he'd met. Other wealthy students often bragged, wore lavish clothes under their school robes, and seemed to make sure everyone knew their supplies were more expensive.

Harry talked about Quidditch with other boys, and the flavors he'd discovered in Every Flavor Beans, and Chocolate Frog Cards. He was the most wealthy boy in the whole school, had special powers, and a world famous rock band, but to her, he seemed like he lived just down the road from her house. The way he dressed and talked, the people he made friends with, and the things he talked about was not something she'd expected from a wealthy boy.

He was also aloof in an odd way. He had a quiet calm and peaceful quality about him that was both frustrating, and reassuring. It almost seemed out of place with his sense of confidence. There was also times when talking to him was like talking to a much older boy. Sometimes she swore he sounded like her parents. Not in a bad way though, it was strange and unsettling for brief moments. She found it strange that her discomfort never seemed to last. Then again, he'd been a loyal friend, and Ron with him. At the moment, she felt guilty, and feeling like she'd been chided by a grown up. He was the same age as she was, give or take a year because of time travel it seemed.

Ron Weasley was the same way. He'd calmed considerably since his first year at Hogwarts. It was different than Harry, he had more of a swagger about him, and seemed almost lazy in how relaxed he was. He also didn't have Harry's sense of peace, but despite his relaxed attitude, he was active, and constantly on the move. Neither one seemed aware of their own stature. Talking to Ron was like talking to a normal boy as well, but all the time.

She shook her head and opened the door. She walked over and sat down between Hagrid and Harry at the table. Both of them were looking on as Ron recovered on opposite sides of the table.

Her cheeks flushed in a burn of embarrassment as she leaned over to the boy with the plain looking glasses, T-shirt, and jeans. "Sorry. I didn't mean to...you know."

He smiled at her. "Don't worry about it. We're all a bit tense right now. I understand how you feel. I wouldn't mind giving him a dunk in the pond myself. I just know I shouldn't."

She sat back, feeling an odd dissatisfaction. He didn't look tense, but she felt he was being honest with her. She wanted him to be a bit annoyed with her, but instead he was as warm and friendly as ever. She had no idea how to respond to it. "Really. I mean it."

"So do I. Don't worry. I've got something planned. He's not getting away with this unchallenged." The boy gave her a wink.

After he said that, she did feel better. "What?"

He whispered and chuckled under his breath. "It's a surprise."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sitting and eating his breakfast with Ron, Patil, Hermione, and Lavender as usual. Collin Creevy had finally gotten his photograph signed, and was just rushing away to a few other first year boy's he'd been hanging around.

Ron shook his head. "How do you put up with it? He's relentless."

"I think it's kind of cute." Patil smiled at her boyfriend. The memory of the slugs still fresh in her mind had her keeping a few inches more distance between them. "Besides, I'm sure Harry is used to fans by now."

"He is very energetic." The boy who lived nodded and looked up with a grin on his face. "Ah. Here we go."

The entire Gryffindor Quidditch team looked in surprise at the long thin packages that landed in front of them in quick succession.

Hermione's eyes went wide as she realized that they were opening them up and turning to face the boy beside her with slacked jaws. "Harry! You didn't!" Oliver was the first to rise to his feet and call to him.

"What?" Ron whipped his head around. "Now what?"

Oliver Wood rushed up and lifted the boy into his arms spinning him about with joy. "I don't believe it Harry! You're amazing!"

"Harry! You shouldn't have!" Alison, Angelina, and Katie all rushed up behind them, along with Fred and George. Each was holding a brand new Nimbus two thousand and one.

The young Seeker was surprised and flailed a bit as Wood put him down. He gave a nervous grin. "Yes well..."

"We'll beat Slytherin for sure!" He was hopping up and down for joy, but then he looked up. More owls carrying more long thin packages swooped in, dropping their loads on Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff's tables as well. "Wait. You mean?"

The boy who lived nodded. "I wanted to level the playing field." He gave his team captain a huge grin. Surprised gasps and mutterings filled the hall, as everyone turned towards the area the Potter boy was sitting.

"Harry Potter. What is the meaning of this? I am to understand this little disturbance is your fault." Professor Snape swooped in out of nowhere and the students around the boy backed off.

The boy nodded. "Yes. If Lucius Malfoy can be so generous, I see no reason not to follow such a good example. I've written him to thank him for such a wonderful idea, and informed him that all of the Quidditch Teams at Hogwarts have been given the same opportunity thanks to his generosity. It was quite inspiring."

Snape's eyes were wide and his fist was clenched hard. "I see."

Professor Flitwick had a huge and surprised grin on his face. McGonagall was looking flushed at his side, with Sprout taking up the rear. "Well, what do you ladies think of this?"

"Fifty house points Potter." McGonagall was trying not to smile, really she was.

"Oh yes. I think that will do nicely." Flitwick nodded.

Snape curled his lip as he glared at them. Neither one looked any less cheerful. "I must object I'm afraid. It is one thing for a former student to make such a donation. I don't like the idea of Mr. Potter thinking he can buy..."

Dumbledore approached the scene with a wry grin, and twinkling eyes. "I do not suspect that he is trying to curry favor here. After all, he did provide for everyone. I might have agreed had he only provided for his own house. A gift like that would put his team at an advantage, and I'm sure Professor McGonagall would agree that it shouldn't be allowed." He took Snape's shoulder and shook it.

"Er, yes." She didn't look very convincing in her answer.

"However, as it is. It is an act benefits the whole of Hogwarts. Not just a single house. I'm afraid I see no reason to decline the offer, and I agree with the majority of the house heads that fifty points should be awarded." He turned towards Harry. "You do understand, that you will not be able to buy house points in the future, Mr. Potter? I feel generosity should be rewarded, but we are still responsible for giving you a proper magical education. I cannot allow your wealth to garner you an advantage after all."

"I just wanted to even the playing field. It's no fun if one team has an advantage like that." Harry nodded and smiled at them. "Now, we've all got the best brooms. Only the best players will win now, not the best brooms. It'll be a lot more fun to play for all of us now."

"I'm sure Mr. Malfoy will appreciate your letter." Snape turned on his heels and rushed away.

"Yes. I'll bet he will." Ron was chuckling. He could see Draco glaring in their general direction. Flint was seething further down the table in the same manner.

"Quite a surprise." Hermione was hiding her giggles behind her hand with Patil and Lavender.

"Just look at them. They're furious, but they can't say a thing about it. After yesterday, you've made my day." Ron gave a small sigh as he wiped a tear from his eye. He was fanning himself with his hat and enjoying watching it.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter frowned as Marcus Flint loomed over her. She was filing her nails and didn't look impressed with the fact that her whole team was standing around her looking angry. "Yes. How exactly is that my fault?"

"He's your brother." Draco snarled as he crossed his arms and glared at her. They were watching the stage over their shoulders as well, but not doing anything beyond looming around her.

"You are aware he has a bank account of his own, yes? I don't control his money, or how he spends it." She shrugged and glanced around in a rather unimpressed manner. "Besides, what makes you think he'd say anything to me about it? I'm on your team remember? I'd offer to upgrade our brooms, but you've all got the latest model already. There's not much to be done about it."

"You'd better earn your keep, Potter." Flint growled as he jabbed his finger at her.

She continued to work on shaping her nails. Her friends sitting silently around her. Ginny was the only one who bothered to glance back at them, and she didn't look pleased. "Or you'll what?"

"What?" Flint blinked.

"What will you do to me? Hmm? You think I'd let you slap me around like the rest of the team? Stand there for a beating?" She continued to work filing without looking back at him. Flint seemed frozen, and appeared to be holding his breath as he made a few small wheezing noises.

"Release him." Draco hissed.

"He should understand, that while I'll respect his position as captain of the team. He's in no position to threaten me." The girl nodded, once again not even bothering to look back at the group that had her boxed in against the table. She blew on her nails and inspected them. Flint gasped for a moment, taking a staggering step back. "If you have a problem with my brother, take it up with him. You'll end up in better condition than if you bother me about it."

Michale Cretus grabbed her shoulder. "You can't threaten us all."

Flint slapped his arm away, rubbing at his throat and looking down at the top of the girl's wizarding cap. A few strands of red poking out the front was all he could see of her face. The girl spoke in a maddening dismissive tone. "Me threaten you? Really? You're the one's here blaming me for you running your mouths that way in front of my brother. What did you expect him to do? You were waving the broomsticks about in front of his face, as if he couldn't afford to buy bushels of them if he wanted. It's not my fault you squandered your own advantage. After all, as you're so fond of pointing out, it is your team."

"What?" the dark skinned boy frowned and shoved at Flint's shoulder.

"Come on. I hate to admit it, but she's right. Snape won't let us get rid of her over this, and we still need her to play Seeker." He turned away and pushed through the team. "Unless you think you can beat her brother?"

"That's no excuse for letting her..." Cretus snorted and shook his head, raising his voice so the team could hear as he seemed to realize something. "You're afraid of her. Aren't you?"

"Think what you want. Try grabbing her like that again, and see what it gets you." He looked at Draco. "Right, Malfoy?"

The blond boy nodded. "I don't recommend it. Don't expect much help from anyone if you do. She'll get what's coming to her, but it's best not to toy with her."

"Why is that?" The older boy tossed his long dark hair out of his face and snorted.

"She's not all bark." Replied the second year student as he turned away. "It won't matter. With both of us on the team, we'll have no trouble once we beat Gryffindor. Not even her brother is good enough to get past both of us."

Cretus snorted and waltzed up to the redhead's back as the rest of the team backed off looking annoyed with her. She stood up and turned before his hand landed on her shoulder. Without a word, she took his hand as if shaking it. "I suggest listening to them." The boy's arm was shaking hard in her grip, and he looked shocked, but appeared to be having a friendly conversation with the cheerful girl from behind. "Get back to your seat and don't worry about me again."

He took a step back and grabbed at his arm as he glared at her after she let him go. Drool dripped from his mouth as the entire length of his arm was still stinging and tingling from the shock he'd just gotten. "Flint won't be captain forever," he managed to mutter.

"And if you become captain, I won't be any less dangerous. I suggest you remember that, Michale. I won't be so kind as to remind you with words again." She sat back down and smiled. The boy behind her staggered back, out of breath and clawing at his throat. It lasted but a moment, and he turned away, almost falling onto several students as he staggered back to his seat.

"Wow. That was pretty harsh." Melvin arched his eyebrow.

"You're so awesome." Ginny was amazed, and feeling he'd gotten what he'd deserved along with Margaret and Pansy.

"Did something happen?" Marci was still a bubble head though.

"Honestly. As if I'd buy brooms for the whole school? It was clever of my brother I suppose. It's their own fault for running their mouths that way, waving those brooms about, acting smug and, talking about how poor their team is. Harry is richer than half the families in this house combined. The idiots." Anna frowned a bit and finished up on working on her nails.

OooOOooOO

"What news?" Aticus looked over a desolate scene. A village of small elf sized huts stood silently in the distance, across a field littered with broken weapons and nothing more. Before him a lone House Elf had staggered up. The creature looked lost, and alone. There was no wind, and the grass of the field was still, and the air was still and silent.

"Dobby cannot say. He has not seen another House Elf for hours."

Before the Drow warlord, an empty field filled with broken arrows, dented armor, and broken wooden clubs.

"The glen has fallen then?" The Drow frowned and nodded at the elf standing before him.

A younger Drow walked up behind him. "Father, a hundred more have been found to the east of Lilac Village."

"Yes. You were right son. Tinglebum has underestimated her." Aticus rubbed under his nose with his finger. "Brilliant tactics. She shattered a force of a thousand House Elves in less time than it took us to arrive here."

"What is Dobby to do now? He has lost his way." The House Elf saluted his superior by putting his fist against his left breast.

"We've gathered your forces. They were split, twice, and pushed to the north, west, and east of the village. The bunnies control your homes now. They are dug in, well defended, and supplied well. Heh. Amazing." The elder Drow shook his head. "For ages, I have dreamed of finally facing such an opponent."

"Impressive tactics. Still, she is young. Barely a pup even in the course of a human life." The younger Drow nodded. "How..."

"Absolutely brilliant." He looked at his son. "If I had intended to take Eden Falls, this would have been my first target. She intends to hold it. It will allow her forces to control the travel of our forces between the homes we serve, limit our communication, and strike a blow to our moral. It is the first step towards the Great Hall. The perfect staging area for an assault on Gumdrop Pass and the Gate, and from there, the Mint Julip Village, and from there to the Panties Drawer Fortress."

Dobby stuttered for a moment before spitting out. "Panties Drawer Fortress?"

The young Drow frowned at his father and nodded. "What makes you so sure? The Dingleberry Wood perhaps, but the fortress?"

Dobby nodded. "Panties Drawer Fortress never fell. Not ever!"

"Exactly. Imagine the blow that would strike upon Tinglebum's pride. She intends to strike there I think. Besides, she'll likely leave the wood alone. I don't think she intends to escalate things by involving the Wood Elves. I'd prefer not to deal with them myself." He glanced at his son. "Garrus, has there been any word from Kreacher?"

The young Drow shook his head. "None. It's been said by others he went mad along ago. He will not leave the Potter home, and there is nothing for us there now. It is well defended with powerful security spells."

Aticus nodded. "Yes. I see. It serves no interest until she returns for her winter holidays anyway. We'll look into it once she's out of Hogwarts. Tinglebum wishes to honor his pact with the school for now. If we strike too soon, we may lose an opportunity later."

Garrus nodded. "The parents may be useful. She will come for them."

"And bring her brother with her, no doubt." Aticus shook his head negative. "We may be forced to deal with both of them sooner or later. I'd like to have a better look at what we're dealing with first. No rush to charge in. Year's end is still a few months away, and we'll likely have our hands full here. Our enemy is dug in and well fortified in the village."

"Filthy, disgusting, bunnies!" Dobby shook his fist towards the empty town beyond the field. It was a business place for House Elves more than a village. There were about a hundred who lived there on a permanent basis. The free and unattached House Elves lived beyond the Gate for the most part. It was a place set aside for them, hidden well from the world of men by a dimensional gate.

"Save your spirit friend. Your unit was pushed to the east. You'll meet with them at Gumdrop Pass to regroup. The Drow will hold the line here for now. It is still too bright for an attack, and little would be gained from one tonight. My scouts are still gathering intelligence from the village."

"Father, do you find it strange that there are no bodies?" Garrus crossed his arms and frowned at the field. It was empty of any hint of battle save a scattering of broken weapons. "It is unsettling."

"Yes. It is strange. I've not yet received word of numbers. I am to understand most of the forces defending here are accounted for. I suspect that casualties were unusually light." The elder Drow nodded.

Dobby spoke up. "Bunnies do not kill, they injure, and bite. Nasty creatures, not dangerous though."

Both Drow looked at him with slacked jaws. "What?" Aticus was confused.

That was when the attack came, just before the sun set. A whooping battle cry filled the air, and wave upon wave of furry cuteness, each armed with a club, climbed from holes hidden in the grass of the field. The Drow forces were formed in a line hidden behind a long row of bushes and trees on the edge of a forested area. The familiar whistle of arrows flying about and panicked and frantic cries filled the air as his forces were engaged.

Another young Drow rushed from the brush nearby to the group. "We've been flanked! To the west, south, and east, they're everywhere! Sir! Look out!"

Aticus looked down in shock as one of his scouts was tossed to the ground at his feet, out cold. "What? It...I see." The last thing he remembered, was seeing a dazed glazed over stare, and the front end of a large hunk of wood. He heard his son call his name in alarm32, and felt the grass hit his cheek before everything went dark.

He heard Garrus call out to him once more before the sound faded.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next time: Harry gets a problem of his own, Draco has a one way conversation, and Anna deals with life at Hogwarts while waging a private war.


	28. Chapter 28

A matter of force.

Part 28

The best Deathday ever.

OooOOooOO

Aticus frowned as he struggled to open his eyes. A low groan escaped his lips as he sat upright and shook his head. "Where?"

Garrus was sitting at his side, frowning with his head hung low and his hands folded and hanging between his knees. "Father."

The elder drow was sitting on a small cot in a tent. Torch light lit the air outside, and he could feel the cool grass between his toes as he put his feet on the ground and shifted to the edge of where he had been lying. "Report."

The younger drow nodded. "A surprise attack. We were able to hold our lines, no casualties. Not our numbers, and not theirs." He stood up and paced in front of his father with his hands behind his back, his eyes lowered to the ground as he walked. "The Bunnies have the glen. They are dug in and fortified. We should have expected a burrowing enemy, they dug tunnels to our lines from the village, and collapsed them in their retreat to prevent us from using them to follow."

The elder drown nodded and stood up, popping his back. "I see."

"They don't seem interested in capture and do not take prisoners. We've taken a few prisoners, but the creatures don't speak. We still know little about them. All of them escaped their prisons by digging out. We'll need to construct prison cells if we wish to hold them. We dug holding pens in the earth, but were unaware of their nature. A rather foolish mistake." Garrus stood tall and puffed out his chest with a stern expression as he put his hands behind his back.

Aticus grunted. "Yes." He looked out the flap to his tent, and saw where he'd been standing during the attack a short distance away. "They won't kill us then."

His son shook his head. "The House Elves have confirmed this. I do not think these creatures are capable of killing. They don't hunt, and seem to exist on waste. The elven food crops are untouched, despite the fact that they've taken over several farms around the glen. They are also well defended. They mean to limit supplies, but have not destroyed the crops. We've seen them caring for them in fact. We've seen several hundred finishing up the harvest work. They seem to be stockpiling them, but are not using them."

The elder drow gave a heavy sigh. "I see. Is that all?"

"No. The Potter home is more defended than we'd previously thought. I sent a few scouts to have a look. They reported no less than ten thousand stationed in the wilderness around the neighborhood. We couldn't get close. Hogwarts has at least a garrison's worth just outside the grounds as well. They are stationary, and appear to be defensive in nature." Garrus strolled at his father's side as he left the tent and looked out over his men. "More appear around the school on a regular basis. We suspect a breeding site nearby."

The drow had their heads hung, some were wearing slings and casts, all looked weary and battle worn. None were missing. "I see. That isn't very surprising. You say the bunnies aren't using the resources they've captured?"

"No. They aren't consuming food. Several hours ago, we noticed signs of other activities. Smoke, and we believe mining activities. We've spotted what appear to be mine entrances being dug into the earth under the glen." The young drow nodded towards several brooms. "I took several scouts to the skies to have a look. The bunnies have brooms as well. We spotted several flying about over the glen, but none moved far from the village. They are running patrols, but will not give chase if unprovoked."

Aticus frowned and growled a bit. "Mining for what?"

Dobby the House Elf perked his ears up. He'd been sitting nearby with a group of Drow troops with a spear resting against his shoulder. "Iron. Digging under the glen is only for iron. No gold, no silver."

The elder drow frowned and glanced over at him. "You are still here? I take it I've been out for a time."

Garrus nodded. "Most of the day, father. There are a few House Elves here with us still. The wood between us and the eastern front is infested with these things. They do not allow us to pass. The Wood Elves do not seem to notice or care. They aren't aiding either side."

"They wouldn't want Drow in their wood. I suspect they would aid the bunnies before allowing us to pass through their wood." The elder drow gave a small sigh. "Have we spoken to them?"

The young Drow shook his head. "No word. We can't get near to the center of the wood where they remain. The creatures defend the wood, they won't allow us to pass. Probably to limit our communication with our forces on the other side. We do not really know if they welcome the bunnies or not. To be honest Father, I do not think the Forest Elves care about us. Our scouts have only met resistance from Bunnies, though we are aware the Wood Elves know of our activities in their wood."

"If they do no harm to the wood, they'll likely not care. The bunnies are dangerous there, they can flank us at any time from that wood. We aren't in a good tactical position here. I'm ordering a move. We'll send word by broom to alert our eastern front. The forest poses the same danger to them, and we know it's occupied. No point in sticking our necks out quite so far." Aticus shrugged at his son. "Perhaps you are right? I'm not certain they would take well to us trying to control those positions. It doesn't matter much now. First we must find a way to destroy the creatures before we worry about exterminating their numbers in the woods. It is a bridge we'll cross when we come to it. I think it would be best if we left the wood alone for now and concentrated our efforts in other places. Tinglebum might lose some of his enthusiasm for this fight should the Wood Elves become our enemies as well."

Dobby licked his lips as he kept pace beside him. Aticus was a little surprised, but Garrus nodded at him. The Elder Drow realized that the House Elf was commanding his own kind within his camp. He wasn't an officer in his army, but he was the highest ranking house elf in his ranks at the moment. "Sir. House Elves, may be in the wood."

Garrus nodded. "Yes. About a hundred and fifty are missing from our last report. We are able to use brooms to keep in limited contact with the Eastern front. We believe they are in the wood with the Forest Elves."

Aticus nodded again. "That is of little concern. The forest elves would not welcome Drow. I see no reason they would harm or imprison House Elves. It is likely they would give them refuge. Tinglebum has good relations with them, though they've not offered aid. I suspect they'll not support his cause. I'm not surprised, I advised against this myself. Still, it must now be done."

The young drow frowned. "I'd be insulted by this if the battle was not so difficult. The bunnies won't kill us, but they fight hard, and wear us down. Our forces are tired, and I worry about what might happen if our supply lines are cut off. We still have access to the gate, and I see no reason that should change if we keep aware and well defended."

"Why mine for metals?" The elder drow looked at the thin lines of smoke drifting into the sky from the village in the distance. "What purpose does it serve?"

"I've a feeling we'll find out soon enough." Garrus frowned at his father at his side. "I've a bad feeling about this."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was looking cautious as she walked up to the instructor's desk. She was standing at Afina Amanar's desk just after the end of her first Defense Against Dark Arts class. "Yes, Professor?" The woman had given her class the same speech as Harry's class, and the same assignment.

"So. You are Anna Potter?" The woman smirked at her and looked up at her from over her open text. She seemed to be half reading, half speaking to her.

"Yes." The girl nodded and was being very diplomatic.

"Interesting. I must confess, I've been interested to meet you. I owe you a great deal." The woman smiled at her. "Do I make you nervous?"

The redhead seemed to relax a bit more. "Not all of your kind is grateful for what I did. Forgive me if I am cautious."

The teacher gave a small chuckle. "Yes. I understand. I suppose I should expect it. You'll do well with that attitude. It's the essence of this class." She brushed her hair out of her face and winked at her. "I've learned well that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. It was the best way to catch a meal after all."

The redhead relaxed a bit more. "Yes, Professor."

"I've heard quite a few interesting rumors about about you and your brother." She closed the book and leaned over it to peer at her for a moment. "I'll be keeping an eye on you. Dumbledore has asked us all to be especially mindful of you."

The second year sith gave a small smirk. "Has he now? I expected as much."

"Yes. I suspect it will be an interesting year for the both of us. I'll not keep you any longer. I don't want to get you in trouble. Professor Snape is quite strict, and he'll be upset with me if I keep his apprentice for too long." The woman waved her hand in a gesture that was almost rude and dismissive.

Anna nodded with a careful looking smirk on her face. "Good bye, Professor. I look forward to this class. I do expect you'll do a better job than our last instructor. Though, that will hardly be difficult." She knew that the woman would have almost every male in the school wrapped around her finger by the end of the year. The reaction of her classmates made that clear enough.

Afina narrowed her eyes a bit. That had been close to an insult, but skirted the edge. She'd been doing the same though. "Interesting girl." She should have been expecting it, but some of the things she'd heard about the girl were thought to be impossible.

The pair were demi gods. The girl had gone toe to toe with Count Dracula, and lived to tell the tale. She'd heard first hand accounts of the battle. Some of the older vampires sent to guide the students into the night had remained to help teach them their basic skills. Her brother's battle with the vampires hadn't escaped her ears either. They knew how powerful they were on top of it. Both of them had extreme confidence in themselves.

She rubbed at her temples and pushed her hair back. "I've a feeling I'll have dealings with that one." The girl worried her a bit, she was a mad genius, and she knew it. She'd seen the type before, the brat seemed to revel in it.

The Potter twins had been on more lips since she arrived in England than Ron Weasley. He was usually mentioned in relation to Harry, or the girl. She was making a lot of wizarding folk nervous, her brother as well. Hogwarts seemed to hold the boy in the highest esteem. In every house but Slytherin.It was clear the house respected him though, even though most of them claimed to hate him. Most seemed rather indifferent, content with the current standings so to speak.

The girl had been mentioned in whispers. She knew of the band, and it was the only place anyone spoke of her without looking a bit secretive. As if they were telling you something they didn't want others to hear. She knew some of the rumors about her weren't true, but they seemed to show her in a mixed light. Her two friends seemed to defer to her as a leader. She was controlling, and dangerous, but she seemed to pick her sides well. That might have had something to do with having a guillotine blade over her neck.

Her first impressions of Anna Potter weren't good, but they weren't bad either. She could hear the students talking about them both. They weren't anywhere near the topic of every conversation, but they both came up a bit. She'd not said much, and her friends went quiet after she told them about her hearing. Her eyes hadn't changed back since her revival, she recognized that her eyes were similar. Anna Potter's cure didn't take away all the traits of vampirism. They were alive and human, but their ears and eyes remained sharp.

"She sees me as a threat. Something to be cautious of. Interesting reaction, very interesting indeed." She had a constructed positive side. It struck her as crafted, with a great deal of care to detail. It was a trait she was familiar with, it was almost like having another vampire in the room with her. An older vampire. Her eyebrow arched a bit. She was a bit surprised to hear another name more than Ron Weasley, never mind two of them. It was going to be an interesting year.

OooOOooOO

Professor Amanar's office was a short distance from the Great Hall. Anna looked about as she entered, a note in her hand from the woman. There were lots of bookshelves, no mirrors or pictures, a rather plain and barren office. If not for the books and papers strewn across the desk, you'd think the room was a spare office that wasn't ever used.

Anna Potter handed the note over to Afina. She looked confused, but not fearful. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. I'd like to ask you a few questions." The former vampire had a pleasant smile on her face as she said it. "How old are you?"

The girl shrugged. "Thirteen." She scratched at her cheek and her eyes dropped.

Afina gave a light chuckle. "Please dear. I'm not that stupid. I've been around five hundred years, and I've seen it more times than I can count. You're not fooling anyone."

The redhead cocked her head and shrugged again. She didn't seem phased by the comment, but the teacher had her attention. "I'm not sure. I had a couple of past lives I can remember. Might be more, I'm still young. I'm not certain how I would count years up for that sort of thing. Some of it I've not gotten back yet. It's coming to me though."

The Teacher's eye's rolled. "Really? How many schools have you hit up before this?"

Anna was starting to look irate. "I'm not kidding. I can see the future too, it's kind of annoying sometimes. They shoved me into divination on my first year." Professor Amanar noted that her mood hadn't improved at the mention of her class. "You haven't heard about me and my brother?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, a great deal."

Anna's head fell and she gave a huge sigh. "You're trying to figure out what it is that I am?"

The woman nodded and smiled. "Yes."

The redhead leveled her eyes on the woman. "I'm not going to be your guinea ping unless you'll agree to be mine too. No experiments."

The woman's features fell for a moment. "Oh. Well, I'm afraid the other faculty won't agree to that sort of thing. You are older than you look."

"Look. I'm not really sure to be honest. I've never done the girl thing before. It's even more interesting if you're aware. Very strange sometimes." The student looked down at herself and pulled at her shirt. "The whole Wizard thing is new too." She was getting uncomfortable about the woman's cheerful gaze.

"What were you then?" Afina shook her head and gave a small sigh as she gave in and put her fist up to her chin. She looked into the girl's eyes with a gentle smile on her face, and relaxed her eyelids.

"A total madman. I was a powerful Sith Lord, it's something like a warlock, but refined by advanced study and training for eons, for thousands of generations. I lead a military to conquest on a galactic scale for an evil monster. I stabbed my brothers, my best friend, my family, in the back and slaughtered them. I was killed by my own son in order to save the galaxy I had nearly destroyed. I held someone in place...to...to watch her own planet get destroyed...by a giant super laser my master had built." Anna wanted to stop talking, but it was coming out anyway. "I slaughtered countless with my own hand. Stop. Children, women, men...I killed them all. Entire worlds burned, populations of planets enslaved..." The girl stood up, Afina had her eyes locked onto hers, a zoned out welcoming expression on her face as she stared at her. "Stop. I turned against everyone I loved and murdered them all... stop. I lived as a slave, as a child and as a man...stop it..." Anna's jaw went tight as she glared back at the teacher and pushed herself to her feet. She opened her palm, curled her fingers, and pulled her arm back.

Professor Amanar's seat jerked forward, slamming the woman's stomach into the desk. The redhead had tears in her eyes as she frowned and relaxed her jaw. She had her fingers curled up in front of her and a rage in her eyes as the woman's throat closed. It lasted but a moment, and Afina had a panicked expression that faded the moment the girl released her. "If you ever try that again. I'm going to make you stop. Your authority as a teacher won't stop me. I also won't be so patient."

The woman had a sour frown on her face as she glared up at her. She turned her eyes away and growled as she rubbed at her belly. "You've got quite a will girl, but you are afraid of something."

"I am free." The redhead glared at the woman and crossed her arms. "Aren't you?"

"I see. Your interest in our..." The teacher didn't look sorry at all. Her grin had returned and she was poking at the side of her teeth with one of her fingernails. "Empathy is easier for one who understands."

Anna blinked. She'd never thought about it that way. She shook it off and took a step back. She still didn't look happy about the conversation.

"I heard about your battle with Dracula. I know you aren't being delusional." Afina gave her a smirk. "I didn't lose all of my gifts. I'm not immortal anymore, but I remember a few tricks of the trade. I also know you were being honest. This will not leave this meeting."

"Trying to comfort me, or asking a favor? The Headmaster wouldn't like this." Anna was still glaring at her.

"Yes. He can't fire me though. No one else will take the job I'm afraid." The woman tapped the paper on top of her desk. "My master was not so different from yours. I don't imagine Dumbledore will be any worse. Judging by your reaction, I doubt you want that to become public knowledge."

The redhead's eyes shifted away. She knew about the curse on the position and it's origins, and that it was getting to be a common rumor. Why the hell was it always him anyway? What about the asshat with the guitar and video rental card. How come he never poked in to bug her this way? The worst part about it, was that she remembered that one with much more clarity. "What's this about?"

"You worry me." The woman shrugged. "I like you though. I'm afraid I cannot be a friend, to you and keep my job, but I can be here if you need a talk with someone who understands. I know more about what you're going through than you think."

The girl blinked. "Wait. This is some kind of intervention?" Her features fell and she blinked.

"Sort of. I'm seeing a therapist about it. Perhaps you should as well? You don't need to go year round. Perhaps visit one over the summer. You're obviously the plotting and scheming type. You're up to something, but I hear largely positive things about your motivations." Professor Amanar was being very blunt, and didn't seem to notice or mind it.

The girl lifted her nose. "Results too."

"Yes. I'd noticed. You're very strange Anna Potter. Most people your age would have decided on light or darkness years ago. You're a fence sitter. You can't stay that way long." Afina shrugged and leaned forward to grin at her. "I'm good at reading people too. I like you so far, but I'll be watching."

The redhead closed her eyes and growled. "Enjoy the show then. Dumbledore already knows about this, so does Snape. I've told the story to Slytherin dorms. None of them believe in it."

Afina nodded. "Yes. I've gotten similar reactions. It is frustrating. That I was a vampire, someone will believe. That I was one of his brides, not so much."

"You don't like saying his name either." Anna flicked her eyes up and down the teacher's torso and wasn't all that over what Miss Amanar had just done to her. She wasn't acting hostile though, just closed off.

"No more than you do. Just noticed that have we?" The girl looked at her instructor after she said it. She still wasn't smiling, but lowered her arms.

"Yeah. They'll believe it soon enough. I'm surprised they're still this unaware to be honest." The girl shook her head and gave a snorting laugh. "Snape and Dumbledore both know it's true. Trelawney has seen a glimpse of it." Anna hung her shoulders and relented to looking disappointed. She didn't like the woman much, but she'd put up with worse before. It was not the time to start rocking the boat. She was the most watched student in the whole school by the staff. Angering one of them so early on, even if only for the year she'd be in the position, wasn't going to work in her favor. Not in this case.

Afina turned her eyes up towards her, she'd not stopped sitting and smiling since she'd recovered. "Why would you want them to know that?"

"I'm competing with Lord Voldemort over who can make the biggest badass of themselves. Why?" Anna shrugged. "His followers are used to that sort of thing. I can't be nice enough to them that they will leave me alone, so I just scare them. I suppose I've got it, so I might as well use it. You know? If they're more afraid of me than him, they won't back him up when the time comes. I'm dealing with the kind of men who listen to power above all else. Nothing else will persuade them."

"Truth disguised as sarcasm?" Professor Amanar shook her head. "Keep your head above water, Potter. Someone is on to you now. I know you've got an agenda, for good or ill I'm not sure of. You are up to something."

"A lot of people are." The redhead shrugged and looked unconcerned.

"Not like this. I've a feeling your little web spans far beyond this place, and I've little doubt you'll see it through." The woman waved her hand. "You can leave. I don't want to take up too much of your time." Afina was chuckling at her and shaking her head.

"I'm not sure which you'd prefer." Anna gave her a serious frown and a nod as she turned away and left the room.

Afina grinned in a wistful manner and nodded. "Fair enough."

As Anna stepped out the doorway, she turned back to look at the teacher. "Make no mistake Professor. I was not serving your master."

"Yes. I know, but we have similar pasts. I've spoken to other vampires of this. It has been helpful." The woman gave her a grin.

"No. I was your master. The thing that I served, was much worse, and far more powerful than Dracula could imagine. Dracula failed to control even this world, Satan himself has fared no better. My master had an entire galaxy in his grip, and I was the fist he used to crush them to his will." She turned her nose up and walked away. She looked riled and proud as she glared at the woman and moved out into the hallway letting the door close behind her. Her voice was just above a whisper as she spoke. She gave a rough snort and spoke once more before closing the door. "Dracula. I have seen a light that he could never stand against, snuffed out in but a moment. Do not compare that pathetic creature to what I once served."

Afina simply looked at he door. Her expression had gone rather cold. "Interesting girl indeed. What on earth is that thing? What the hell is it up too? What is it doing here? What would it want with Hogwarts?" She'd just pissed it off royally whatever it was. It wasn't her intent, but she didn't feel in danger because of it either. She'd upset her more than angered her. The girl disliked the subject a great deal, more than she'd expected.

She was wondering just what Anna Potter was, and now knew that the girl was just as in the dark about that as she was. She knew the girl's brother was similar, but not the same. She'd met Harry and saw no reason to believe he was any older than he seemed. A very well trained boy to be sure, but still a boy.

The girl was at least a hundred years old, probably more.

OooOOooOO

"It will be my five hundredth deathday party this Halloween!" Nearly Headless Nick was beaming as he slapped Ron on the shoulder. He was standing in the Great Hall and had approached the group while they were eating breakfast.

The boy felt his clothes shift on his arm and looked up at him. "Oh. That's great. Congratulations!"

Harry arched his eyebrow. "Yes. I suppose."

Nick had a very wide smile as he looked over to the group. "I suppose, well. Mr. Potter. I know about the great feast. I don't suppose I could convince you to...um..."

The boy who lived looked up and seemed to relax into attention. "Yes?"

"I was hoping I might be able to talk you to coming, and playing a bit for the party. I'm holding one in one of the dungeons a few hours before the hunt starts. Mr. Weasley can come as well if he likes. I'd like to show my gratitude for what he's done for me. I finally get to join the Headless Hunt this year!" Sir Nick was almost jumping up and down, and his head was flopping about on his neck a bit. It was clear he was excited about riding with his friends.

"We'll rock anywhere." Harry shrugged and nodded. "We've got to play the Great Hall after the meal though. Dumbledore already asked Anna. We can do the party. What kind of music?"

"Really? Wonderful! A few selections in Death Metal would suit it perfectly if you wouldn't mind!" Nick beamed and puffed out his chest, pausing to take off his head and put it under his arm.

"I'll come for that." Ron nodded and grinned. "Sounds like it might be pretty interesting."

Hermione scrunched her nose up. "Death Metal?"

Ron shrugged. "Well, it is a deathday party."

"Well, I guess we girls can sit together for the feast." Parvati had a rather wide eyed expression on her face and was staring down her plate.

"Yeah. I-it will be nice." Lavender had gone a bit pale.

Hermione nodded, but didn't speak. It sounded interesting, she didn't want to find out bad enough to invite herself judging from the other girl's reactions. She would ask Harry and Ron about it when they got back. She'd heard some of the music Nick was asking for from other bands, and didn't care much for it. Even if it was Harry and his sister playing it.

"Not to be rude, but I am dead, I'm afraid I can't offer much in the way of..." Nick stiffened up and Harry cut him off before he finished.

"Nah. We don't charge for stuff at Hogwarts. Don't worry. It's good practice. We rock for free all the time. We went rocking door to door a couple of times this summer." Harry nodded and smiled.

"Wonderful! I'm most grateful. To you as well Mr. Weasley! Very grateful indeed!" Nick strolled away looking pleased with himself.

"Planning on quizzing us about it already?" Harry smirked at the frazzle haired girl. "I'm pretty sure I can get you in if you're curious."

The girl flushed and nodded. "I didn't want to sound rude." She gave him an almost angry glare. Her curiosity had won out over her annoyance.

"Stop it would you. You'd have been wondering if I hadn't said anything." He frowned at her and gave a small sigh.

"I think it's kind of cute." Parvati giggled as Harry lost his cool for a moment and flushed a bit.

"Yeah. Until you realize he can do it to you too." She glanced over at her and smirked.

Lavender flushed. "R-really?"

Harry was beet red. "I can't help it. Really." He had his hands folded on his knees and was looking down. "I've got it bad enough, come on now." He glanced over at Hermione, who had an evil looking smirk on her face as she looked him down.

"Don't say anything, please. I don't want to know." Ron shook his head before the frazzle haired girl opened her mouth. "Really. I don't."

Lavender was in a similar state to Harry, and didn't say anything. Parvati leaned in towards Hermione. "Tell me later then."

Her cohort leaned in a bit more and nodded towards her with wide eyes. All three of them were grinning at each other.

"Sure." Hermione shook her head as Harry relaxed a bit, he looked towards Lavender Brown. "It only works if you're thinking about me. Calm down would you? You're not the only one all right." He still looked very embarrassed.

"So, um...you know..." The girl didn't seem comforted by that. She also didn't seem very upset.

"I'll get you for this, Anna." He pushed his glasses up his nose and sank into his chair, trying to sink below the table.

"What? What's this got to do with her?" Hermione was enjoying teasing him. He still seemed calm, but his embarrassment was obvious.

"More than you think. Can we change the subject?" His shoulders were almost level with the table.

Lavender shook her head. "No. That means you know about the time I thought of your..."

Harry turned to look at the frazzle haired girl. "You..."

Hermione was watching with her cheeks in her palms, smiling. "It's so cute though. Besides, don't pull on my leg and not expect me to pull back."

"Or, what about the time I was sitting behind you, and I thought about..." Lavender was doing her best to brink up anything in recent memory.

Harry nodded once. "Yeah. I'll remember that. Can you make it stop?"

Hermione looked over at Parvati's rather air headed friend. The Patil girl was fascinated and amused by her friend.

"No. Sorry. It's too late I'm afraid." Hermione was pleased with herself. "Best to let her finish."

Lavender had forgotten she was supposed to be embarrassed, and was more concerned with remembering times he might have read her mind rather than remembering what sort of thoughts she'd had. "Or the time I thought you might be a good kisser while we were eating that one day."

Hermione was starting to regret getting the girl started. "How does she remember all of that?" The Brown girl didn't look near to stopping, and she could fit an awful lot into one breath.

Harry didn't appear all that embarrassed and was close to ignoring her while he poked at his plate and started eating again. He seemed to realize that the only people really listening to her were Parvati and Hermione.

OooOOooOO

"Hey." Cedric Diggory was not at his best. He was covered in ribbons, tied into the middle of a doorway by thousands of strands that snagged him as he walked through. He was hanging in a rather pathetic manner as Anna Potter strolled out in front of him with a smirk on her face.

"What happened?" She was amused, and it didn't improve his mood.

"Some sort of enchanted party streamers and a trip wire enchantment I'd wager." He was frowning at her. "Will you please just get me out of this? I can't move much."

The girl shrugged, took out her wand, extended it to sword length, and skillfully carved every single ribbon away in several fast and clean strikes that were very, very close. The boy fell face first onto the floor with a shocked expression on his face.

He stood up a little shaky and pointed back at her. "Don...don't ever do that again."

"You'll get used to it." She gave him a sunny smile and brushed a bit off his shoulder. It was all that was left of what had been binding him.

He gave her a rather dazed glance. "I don't think so. Thanks though." He patted her shoulder.

She'd noticed the noise of it going off ahead of her path, she was going to Snape's dungeon during a period he had off. Her study periods always coincided with break periods for him. The hallway she was using was always empty at that time of day. The bustle of students between classes could still be heard in the other halls.

"I heard you come this way. Just wanted to say hi and all. We've not seen much of you." He was flushed. "I wasn't expecting this."

"Neither was I to be honest." The redhead nodded and gave a small sigh. "I suppose I should say it's nice they've remembered me. I'll have to work that in too I suppose. Thanks for dropping by, I miss it more than you think. I'm tied down all the time now." The girl got a bit flushed for a moment. It was true, she'd not had much time for hanging about with anyone. The band was the only thing that kept her sane. It was a rather relaxed affair as of late, and the only time she spent with her friends where they could talk for very long.

The third year boy nodded. "Um, yeah. What's going on though? The Weasley Brothers are starting to think they suspect you of murder or something."

The redhead gave a small sigh and hung her head. "I've been pretty busy this year. I don't have much free time, now that I'm tied to Professor Snape's waist. I barely have time to hang out with the band, and they're in the same dorm as I am." She slumped her back and groaned. "It kind of sucks."

"Yeah. Still, it's kind of unheard of. That's not what I mean. What's going on? I've not seen you without a teacher within ten feet all year. They're always watching you behind your back. Is something going on?" The boy arched his eyebrow and scratched his head. "Are you in trouble or something?"

She shook her head and shrugged. "I've noticed. There is something going on, but it's not got much to do with Hogwarts."

"Oh." He looked confused, and seemed to think she wouldn't elaborate. He kind of wished she hadn't after the fact.

"Yeah. The House Elves are trying to kill me. They don't like the Bunnies, and they've declared war on me. I'm an apprentice Potions Master, and I've got band practice, plus Quidditch. I'm afraid I've not got much time for getting into trouble anyway. All the staff watches me for Dumbledore. I'm not sure how he feels about the mess, his duty is to the school. Elder Tinglebum can override their contracts though. It's his right as their leader."

"You see, this is what people don't get about you. I think you're pretty and all, and you're really rich, but I would never date you. I don't want to die." The boy gave a firm nod and looked a bit confused. "The House Elves?"

"Yes. It sucks. I've got no free time. I'm really looking forward to the holiday break." Her eyes had an evil gleam to them as a dark smirk formed on her face.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again. Drop by and say hi if you've got time." Cedric gave a small wave and turned away. He didn't want to know any more about it. After that death trap, he'd had enough of it. The statement caught him off guard as he walked away again. "The House Elves? Really?"

OooOOooOO

Harry's head was against the wood of the breakfast table. He groaned and shook the still folded newspaper in his hand. He did get a copy of the paper for himself to read on occasion, but this one had just dropped in by surprise.

Ron leaned over the table looking concerned. "You're not ill are you?"

The boy rolled his head so his face was down, but didn't lift it. "Here. Have a look."

Hermione took it first. Parvati and Lavender were both leaning in to hear what was going on. "You have got to be kidding me!" She took one look at the headline and her jaw dropped.

"What?" Ron looked interested.

"Elder Tinglebum, High Elder of the House Elf Clans, issued a public statement today..." The girl started reading and the three wizarding children lost interest.

"Is this about another doorknob polish shortage or something?" Ron gave a small sigh. "It's kind of normal, they..."

The girl glared at him and gave a growl. "No! The House Elves have declared war on the Bunnies!" She stood up and shouted it in frustration at their dismissal.

The entire table sucked in a quick breath, and the hall had gone silent. Everyone turned to look at the girl at once, and the other house tables had gotten quiet and turned to face the disturbance.

Hermione looked at Harry with her eye twitching. "And Anna Potter." Mutters and whispers followed after. She'd not said the last part very loud, but those who had heard it, passed it on.

The boy was looking up and noticed his mother's owl swoop in and drop a paper on Anna's table. It also had a bright red envelope tied to it.

Ron's jaw dropped. "Oh man! She's gotten a Howler!"

"What's that?" asked Harry and Hermione at the same time after they both noticed the looks the other students who had heard got on their faces.

"It's horrible. I feel sorry for her." Neville shuddered. "I got one from my Gran once and ignored it! It was awful!"

OooOOooOO

"A Howler? Awesome! What did you do?" Melvin's eyes lit up as soon as he noticed the envelope.

"Oh no!" Pansy's face fell as she grabbed at Anna's arm. "Just open it and get it over with. It's awful if you don't!"

Ginny looked terrified and nodded. "Yeah. Sorry."

"All right mum, what do you want?" She lifted the paper, took a glance at the headline, and her face fell. "Oh." She ripped open the note and the letter shot into the air like a rocket.

Lily Potter's voice boomed through the Great Hall. "Annabelle Violet Potter! How could you? You started a WAR with the HOUSE ELVES?! You didn't even tell us? What the hell is wrong with you? How on earth did you manage to start a WAR with the HOUSE ELVES to begin with?! What is wrong with you? You are so grounded over the holiday! I'm locking up your broom for the summer as well!"

Anna watched it all with a rather unexcited expression on her face. After the letter exploded and burned into non existence she looked ahead. "Hmmm. I suppose I should have written home about it. I've been pretty busy though."

"You really started a war with the House Elves?" Ginny was amazed. "Um...um...how did...?"

"They started one with me. Not the other way around." The redhead drooped her shoulders down and nodded. "They don't like the Bunnies, and they want to kill them all, and me with them, just to make sure."

Pansy was aghast. "And you didn't tell your parents? Oh man! You are in sooooooo much trouble! Wow!"

Margaret was sort of sitting with her mouth open and looking at the redhead in a sort of dazed way.

Melven almost seemed amused, but put off. "Wow. That's just...wow. Bunnies are awesome!" He shoveled a bit of food in his mouth.

"Why? Um, why do they want to kill you?" Margaret shook herself halfway out of a daze to ask.

"They don't like the Bunnies. They clean up trash, and the House Elves think of it as their job. So the Elder has issued an order to exterminate all of us. Myself included. Don't worry, it'll be over before the end of the year. I'm going to crush them." She nodded and looked about. Everyone nearby seemed uncomfortable.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter walked up the steps to the owlery with her letter gripped in her hand. It was an information filled letter that would let her parents in on the particulars. She'd not been able to get to it until that evening. She owed her enough for it, and did feel bad for not yet mentioning it to them. She was, however, fighting a war, and not going to summer camp. It had slipped her mind among the ordered chaos her day had become.

She spent a lot of her evenings meditating to help her minions plan and fight. They favored night time raids, despite the Drow's slight vision advantage. Battle Meditation was a difficult technique, even more so at distance. The only time she had enough free time for it was in the evenings before bed. She issued orders to Larry, Curley, Moe, and Shemp, and the Bunnies were good at following instructions that were passed along by their own kind. Any one of them could do just as well as her personal Bunnies.

She didn't find what she expected. Hedwig and Carrot weren't in their cage. There were papers strewn about on the floor. It only caught her attention because they were clean. Her eyes focused in the shadows and she cocked her eyebrow. Sitting on the bottom of the cage, were hand drawn plans for some sort of machine. From the look of it, a muggle invention. "What the?"

Voices caught her attention. She cocked her head and shook it as she followed the sound, becoming more and more confused as she drew nearer. A short way down the wall from the Owlery, was a small tower with an empty room. She'd heard rumors of gnomes that lived there, but never bothered to check it out. She pushed open the door and her jaw dropped.

"Yes! With this Ionic Beam Lazer Weapon, we can use the giant lens of the satellite to reflect back and magnify the beam and microwave all the popcorn in the world at once! Deprived of their favorite snack, moviegoers will abandon the theaters. Allowing us to take over the film industry, and take over the World!" Carrot raised his wing into the air as he finished. He was standing on front of a metal box with a muzzle poking out the side.

Harry's own turned her head to the girl in the doorway and spoke up. "Oh. Hello, Carrot was just tellin me about how we're going to take over the world tonight. Isn't that right, Carrot?"

"Holy shit." Anna dropped the pages in her hand to the floor and just stood there.

Carrot's head spun about. He blinked. "Um...Hoot! Hoot!"

Hedwig chimed in with him. "Hoot! Narf! Hoot!"

Her eyes turned to the floor and the pages that were lying there. "You've...you've got to be kidding me. This is it. I've snapped."

Carrot ruffled his feathers and relaxed a bit more.

"This is so awesome! You're exactly what I need! I'm so glad I own you!" She walked up to the two birds and sat down in front of the smaller one. She tied her letter to Hedwig's leg and smiled at her. "Be a dear and take that to our mother would you? I've got to talk with him. There will be no taking over the world tonight."

She looked at her owl. His head was turned about away from her. His feathers were ruffled out and he looked rather like a faceless snow man. Hedwig fluttered off with her letter.

"You do realize that you're my legal property. I could have a nice roasted wild fowl for dinner tomorrow night, and no one would even punish me for it." The girl sounded cheerful as she said it. "Turn around and out with it. What's this mess about taking over the world and not inviting me?"

The owl's head turned halfway back around to glare at her with the corner of his eye.

"Well, you're not allowed to do that I'm afraid. We've got other work planed." She tapped at the papers she'd dropped, they'd moved across the floor under her hand. "I've got a job for you."

"Why should I?" The owl grumbled.

"Because I can offer a hundred thousand Pounds of funding a month. The catch is, you work for me when I need it. Put off your personal plans for later." She waved her hand and leaned onto her knee. "It'll be fun to watch and see if you can pull it off."

The owl's eyes went wide. "Wh...what?"

"You're going to be busy for a while if you take the job. Especially in the near future. After that, I'm sure I can think of something. You can even take over the world in your off time if you want." The girl looked at her nails.

"I uh..." The owl's feathers had drooped and he shook his head. "What?"

"That thing your sitting on? If you had two million hands, resources, and floorspace. How long would it take you to build more of those, and how small could you make it?" The redhead thumped it with her palm.

"I...uh...it shouldn't be too difficult." He rubbed his wing under his beak. "Given the proper equipment and enough claws for the job."

"Great. What about mounting a few that size on something like this?" She held up a drawing of two robotic legs. "Maybe put a thin armor plating around the cockpit." She took one of the pencil's off a nearby desk by reaching for it and having it float into her hand. She drew a box with windows in the front for vision.

The owl stammered. "I suppose."

The girl interjected again. "Oh. I'll need it to be for a life form about your size, a little larger. With four paws and opposable thumbs."

Carrot seemed to venture off as he thought about it. "Hmmm. I suppose that would make it a bit easier."

"Great. Meet me in the lab at the top of that tower in twenty minutes, and we'll get the details ironed out!" The redhead clapped her hands and hopped to her feet before turning away after pointing to the tower above Slytherin dorms.

"I uh..." Carrot wasn't sure, but he thought he'd just gotten a job. A much better job than the degrading work for the wizarding post office. "Yes!" He pointed his wing into the sky. "Soon I shall use the money garnered from this venture, and I'll be able to take over the world for sure! With the proper funding, I'll be a world ruler in no time!"

OooOOooOO

It was Halloween night, and the group of students walking down the empty hall had been released from the rather relaxed day a little earlier than the other students. Nick had spoken to Dumbledore about it, and the Headmaster had agreed with little prodding.

Harry Potter frowned at Hermione Granger as he walked behind the band with Ron on his other side. They weren't carrying their instruments with them, as the Bunnies had a stage set up for them already. "Because I remember what happened right after you left me to deal with Quirrel."

"What?" The girl's eyes came out of focus as she became confused. "What are you talking about?"

The boy was talking to her in the hallway. They were trailing behind the band, and Ron was next to Harry, ignoring what the pair was talking about. "I'm sorry, you'd rather not know."

She grabbed his shirt and pulled him down. "You'd better tell me now."

He hung his head and gave a heavy sigh. "Fine. You kept wondering about what you'd missed, and details I might have missed, or things I hadn't told you. It was awful. It went on for weeks. You were still doing it when you got back this year."

She let his shirt go and flushed. "I wasn't thinking about you!"

"How do you figure that?" Harry looked rather surprised and a little horrified.

"All right fine. Just remember that next time. I don't like being left behind. I don't care how great you think you are. I'll be able to handle myself."

Anna turned back towards the conversation without slowing her pace. "That won't always hold true. There will be times when he must face things for himself."

"You stay out of this." The girl growled at her and clenched her fists.

Margaret and Pansy glanced back at her. Pansy shrugged and spoke up. "She's been pretty quiet lately."

"Yes. Very odd." Margaret nodded. "Still, she's occupied enough right now. If she takes the time to tell you something, it's probably best to listen."

Anna had been pretty quiet as of late. She led the pack through the hall, not speaking to anyone. She glanced at her friends and sighed. "Sorry. I've been given enough to keep me distracted. I'm not certain, he's hard to read, but I think Dumbledore doesn't like the way I'm handling the House Elves much. I'm also a high value target, they aren't just watching me, they're watching the House Elves as well."

Melvin grunted. "I hope this gets resolved soon."

The redhead nodded once. "It will."

"Good to know." Harry wasn't sure what to think. He'd gotten nothing from her. She'd been rather distant that year, and learning of the fight for the Bunnies shed a great deal of light on that. Still, it was something she'd kept from him. She didn't want him involved. It didn't sit well with him, and not just because he was worried about her safety.

It took Ron Weasley a moment to realize that he was walking by himself, ahead of the group. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed everyone else had slowed a bit. He turned about and walked up next to Harry. They had turned into the hall that lead to the party, and it was lined with grim rows of black candles along the walls. The band was moving slower, but forward. Hermione was taking up the rear and looking about with a rather wide eyed expression.

"This is creepy." The girl moved up beside Harry again.

"It is a bit grim isn't it?" Harry nodded. "I suppose he did ask for Death Metal. I don't imagine the party will be any better."

Ron jerked his head in surprise. "Really?" He looked about the hallway. "Well, I suppose."

"What? You thought this was cheerful?" Hermione glared at him across Harry's chest.

"Well, no. I guess not." The redhead still seemed confused by the reaction of everyone else.

"Are you kidding? I was expecting it, and it still creeped me out a bit." Anna glanced back at him.

"Well, it's got a lot to live up too I suppose." Ron shifted his hat with a tug of his fingers and glanced back at them. He was grinning at them both and enjoying the reaction.

Harry and Hermione looked put off a little, but not very angry.

Anna pushed open the door to the dungeon and paused. "Oh." The room was wall to wall ghosts.

Nick appeared with a warm smile on his face at the appearance of the children. "Ah! Welcome dear friends! Welcome!"

Anna's jaw was a little slack, as was Harry's, Melvin, Margaret, and Pansy's. "No way!" The whole band spoke at once.

"Is that who I think it is?" Melvin muttered with a rather blank expression on his face.

"Yes." Anna nodded. The room had close to two hundred ghosts in it. A few were poking through the walls and it was standing room only. There was a table piled with rotten food, a huge cake, several tables with putrid looking punch bowls, and a small stage with their instruments set up for them. Anna's bunnies were moving about the crowd, ignoring the spirits and walking through them.

"What are they on about?" Ron glanced at Hermione. The girl was wide eyed, and had gone a bit pale.

"Half the room is dead famous musicians." Anna looked back at them. "Like, legends, and such. That's Axel Louis right there. He's standing with Robert Marcus. We deposed them from the title of 'The Two Greatest Guitar Players of All Time'.

"No way!" Melvin had a grin on his face. "Wow! That's the Drummer for Death Sled! Like the original!"

"We've got to play the Great Hall in an hour and a half." Margaret looked down at the ground. "Anna, do we have too? I could stay here all night."

Nick ushered them up to the stage amidst a loud cheer.

The band played about seven songs, all with heavy and fast guitar riffs, and lots of screaming. Death Metal of the highest, or lowest depending on taste, order.

A group of headless men on horseback stomped through the walls, there were a dozen of them and they blasted into the center of the room. The leader, a bearded ghost, pulled a horn that no one had heard off his lips as he gaped at the scene. At the time, Headless Nick was in the middle of being passed over a stage dive while his head was bounced about like a beach ball at a concert. Peeves was the only ghost in bright clothes, and was being bounced about with a gleeful grin on his face as well. The poltergeist almost looked like a giant orange ball.

Nick was placed on his feet in front of the lead spirit rider, who seemed to be rather shocked at the size of the party. Sir Nick caught his head and put it on his shoulders. "Ah, Sir Patric! Welcome!" He tucked his cranium under his arm and gave the bearded ghost a small wave. He had to shout, and he still wasn't sure he'd been heard. It was rather loud, and the guests seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The rather gruff looking ghost simply looked at him with a shocked expression. "What? The rat bastard was tellin the truth?"

Sir Nick knew that he said something, but had no idea what. He'd been pulled aside for a moment of dancing by one of the female ghosts, and was released a moment later as she continued on her way, dancing and banging her head as she went. She was waving a corset over her head in a circle.

Nick was clearly flustered, but seemed pleased. Sir Patric looked up at the stage as the cheerful spirit vanished. A moment later, the Gryffindor Spirit came through one of the walls nearby on horseback. His horse was smaller than any other riders, with a pale glowing white gray coat.

"So. How did you lose yer head?" The lead ghost put his head next to Nicks and turned to watch the band.

"Oh. It was quite exciting!" Sir Nick was quite pleased to tell him of his adventure.

OooOOooOO

After the show was over, Harry realized that Ron and Hermione were both a bit put off by it. They were giving the band wide eyed stares as they stepped off stage.

Melvin blinked at them as he walked up ahead of everyone else. "What?"

"They aren't used to that sort of music. It's kind of an acquired taste." Margaret gave a small sigh. "We don't do much of that sort of thing I suppose. We learned all those songs as part of our advanced metal training."

"Yeah. No albums though. We should, but not this year." Pansy seemed to realize that their redheaded senior guitarist might agree to that as she said it and amended.

Anna had a wry smile on her face, but didn't say anything.

"Come on. We've got another show." Harry shook his head as he walked by his fellow Gryffindor students.

"Wait." Anna smacked her palm into her fist. "First of all Harry. Don't worry about what you hear. Nothing will happen that can't be fixed by morning. No one will get hurt."

"Man. I hate leaving." Melvin looked into the crowd of spirits.

"I'm afraid the party is finished. Thank you so much my dear friends! It was the best Deathday I've ever had!" Sir Nick trotted up to them as they moved towards the door. "It's almost time for the Headless Games to start."

Margaret blinked. "Headless Games?"

"Yes. Head juggling on horseback, headless polo..." Nick looked like he was thinking of examples, and holding his head in a proud manner at his side.

"So. Yer Ron Weasley, eh?" The bearded ghost trotted up to Nick's side and his horse snorted at the group. He was holding his head at his side as well, and seemed to regard the group. His horse was larger and more intimidating than Sir Nick's still dead, but rather well groomed and light footed, mount.

The boy looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah."

"Nick tells me you took his head. In a ferocious battle on the stairs of Hogwarts? You, lad?" The bearded ghost seemed amused.

"Yeah. Almost didn't get by him." Ron nodded and gave the house ghost a warm grin. "I can't believe I made it sometimes. He didn't give up."

"Ha! This boy..." The gruff looking spirit reared his head back and burst into laughter.

Nick looked a bit miffed. "Really, Sir Patric..."

Ron got an irate look on his face. A moment later the bearded ghost's head was bouncing off the back wall as a loud crack echoed through the room. Ron had pulled his whip out, and twirled it over his head as it recoiled before wrapping it around Sir Patric's torso and pulling him off his mount and onto his feet. Ron had his foot on top of the whip coils over the spirit body's chest for a moment. He shook the whip and in unwrapped, releasing the body. "Yeah. This boy."

The headless body got back to it's feet and rushed over to collect it's head. The bearded spirit rubbed at his nose and looked at the boy with wide eyes. He wasn't pleased, and stormed up. Ron just watched while coiling his whip up.

Sir Nick was stifling chuckles, along with several other riders.

"I see. I suppose a man who loses his head while wearing armor, is a worthy addition to our ranks." Sir Patric nodded at Ron, continued to glare, and slapped Nick on his shoulder after taking back his mount.

Melvin perked up. "Hey. Would you guys mind doing this headless games thing indoors? There's enough room in the Great Hall right?"

Anna and Harry both blinked and looked at him. Neither one had commented on Ron's exchange, and Hermione was clinging to the Potter boy's arm with a wide eyed expression at the sight of it.

Pansy blinked. "Well, won't people get trampled? The hall is full. I mean, I know they're ghost and all, but people might not like it much if they're charging about the students."

"We don't need ground." Sir Patric shrugged. "We're ghosts." He seemed to think about it and nodded in an agreeable manner.

Harry smiled at him and nodded. "It's the Halloween feast here at Hogwarts. I don't see why everyone can't come. We're playing another show there in about twenty minutes. Having you guys riding about overhead would be great! We'll dim the lights...and..."

Anna realized all the spirits were moving off through the walls towards the hall.

Sir Nick would have been crying tears of joy if he'd had eyes still. It was the best Deathday he'd ever had.

OooOOooOO

Harry walked out into the hall with the rest of the living in tow. The Bunnies were setting up the hall for the show ahead of them already. "Great idea, Melvin."

The raven haired boy jerked his bangs out of his eyes with a swift motion of his neck. "Yeah. It was pretty awesome." The pair clasped hands and performed a complicated handshake.

"...rip...tear...kill..." Harry paused and cocked his head. "Hey."

Anna pulled on his shoulder. "No. Ignore it."

"You hear..." The boy's eyes became wide.

"No harm will come of it tonight. It's best if we ignore it for now. We'll be dealing with it soon enough. This isn't the time for explanations. We've got something else to be doing right now." The redhead frowned at him.

"...so hungry...for so long..."

"What is it?" Hermione looked confused.

"You don't hear that voice?" The boy shook his head. "I mean..."

"It's parseltongue. No one can hear it but you and I, and there is nothing you can do about it tonight." The redhead shook her head and glared at him. "Come on. We've got a show."

Pansy looked a bit disgusted. "There's a snake in the wall?"

"Ick." Margaret didn't like the way that sounded.

"What? You're both in Slytherin." Melvin furrowed his eyebrow and glanced back at them.

His sister glared at him. "Yeah. If our house crest was a dragon, would you want to know about one crawling about inside the school walls?" She smacked him in the back of his head and wiped his smirk off his face.

"Ouch. Sorry." The boy looked more irate than apologetic.

"You're a Parcelmouth?" Hermione's jaw dropped a little. "What is it with you and rare gifts anyway?"

Ron shook his head and gave a small chuckle. "Another one? Really, Harry. You're going to use them all up soon."

"Actually, it has more to do with our connection to Voldemort than anything else. It sort of imprinted on us when we survived his curse." Anna glanced back and shrugged at her. "Come on, we've only got a few minutes to get some food for ourselves before we start playing."

The doors to the Great Hall opened, and the group walked into end what would be one of the most Legendary Halloween Feasts in all of Hogwarts history.

OooOOooOO

"THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE!" The wave of students reached the wall just at the top of the stairs to the school and dorms. The message was written in big red letters that were still dripping a bit.

Draco Malfoy snorted in amusement. There was a large crowd of students behind him, all had gone silent. There were the beginnings of whispers and mutterings. Hanging from a torch bracket just below the message, was Mrs. Norris. She was stiff as a board, and hanging by her tail. He was near the front of the pack, among the first to leave. "Interesting. Seems you've got competition Potter."

Draco gave an inward smile as a voice called out over the crowd. "Enemies of the Heir beware! You'll be next Mudbloods!"

Goyle had a dark looking grin on his face as Crabbe raised his fist in the air beside him. He wasn't sure which of them had spoken up. They were looking for approval from him and his grin seemed to please them. "Idiots." He grumbled under his breath as he looked up at the writing again.

"My cat! My cat! What happened to my cat!?" Filtched came barreling through the crowd and stumbled his way to get a good look at the animal. His eyes were popping out of his head as he looked at the crowd.

The blond Slytherin boy with a grin on his face. The balding wiry man hooked his finger at him. "You! You did this! You murdered my cat! I'll kill you!" Filtch hadn't unhooked his cat and reached for the boy.

"Argus!" Dumbledore had arrived on the scene. Numerous other teachers moved in behind him. The students stood crowded around the scene and silent. He walked up and unhooked the cat. "Come with me Argus." He glanced over at Afina, her office was the nearest.

She led them to it and opened the door, stepping inside and backing out of the way. Dumbledore leaned in to peer at her fur after placing her on the desk top. The young looking teacher spoke up. "She's not dead. Don't worry. Paralized?" Snape and McGonagall entered behind her, slipping to the sides to watch in silence.

The old wizard nodded and gave Filtch a small grin. He looked towards Snape and McGonagall, who had both entered the room as well. "Petrified. How, I cannot say."

"Ask Draco Malfoy. I know it was him, he was smilin!" The pathetic balding man screeched and shook his fist.

Dumbledore arched his eyebrow at the man. "No second year could have done this." He turned to the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. "Professor Amanar, would you be so kind as to go and speak with Madam Pomphrey? We have a supply of restorative that will take care of this in a moment's time. Fetch Anna Potter as well. I've a few questions for her regarding this."

"That little brat, it makes perfect sense!" Filtch was hopping mad.

"Argus! I don't suspect her. I'm afraid she has been accounted for all evening." Dumbledore gave a shake of his head and looked stern. "I am just as certain it wasn't her than I am it wasn't you."

The man cowered a little, but nodded. "You'll let me have em when you find out who done it?"

"Mrs. Norris will be fine." Dumbledore glanced at him out of the corners of his eyes with an almost amused chuckle.

After about ten minutes, Afina walked back in with the redhead in tow. She handed the bottle to Dumbledore. He used it on the cat, and the animal staggered to her paws and shook her head a moment later. Filtch pulled her into his arms and sniffled, tears running down his cheeks as he rushed past kissing his cat on the head as he walked out of the room.

Anna ignored him and looked at Dumbledore. "Yes, Professor?"

The old man shrugged. "I find it curious, that you would make a batch of such an unusual restorative the year before this happened. It's quite potent, and while useful for many things. It is the only known cure for petrification. It's a difficult and complex curse, and only a master of charms or potions can achieve it."

Snape stepped forward. "You said you didn't suspect her." He didn't sound very displeased.

The old man shook his head. "Oh. I don't. I'm curious what she might know."

Anna looked back at McGonagall, Amanar, and Snape. She looked back up at Dumbledore and shrugged. "I had a feeling I'd need it. Happens some times, and I've found it's best if I don't ignore it."

The old man nodded and smiled at her. "Well, I'm thankful for that. We have enough we'd have been able to cure her by year's end. However, we already have quite a supply. Enough for as much as twenty more."

Anna knew she was the object of everyone's focus. She was shifting with a bit of discomfort, but handling it well. "I'd rather be over prepared than not prepared enough. What's this about? Am I in trouble or something?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "No. However, you are Salizar's Heir, and you have opened the Chamber of Secrets. I felt it might be useful to speak with you. Perhaps shed some light on this."

McGonagall and Afina gasped in unison. Snape lowered his eyes and growled. Minerva glanced at him. "You knew?"

He smiled at her for a moment under his nose. "Of course."

"You want to know if I might know anything?" The girl nodded. "Well, I'm against the racist ideals this would incite. Something this stupid wouldn't gain me anything. I don't think this is a harmless stunt though."

The old man nodded. "Why is that?"

Anna tapped her foot and looked thoughtful. "This is tied to his Horicruxes. He's got several, and I can feel the connection one of them has to this. That's about all I've got. Harry and I have already destroyed one of them, but there's a few more. I've foreseen us finding several, but don't ask for many details about it."

Dumbledore looked as shocked as the other teachers in the room Afina was the least surprised and nodded with a thoughtful frown.

"You say you've destroyed one?" Dumbledore straightened up a bit.

"Yes. We'll need to find this one and get rid of it too. Once they're all destroyed, we can finish him. There's no other way to do it." The redhead looked about the room. "What? You didn't already know about that part?"

"N...no." Minerva had her hand over her mouth as she looked down at the girl with a mixture of horrified shock and surprise.

Dumbledore raised his palms up a little and shrugged with a nod. "I suspected, but I'd yet to find any real evidence of it."

"Oh. Well. That's about all that I can give you. Something is going on, it's got something to do with another horicrux, and it won't be over until the stupid thing is destroyed." She rubbed at the bottom of her nose and looked less than interested in the meeting. "Is there anything else? I don't mean to sound rude, but I think you know how much I've got on my schedule right now."

Dumbledore nodded his head and looked a bit dazed. "Fifty points for Slytherin, for the forethought, and effort for the potion. Thank you for your time." The redhead gave a small bow and left the room.

McGonagall almost spoke up to protest it as a little excessive, but put her fingers over her lips. The girl had just blown the lid off of the secret to destroying Voldemort. She probably had no idea the blow she'd just dealt him. In her mind, that was worth five hundred points.

"The girl is..." Snape moved towards the Head Master.

Afina nodded. "I agree. She's dangerous, proud, and very interesting."

McGonagall gasped as her eyes went wide, she looked a little scandalized. "Interesting?"

Dumbledore nodded his head. "Yes, and thus far, she's done nothing wrong. I ask that all of you keep an eye on both of them. The House Elves are under suspicion as well. I do not see the need to become involved, but that doesn't mean we should relax our guard."

"Agreed." Snape frowned a little more, but nodded. "Perhaps it would be best if we were to remove them from the Quidditch roster? Having them flying about in the open with so many wands pointed at..."

"I see no need for that." McGonagall crossed her arms and pointed her nose in the air. "I understand if you wish to take Anna off your team for such a noble cause."

"She is correct, Severus. I see no need to worry." Dumbledore shook his head at Snape. "If you wish to replace your Seeker. I understand and will respect that choice. As House Head, it is your right."

Snape whirled around and moved towards the door without another word. He'd been hoping to get rid of both of them, and put Draco Malfoy in the Seeker position. The blond son of Lucius wasn't as skilled as the Potter Twins, but his skill was far above the other students. "Perhaps you're right, it may be too soon. I'll keep my eye on the situation." He knew that he needed to get rid of Harry, if he wanted to ever get her off his team.

OooOOooOO

"What is thy bidding my master?" Draco Malfoy kneeled before the shadows. The cloaked figure sitting in the darkness, two glowing red dots over a heap of muddied shadows was all he could see.

The Sith Lord spoke up. "Stay out of this. It is no match for either of those children. It will test their strength in other matters more than pose a real danger. Becoming involved with this would be a pointless waste of time, and carry too much risk for our cause. Voldemort will be dealt with in due time. Let him handle his own matters, you are still too weak to be useful."

Draco's face was a dark and angry frown. His fist were balled up and he was shaking with rage. "Yes. Master."

"I feel your pathetic rage, boy. Your pride is wounded by your own progress? Then do something about it. I've no time for your personal vendettas against Harry and Anna Potter. " The voice carried an arrogant and disgusted air. His Master's hands rose up from under his robes and blasted him with arcs of power. "You would be destroyed. What use are you for me then? You've no reason to become involved. They will be destroyed when their use is at an end. The girl first, and then her brother shall fall. He still has a bit of work to do for us. Do not disregard them, but be mindful, and control yourself. Your fear and anger are useless if you cannot control them well enough to use them properly."

"Yes. Master." Draco's rage and grown twice as strong. He was full of shame, and unable to move as well, and felt very inadequate. All of it only fueled his anger.

The hooded figure lowered it's fingers and melted back into darkness. It was laughing at him. "Good."

OooOOooOO

There were many dark places in the dreams of Hogwart's dorms. That is where Anna Potter often went for a few hours of each night in her dreams. She lurked about in the shadows of their minds, watching, waiting, and listening. His dirty brown hat and metal claws scratching at the walls in their minds.

On occasion, he had a good chuckle giving one of them a jump. Sometimes to the point of jolting them awake. For the most part, he remained just out of sight, making them feel wary, a sense of foreboding marking his presence. If he spoke to them at all, it was but a single question. They were often unable to do anything but glare back in horrified confusion upon noticing the glove he had their hand gripped in. He had approached several, but only asked one thing of them before moving off into the darkness of their dreams. "Where is the book? Lord Voldemort will be very upset if it is damaged."

Now her urgency had gone up. They were hearing the damn snake in the walls. They needed to find that book and destroy it. Killing the snake was important as well, but it was also a secondary objective. It hadn't taken a human target yet.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was haunched over a pile of books the following evening. He'd gotten to studying a bit later than normal. Hogwarts was abuzz about the concert, and the headless events that were held overhead as they played in the darkened hall. The spirits of famous dead musicians tossing out song requests. It had gone on for an hour and a half. The normal Halloween curfew hours had been extended a bit that year for it.

Then there was that mess in the hall. Something about some kind of snake, and a petrified cat. He'd not seen it, by the time himself and the band went by the spot, the only thing left was a couple of doused torches and a scrawled red message that was difficult to make out in the shadows.

Hedwig fluttered into the window after a tapping attracted his attention. He looked at them and they opened, letting the animal in to drop a rolled up parchment in front of him. The symbol of the Deathly Hallows was on the seal.

"The girl's bathroom, ask Hermione about Moaning Myrtil. The center sink on the wall, do not take anyone into that room with you. The work will not be done after the monster is dead. There is something else that must be found. A horicrux, it's being used to control the snake.

Use Parceltongue and say 'open' to reveal the opening. Do not let anyone else follow you into that room. The creature is called a Basilisk, it is a very large snake, and it's gaze can kill you. Don't look at it, if you use your eyes to try and fight it, you will die. Saying 'close' will seal the chamber behind you.

Destroy the snake, bring proof to Dumbledore, and Hagrid's name will be cleared.

I'd come along to help you Harry, but I'm afraid I'm being watched too closely. May the Force be with you, Anna."

"P.S. This letter will self destruct in ten seconds."

The boy's eyes went a little wide as it flashed out of existence in his fingers in a quick burst of flame. He shook his head and chuckled. "I was wondering why she kept making me train with that damn blindfold so much lately. The brat." He glanced towards the door and considered taking a late night trip to the library. It passed after a moment, he had a period he could take care of looking up what a Basilisk was before rushing in to just follow instructions. "I suppose she thinks I should deal with it myself then. We'll see."

He gave Hedwig a couple of owl treats, and she fluttered back out the window. It closed itself in it's wake and he stretched his arms out before turning his eyes back to studying. It was difficult, with the new 'quest' that had been dumped on him looming about in his mind. His eyes drooped down a little as he seemed to realize how difficult overcoming that might turn out to be.

"Sometimes I wonder if you pick the nights before Transfiguration tests for this sort of thing out of spite." He glanced in the general direction he could feel her in.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next Time: Darkly Dawns Gilderoy Lockheart.


	29. Chapter 29

Been a while I know. Blame Fallout, Fable, Saint's Row, Resistance, Gears of War, and Far Cry's sequels for the delay. Great past few months for gaming, not so much for fanfic writing.

And now for something completely different...

Matter of Force

Part 29

Darkly dawns, Gilderoy Lockheart.

OooOOooOO

Gilderoy Lockheart was not in the best of shape. His home was lavish, satin sheets, mirrors surrounded him, it was bright and colorful. The color Lilac surrounded him. Every wall and piece of furniture was painted the light violet shade.

He didn't look well, and his room was a mess. Torn papers, magazines, books, clothes, and food wrappings covered every surface in the room. The pathetic man was hunched over with a bottle of his favorite whiskey in his hand. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, unshaven and bleary eyed. He wiped his cheek with his hand and belched, his belly sticking out and his back slumped. "What am I doing?"

His home was just outside London. A lavish manor, filled with empty rooms of color and pictures of himself, mirrors were everywhere. He closed his eyes as they came into focus again, and he found himself looking back at his own face. The mirror image was a stark contrast to the photo next to it. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"I cannot. I cannot." He wasn't sure what he couldn't do. All he felt was a heavy weight on his chest, he'd never felt more shame. Not even the time he'd wet himself when a bogart surprised him at a visit to a retirement home. He hadn't even wanted to go, but the image, the shots. It had been...so... "Awful." He chugged down a few more gulps, hoping to blur his view so he couldn't see again. The last of it drained away, and he could still see.

A loud thump hit his front door, resonating through the silence of his home. He squeaked and jumped out of bed. He looked down at his feet, seeing the plans for his Hair Care products. Fake ads he'd produced to help sell it, head shots of himself holding a bottle of magic shampoo. Drawings he'd made to help the photographer, commercials he'd written. It was strewn about, balled up and torn, his dream ripped to shreds. He didn't remember doing it.

He staggered out of his room, pulling a lilac bathrobe off the hook on the back of the door, ignoring the hairnet and tossing it down in a careless manner. As he walked down the stairs, the dull thump magnified by the acoustics of the room. He knew just where to stand to maximize it, so his voice could carry to those who would never gather to hear his voice. His eyes moved to the spot, more out of habit than anything else.

He didn't remember what had startled him, only that he wanted to check the door. His wand was sitting beside the door, where he'd left it. It wasn't like he could do anything with it anyway. There was no one to speak too, and it wasn't looking like there ever would be. He closed his eyes as he gripped the handle of his door and pulled it open.

The paper was resting there. He was used to the morning thump on his door, but was usually awake with a cup of strong coffee, and curlers by then. He looked down at it, debating whether or not to bother picking it up. He did, and walked over to an arm chair, slumping down it. The paper hung from his fingertips, balanced on one of the corners of the fold on the floor.

He grumbled and rubbed at his face. Not wanting to bother with going back up to his bedroom. Still, he looked back at himself, the giant mirror over his fireplace forcing him to look himself in the eyes again.

He lifted the paper and opened it, more to block the sight of himself than to read it. After a moment, still not wanting to move, he settled down to read. To do something with his mind.

It was bad news. The sort of things he used to stop, pretend to stop, were still going about as always. Robberies, two murders, and the general discomforts that cities thrived on. It was rare where he lived of course, quiet and out of the way of danger. He hardly ever ran into his neighbors, much less a criminal. Even the Wizarding world had it's dark side, it's dirty and poor. They were no better or worse than the Muggles in that regard. He sometimes wished he was the man he pretended to be. That he could somehow make the world a better place.

The paper fell away from his hands and he rubbed at his forehead. It wasn't like he could do anything. He was only Gilderoy Lockheart, professional liar. With his long beautiful hair, chiseled chin, and dashing smile. His teeth felt sticky and coated as he flashed them at his reflection. There was no shine, no joy in his baby blue eyes.  
He stood up, disgusted with his own appearance and walked up the stairs. He walked around to the glass doors of the upper balcony and pushed them open. Walking out on the second floor balcony and leaning against the rail. He could see Hogsmeade in the distance. He knew he couldn't just wander about catching criminals even if he could. He was Gilderoy Lockheart after all. "While handsome, I suppose I'm not very frightening." He shook his head and leaned down. Being incredibly handsome had it's perks, but it also had it's downside.

"Now what?" He looked over his shoulder, glad no mirror was close enough to get a good look at himself. He had no idea what to do. That boy had touched something with his words. He knew about him, he didn't know how or why. He knew he couldn't go back, he couldn't keep going on as he had.

"Maybe I should just kill him?" The man was once again glad he couldn't see his own face. "Yes. I'll just walk up to Hogwarts, and...do what?" He didn't have the nerve for murder and he knew it. Not that he could anyway, memory charms weren't very lethal. "Make him forget?" He couldn't do that unless he knew how the boy knew. How long he'd known. "It's not like I've ever hurt anyone before." It's what made it seem like such a good idea. He was confused, about why he felt so bad about it. He hadn't hurt anyone, had he?

He had to do something. He knew the weight would remain, and he would waste away if he didn't. He had sent away any who had come to speak to him, hidden and pretended to not be home. He'd not answered any fan mail, personal mail, or taken any transmissions.

"I must...make this right. I have to fix this." He balled up a fist and rapped the meat of his palm against the railing. Of course, a moment later he was cradling it and holding back tears.

He turned his eyes towards his bedroom and his eyes grew wide as his frown lightened. "If they fear me, then perhaps..." He knew he wasn't the man he claimed to be. No one really was, real heroes didn't exist. He was afraid of being hurt, getting dirty. Yet he was both of those things so often. "Yet, I'm still beautiful."

He strolled back and forth on the balcony, holding his chin between his fingers. "What? What though?" His grin widened again, his eyes lit up. "Yes. That's it Gilderoy!" He rushed back into his home.

He was paused to clap his hands and stomp his feet for a moment as he reared his head back and gave a manly giggle. "Oh! I've outdone myself!" He pulled a Lilac colored suit off of one of his racks, pulled the Lavender handkerchief off another, and pulled a very wide brimmed violet hat out of a big hat box on the shelf above the suits.

Working with a pair of scissors he cut two neat holes in his handkerchief, tied it over the top of his head adjusting it so he could see. He put on the hat, and pulled the suit up to his chest. He turned his cheeks and peered into the mirror in front of him. He looked over his shoulder at the girdle on the bed and nodded. The blond man glared into the glass as if he looked very disappointed in someone. A moment later and Gilderoy nodded and looked pleased with himself. He'd done such a wonderful job. "Yes. Quite frightening I'd say."

OooOOooOO

A few days later, inside a small quiet shop in Hogsmeade, an all to common scene played out...

Two hulking wizards stood behind the small stature of a balding, short, hook nosed, man. He had a slimy grin, and his eyebrows were furrowed under his slicked back widows peak. "You know why we're here."

A small elderly wizard with a lazy eye and a bald head cringed behind a cash register and swallowed. "What do you want?"

"Why are you asking? You told my friends to come get me. I don't like being bothered with personal visits. This is the only one you get. You want to run a shop on my street, you pay your taxes." The short hawk nosed wizard sneered and pointed his thumb back over his shoulder.

"You're not with the ministry!" The old man shook his fist. "You think I don't have ways of getting rid of pests like you? I can't afford to pay you and pay my taxes as well! Go bother one of those chain stores! There's nothing left for you here!"

The small wizard shook his head. "Deal with the store." His two lackeys, huge oaf like men wearing hoods, stepped away and started taking bottles off of shelves, smashing plates and glass and kicking over the old dusty standing shelves, sending their contents crashing to the ground.

The old man cried out as the short thin wizard shook his head. "You don't seem to understand."

The shop owner was furious. "The Ministry will hear of this."

"I don't think it will. Verbosa Cilenso." The short wizard smirked as he lowered his wand. It was a forbidden curse, and while it wouldn't close his mouth forever, he wouldn't be able to speak of what was happening to him to anyone.

The old man was shaking as he went for his wand, only to have it slapped away. The short wizard grabbed his collar and pulled him over the counter. "Open the drawer, and empty it. You'd better be able to cover what we asked. Even if you can, I'm taking it all. After all, a personal visit will always cost extra. My friends also don't have to pay for anything they take from your store in the future."

The old man licked his lips and nodded. He was shaking in the shorter wizard's grip.

The short wizard let him go and shoved him back. "Good. Don't go thinking that we won't be back if you give us false gold. It had better be real, or we'll be back, and you won't be as healthy as you are now."

OooOOooOO

"Dat was fun boss." Nicky Waltman walked away from the store with a partially filled gold bag on his hip. He was doing work overseas to lay low while a few things blew over in the US. His boss had been fingered and was sitting up in Aloquin. It was an American Wizarding prison, and nowhere near as bad as Azkaban. That sort of thing wasn't legal in the states. Operations were still going on, but a few of them had to disappear for a few years. He was going home in two years, and he wanted to be in good standing when he got back. Louie and Frankie, his muscle, chuckled as they left the shop. They were built like apes, and didn't seem very concerned with their waist lines.

The short wizard kicked the one who had spoken in his shins. The moon was out, stars hanging in the sky above. It was a cool night, but the chill of winter hadn't quite set in yet. They were walking down cobblestone streets together.

The oaf hopped on one leg and grunted in pain. The short wizard jabbed the other in the belly. "You two idiots better be able to take care of this on your own. I'm expecting an important call. You never know when..." A hissing sound from the road ahead caught the short wizard's attention. "What the hell is that?"

"Boss, look!" Frankie pointed as a cloud of light purple smoke blocked their view of the path ahead.

"What the?" Nicky was confused, but it was far enough away to not alarm him much. "What do you make of that?"

"I am the terror, that flaps in the night!" A booming voice echoed through the street from what sounded like all around them.

The trio of goons just gaped at the scene as they realized something was moving in the smoke.

"I am the gum, that sticks to the soles of evil!"

"What in Merlin's name?" The short wizard was astounded as a caped figure, in a very wide brimmed lilac hat, double breasted lilac suit, and lilac mask lowered his arms, and released the edges of his lilac cape and stepped out towards them without fear.

"I am Darkwing Man!" The figure shook his long golden curls, and flashed a sparkling white grin.

All three goons were rolling on the ground laughing themselves to tears. The smallest one was pointing at him. "Who the hell is this stupid bastard?" The little one managed to sputter.

"I've seen the evil seed you're spreading villain! I have come to stop you for, justice and liberty!" The purple clad figure posed with his arms at his side.

Nicky stopped smiling, stood up, and dusted off his pants. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards the newcomer and shook his head. "Break his legs."

Louie looked a bit put off. "Aw boss. Do we have ta? Dat was funny."

Frankie was still chuckling and trying to pull himself together.

"All right, if he runs away, you can let him off." The smaller wizard nodded and shrugged. "Get rid of em."

Both started stalking forward. Darkwing jumped into action, leaping forward and extending his leg in a jumping kick. He planted it into the belly of one of the oafs, only to stop cold and land on one leg.

"Yeouch!" The masked figure's eyes teared up as he held his kicking leg by the knee and jumped on one leg. The other strongman reached out towards him.

Darkwing scrambled away, pulling an object none of the other wizards recognized from his side and pointing it at them. It was a firearm, but the barrel was big enough for the man who held it to put his fist into. He pulled the trigger and the thug who had reached for him took a strong shot to his gut. He crumpled and clutched his belly, as something shattered at the feet of his cohort.

"Wands!" Nicky took his out and pointed it towards the purple clad figure. Some sort of glue had exploded from what had fallen from Frankie's gut and it had pinned Louie down. He was covered in it.

The lilac covered figure leaped off the back of the stuck thug and chopped his arm down, knocking the smaller wizard's wand away. The heroic figure stopped as if pulled out of the air and fell face first onto the street on top of the wand. There was a long trail of glue from the idiot's shoe, to Louie's back. Darkwing lifted his head up and groaned, revealing the wand was in two pieces.

"No! You rotten bastard!" The tiny wizard shrieked. "Kill him!"

The remaining thug had his own wand out and glared at Gilderoy in anger. The purple clad figure was on his feet and put his arms up with his palms open as he faced the much larger man. "I shall not be defeated!" He had taken the glue strand into his hand and tried to dislodge it from his foot, only making his problem worse as his hands stuck as well. He jerked hard, but the thug on the end, still trapped, leaned forward to counter the movement.

"Crucio!" Frankie pointed his wand and the violet figure jerked to the side and out of the way.

"Argh! You stupid bastard!" His boss was curled up on the ground in agony as the spell struck him instead.

"Boss!" The huge dumb wizard rushed towards his leader's side.

Darkwing was about to land on the pavement face first again, but he had managed to lodge a grappling hook into the barrel weapon while being jerked about by the elastic strand of glue. He fired at a nearby lamp post and swung, just missing the cobblestones with his rear. Unfortunately, the glue was still on his foot and hands, and still anchored to the ground with the first fallen thug.

"Hey! Get me out o' dis stuff!" The stuck goon noticed what was going on in front of him as the purple clad man passed over him and stretched a long string of the gunk that was stuck to his foot. The thug blinked as he realized the glue was stretched to the limit of it's flexibility. "Uh oh."

Darkwing shot back as if fired from a slingshot, the glue strand attaching him to the first thug snapped off his foot. He sailed head first into the back of the remaining Goon's head as he tried to help his boss back up. The lumbering criminal crumpled down like a sack of wet flour, right over his boss's fallen form.

"No! You idiot! Get off me!" The short man's cries would do no good. He was still stunned from the painful curse, and trapped.

The purple clad figure smirked at them all as he took the bag of gold and turned away. "Remember this, evil doers!" He used the grappling hook and vanished from sight onto the rooftops.

There were several moments of silence. The short wizard heard the sound of footsteps. "Hey! Get me up! Hey! Can I get a hand..."

Two Aurors lifted him up by his shoulders. They were two men in their twenties, both in uniform, and both seemed amused. The one on Nicky's right had a goatee, the other was clean shaved and had silver colored eyes. "Well, look at what we found."

"What happened here?" muttered his partner looking confused. There was a man glued to the street just ahead.

His partner shrugged and jerked the short man's arm as he tried to break free. "There's a warrant for this one though. Hello Nicky."

"I-I-I don't know anyone named..." The small man was sweating, looking back and fourth, and stuttering. It was not a good time to get pinched.

The bearded man simply shrugged. "Really? That's nice, but still. I think we should check our records, and detain these guys. Sorry for the inconvenience." His partner nodded.

"Some lunatic is running around the city. He attacked me! I ain't done nuthin!" The small man shrieked at them. "Honest! He's the one you should be lookin for! He was dressed in some kinda fruity costume!"

"Well, maybe you haven't done anything tonight. Still, a bird in the hand..." The bearded Auror looked at his partner and smirked.

"I don't know if I like the way that sounds. Still, we're not letting you off the hook. We'll look into it later." The other man shrugged. "We should call to get some help cleaning this mess up."

"Yeah." His partner wasn't really paying attention, and had his eyes on the bag that was hanging from one of the shops from a large spot of some sort of glue. His lips turned up a bit and he looked up at the rooftops.

"What's up?" The silver eyed Auror frowned as he finished up putting restraints on the three men.

"Looks like Nicky Waltman might not be totally dishonest. Come on, let's wrap this up."

The little man's jaw dropped. "What? Hey! I was tellin the truth! You gotta find that clown, he might be some kind of killer or something!"

The street went silent as the group vanished.

OooOOooOO

Gilderoy grinned as he looked down at the scene at a distance. He was standing in a bold manner on one of the rooftops, the moon shining behind him. He knew the Ministry wouldn't approve of what he was doing. Adventuring was one thing, being a vigilante was something else. It would take time for them to warm up to him. He knew he couldn't take credit for it as Gilderoy. It was his punishment for his past sins.

"It went famously!" He put his wide brimmed hat onto his head, and tried to pull his hand away, only to remove the hat again. He shook it a bit and used the other hand to free the hat and put it on his head, with exactly the same result. He was wearing his mask over the top half of his head otherwise. "I'm glad I thought this out so well!"

His firearm was something he'd picked up in his travels. An industrious wizard who had been unable to cast a light spell with his wand, but was quite skilled at potion making had once owned it. He'd been killed by werewolves, and Gilderoy had stumbled across it. He'd taken it, but more as a momento. It was hanging at his side, with a few thin strands of goo still hanging off it that led to his hand. The ministry wouldn't be able to track it as they would a wand, or tell what sort of spells he was casting with it. A potion of any sort could be used, while his wand skills were limited to memory charms, he was able to make a few sorted potions. He wasn't a potion's master, but he'd brewed up that glue bomb potion himself.

The man thought about it, looking dramatic as his cape blew behind him. "I suppose I should practice a bit more." He nodded to himself and rushed away. "This is my calling, this is my atonement! I shall stand for justice and honor! Be wary evildoers, for now a new enemy awaits you!" He put his hat up to his heart, mostly because it was still glued to his hand and he couldn't figure out another good dramatic pose that would work.

Thus, a new legend was born.

OooOOooOO

The room was small, dirty, featureless, and filled with curls of smoke. There was a single light on a heavy wooden chair, the rest of the room was a grayed out shadow. Sitting on the chair, was a very large man, with a very large cigar. He chewed on it and glared, his face a large frown, scars and gray stubble covered his face. His hair was matted and dirty, and his clothes were torn and tattered rags. Nicky Waltman had a hat in front of his chest and his eyes were stuck to the floor. He couldn't speak, and he couldn't move.

"Well, Waltman? What happened? Why did I have to waste my time, using valuable resources, and taking risks at a time when I specifically said 'low profile'?" The hulking figure was leaning against his meaty fist on his heavy wooden chair. There were claw marks all over the seat, and it was well used and worn with time. The grizzled looking man in the chair had several scars crossing his face, and an angry hunger in his eyes. He was chewing on a lit cigar, and looking down at the cowering, quivering peon before him. Both his thugs were being held up by smaller men with wands. The wizard men were wearing black cowls and hoods over gray and black robes. His two coworkers, looking beaten, but mostly undamaged, were helpless to do anything but watch.

The balding skinny man was licking his lips and shifting from foot to foot, not daring to look up at his boss."It ain't my fault. Sir, please. Ya gotta believe me! I was just doin the rounds like always. Some nut job in a fruity costume jumped out and surprised us outa nowheres! He weren't no stikin Auror neither!"

The hulking figure leaned forward, matted gray and brown hair hung from his head. "You know, Waltman..."

The man was petrified, and couldn't take his eyes away from the man. "Y...yes?"

"Your boss requested that I deport you if you screwed up. Send you back, to your little midwestern shithole again, maybe you're just not into doin this on quite this scale? Is Hogsmeade too big for you?"

The bald man's eyes went wide, he got angry and glared back at his boss. "Hey! I been consistent for six years! I got grabbed once! Who else you got gonna do that? I can't help every retarded fruity nutjob who wants to 'make a difference'. It's not like it was the Ministry dat caught me! They didn't find anything did they?"

"Yeah. If I'd left you, you'd have been rotting for a week or two, waiting for them to figure it out." The hulking figure was amused by it. "Don't go thinking just because you got away clean, means a thing. They're watching you now. That limits your usefulness." He grabbed the balding man by his neck and lifted him off the ground.

"You said you'd send me home." The man was kicking his legs and struggling to breathe.

The beastly man glared at him with pale yellow eyes. "No. I told him I'd consider it. What were you doing running rounds? I've given you another job already. The package has not yet arrived, it must be secured. I don't want any screw ups. Find that girl, and bring her to me. She's the only loose end left."

The man gagged and his face was strained and red. "You said business as usual too."

The hulking figure dropped him into a heap at the floor. Both his goons looked horrified and nervous. He floundered about, gasping for breath. The boss turned and walked back to his chair. "So I did." He turned to glare at the man who was making his way to his feet again. "Well, you can forget about that. Find her. Dead, or alive, I'd prefer alive. I want to play with her before she dies." He gave the staggering man a hungry looking grin. "We'll see how useful you are. You've got three days, find her alive. If I can't play with her, I'll just play with you instead. Let's see how consistent you are with this."

The man swallowed hard and nodded, the next full moon was in three days.

The boss relaxed in his chair and scratched at his side. "Then I'll send you back to your boss."

"Yes, Mr. Grayback."

The werewolf waved him away. "Get out of here. Find me that girl, the clock is ticking."

OooOOooOO

"What's goin on boss?" Louie spoke up, he looked like a child who had been spanked. The trio was walking down a long spiraling stairwell towards the ground floor of the building they were in. It was a mostly complete high rise construction site. It had shut down a few months back, and work had been delayed for several reasons.

Frankie was in a similar state. "Yeah. We got roughed up pretty good."

Nicky Waltman growled and shook his head. He moved at a fast pace with his hands shoved into his pockets, both his goons stumbled to keep up. "We got three days to find that kid, and bring her in alive. It ain't gonna be pretty for any of us if we don't. Ya get it?"

"Oh." Both men spoke at the same time and nodded.

Nicky spun around on his heels, both his goons stopped just in front of him. "You listen good. If that crazy gay guy shows up again. You rip him apart. I don't care how funny you think he is. He almost got us killed."

"Dey ain't supposed ta..." Louie started speaking.

Nicky hadn't mentioned that only he was part of that agreement to either one of them. "Look. We're gonna find that kid no matter what. No one sleeps, no one eats, and no one does anything but search the streets of this shithole till we find her. You getting me here?" His face had gone red and he was glaring at the both of them. "No more questions. All you gotta know is we got three days to find that girl, and we ain't waistin no time."

OooOOooOO

Two days ago, Gwendolyn Waddlemyer was a precocious nine year old tomboy. Her once bright short orange hair was still tied into two ponytails behind her head, but it was matted and dirty. She was wearing an England Quidditch jersey and a pair of jeans. Her clothes were covered in dirt and small tears. She was living in England, with her only surviving relative, her grandfather. He was a respected wizard, an expert on dark enchantments who worked for the ministry.

Yesterday, they had come to Scotland, so her Grandfather could speak to the Ministry in some sort of big meeting. They had arrived in the hotel and were about to go to bed when it happened.

There was a knock at the door in the early evening. Her grandfather gave a small smile to her as she laid in the bed. She didn't see him holding his wand behind his body in a tight grip.

She was reading a comic book and smiling at him. "Did you get dinner yet?"

He turned to look at her the moment his hand touched the doorknob. "Gwen. Run. Go into the bathroom and out the window. Now! Run!" He turned and screamed it at her.

The girl jumped up in shock, her eyes wide with terror as the door burst in. Her grandfather was laid out flat on his back and the doorway filled with men in black hoods and masks. She slammed the bathroom door shut and locked it before rushing up the back of the toilet and through the back window. Her jersey caught on the sill and ripped, jerking her back against the wall. She could hear the door shattering behind her and screamed as she tore down the back alley of the hotel.

The girl didn't know how much time had passed. She simply ran until she collapsed. She woke up in a pile of garbage bags about three hours before. Her eyes were lost, and she'd not seen another person. The morning sun was still low in the sky in the distance. "Where am I?"

"Eh. What's the matter little girl?" Gwen looked up and frowned. She was looking at an irate looking man with curly red hair and a beard that covered his whole chin. He had his left thumb holding a flight jacket over his shoulder, and a bottle of half gone whiskey in the other. He looked sober, but had a slight red tint to his cheeks. "Ye look like yev had a hell of a deh."

"I...I..." The girl stammered and looked about. No one else was around.

"Eh! Look what we got here." Both of them turned to see three people standing in the middle of the road. "We been lookin fer you kid. Come on." Nicky Waltman had his arms spread as he smiled at the girl. Frankie and Louie were flanking him and smiling at the little girl. "Oh. You're a mess, we're gonna have ta get you cleaned up."

"You know this kid?" The redhead frowned at the trio and looked to be sizing them up.

"Yeah. She went and ran off. Everyone's been real worried. Right boys?" The short balding wizard gave him a smarmy grin.

"Yeah. Right boss." Neither one seemed sure.

"Who are you?" The girl took a step back from the balding man's hand.

Nicky looked a little annoyed. "Look. We know somethin real bad happened to you. We're gonna take you to someone who'll take care of ya."

The girl's eyes teared up. "R-really?"

Nicky looked uncomfortable. "Eh. Yeah. R-really. Come on kid." He waved his hand to motion for her to come closer.

OooOOooOO

Two months had passed, Gilderoy Lockheart was doing well. He'd managed to capture several muggers, and the Aurors had come along and collected them. He wasn't his beautiful old self anymore, but he looked out across Hogsmeade with his arms crossed from high upon a rooftop. The bridge that crossed the river was behind him. His home was just beyond it. It was a large wizarding burg, with several mid sized towers and a lot of high rooftops. He was feeling quite proud of himself and was wondering when the media was finally going to get a photo of him at work.

"It's about time the city, beyond the criminal scum I mean, finally knew about Darkwing Man." The wizard paced back and fourth with his finger under his lip. "Hmm. What can I do though? I mean, it's not like I know of any high profile criminals just yet. Maybe I should find one? Where to start looking though? I'm sure I can get someone interested if I can just find the right case." He put his hands on his hips and popped his back, he was certainly glad he'd taken those muggle self defense classes when he was younger. It had been good for a laugh when they started talking about spiritual properties and inner energies. It really seemed to improve his delts as well. He tossed his golden mane and looked up at the sky.

He took a last glance at the city streets below, and turned to walk away. Only to spin about on his heel and grow wide eyed. "Hey! I know those guys!"

They were talking to a little girl, and a strange man was standing behind her watching with a frown on his face.

OooOOooOO

Gwen took a step back, there was something off about his smile. "Wait. I don't know you."

The man shook his head. "You don't know anyone sweetheart. We gotta get you to someone who can take care of that." He flashed her a toothy grin, but it fell away as a familiar hiss started. "Oh. Oh no. Not...you two take care of that idiot would you?" He whirled around to yell at his lackeys, the girl jumped back, rushing behind the Scotsman.

"I am the terror, that flaps in the night!" The violet smoke filled the street once again a short distance away. "I am the hole, in the bottom of crime's pocket! I am Darkwing Man!"

Nicky pointed his wand in anger at the caped figure that stepped from the smoke. He stumbled back as a glass canister of something shattered after hitting him in the chest with the force of a hard punch. He started coughing as white vapors engulfed him. "Augh!" His eyes started stinging and grew watery as his sinuses and throat started to burn. He dropped his wand and stumbled out of the cloud.

Darkwing jumped onto the back of Louie and put his foot into Frankie's neck. The first thug hit a wall head first, while his cohort slumped to the ground. "Hold! What are you doing to that little girl, evil doers?" Darkwing stood between the citizen, and the child and the trio of goons.

Nicky's eyes had cleared up enough to make out what direction they were standing in. "You mind your business if you want to live!" Snot was pouring out of his nose and he coughed. "Fuck that! Kill this prick and bring me that fucking brat!"

Louie and Frankie stood up and pulled their wands out of their coats. They didn't look happy.

Darkwing didn't look impressed. "Ha! You fools don't realize what you're..."

"Ouch. It hurts mah ears." The redheaded man stepped forward after letting his coat fall to the ground. He cracked his knuckles and glared at them as he downed the rest of his whiskey and tossed the bottle across the road. "Talkin like that ta a little girl eh? Well, now you've gone and pissed off a Scotsman!" He hooked his right fist across Louie's jaw and dropped the much larger goon like a stone.

Frankie socked him right in the jaw and he was sprawled out across the cobblestones. Darkwing's feet planted themselves in the back of the man's head and he fell on top of his partner.

Nicky was stumbling back, his vision still blurred from the gas. "You rotten bastard. We'll find you!" He turned and ran face first into a wall, stumbled back, corrected and rushed down the road. Darkwing started to move after him, but a spell hit the wall behind him and forced him to dodge. When he looked back up, Nicky was gone.

"Well. That takes..." Darkwing gave a grunt. He looked down to see a rather dirty, teary eyed nine year old girl clinging to his waist.

"You've got to help me!"

"Oh. Well, when you talk to the Aurors and the press later, make sure you tell them 'Darkwing Man' saved you. Here's a photo, just to class up the page. He handed her a shot of him holding the edges of his cape up in his costume.

The other man was shaking his head. "Eh. Thanks man. What about her though?"

"Please! They're trying to kill me!" The girl was stuck on his leg.

Darkwing looked a bit nervous. "Well, I'm afraid I'm kind of a night person. I should be getting back, and I'm afraid I don't have any..."

The Scott was glaring down the road. "Eh. I think I know that man. He works for Grayback."

The large hat spun around to look at the man. "G-Grayback?"

The Scotsman was putting on his jacket and nodded. "Aye. Saw em in the rags the other day. Heh. I was wonderin." He turned back and slapped the caped masked avenger on his shoulder. "Come on. I've got a place nearby."

"Well..." Darkwing's eyes had gone out of focus. "This is it! My shot at a real career criminal! The big time!"

The girl was still stuck on his leg and crying into his pants. "All right. Let's go. I'm sure Darkwing Man can find a way to save this child!" He pointed his finger into the air.

The girl let go of his leg and furrowed her eyebrows. "Darkwing Man?"

The blond hero grinned at her and nodded. "Yes. That's right."

Gwendolyn scratched her head. "That's...horrible."

"What? It isn't!" Gilderoy started following the redhead as he moved towards the bridge.

She shook her head with her tongue sticking out between her teeth. "You need to work on the name."

"What's wrong with it?" He frowned at her and didn't look convinced.

"Why not just 'Darkwing'?" The man leading them along the edge of the rather gothic bridge spoke up. There were twin towers one each side of the bridge with a bridge of steel between them.

Gilderoy shook his head. "All the great Superhero names end in 'man'. Exemplary Man, Arachnid Man, Masculine Man..." He was counting them off on his fingers.

The girl shook her head. "It just doesn't sound right with Darkwing. He's right, why not just call yourself..."

"There is nothing wrong with MY superhero name. I'm saving you aren't I?" He turned up his nose and crossed his arms to pout about it.

"Eh. We're here." The Scott opened the door at the base of one of the towers. They went up the stairs, and into a large open room. There were a few large objects covered in tarps, lots of tools, and tool boxes, a potions lab, and a set of stairs that lead to the top of the tower.

They stood around being uncomfortable for a moment. "All right. What's the story kid?" The Scott walked behind a desk, took off his jacket, sat down, and plopped his feet on top of it.

"Yeah. Who are you people?" The girl looked between them and didn't seem to sure of herself.

Gilderoy spoke up first. "I am the most feared crime fighter in all of England! None other than Darkwing Man! Hero of Justice, Defender of Liberty, and defeater of injustice!"

"I'm Landingpad McGreggor. This is my place." The redheaded man raised a glass to the girl and nodded. It was half full of brownish liquid that he gulped down.

She looked at the ground. "I'm Gwendolyn Waddlemyer. I'm from England, but Grandpa and I...we came here." She was starting to shake. "They killed him! They're after me!"

Darkwing had his fist balled up. "Those monsters. Why would they do such a thing?"

The girl glared up at him with angry tear filled eyes. "Because he knew about something. He told me that some bad people were moving something very dangerous. He had to get to it before they put it into Gringotts, and he was trying to warn the ministry about it."

The hero nodded with a huge grin on his face. "Really? What sort of thing was it anyway?"

The girl shrugged, she was getting put off. The masked man was looking happier and happier. "Grandpa only said it was cursed with dark magic, and that they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. It's something very dangerous."

Gilderoy nodded. "Excellent! Finally, a shot at something big! A big time criminal! Grayback himself! Don't worry, we won't let this go! We'll put a stop to this evil deed for sure!"

Landingpad was looking at the masked man with a frown and steady glare. He put his finger under his chin.

"Thank you!" The girl rushed into his belly again, wrapping her arms around him. His face lightened up as he looked down at her and patted her head.

"There, there. You'll be fine. Is there anything else you know about this?"

"In three days, they'll be getting some sort of delivery. It's coming to the observatory tower on the west side of Hogsmeade, and from there it will be taken to Gringotts, where the ministry can't get to it. We've got to stop them, it's some kind of horrible evil." The girl was shaking as she looked up at Darkwing.

Landingpad nodded and frowned. "I see. Why do they want you then?"

Darkwing nodded and seemed to realize it. "Yeah. Why?"

"Because I know all that stuff." The girl looked annoyed. "I heard Grandpa talking about it with some of the people he worked with. They didn't believe him, and said he needed proof."

Gilderoy was grinding his teeth and nodded again. "I see. He thought if he could get someone to bust up this transfer, he'd be able to supply the evidence for action." He turned and paced about a bit. "It won't be easy, that's one of the tallest buildings in Hogsmeade. I don't suspect I'll be able to just fly up on a broom. If it's important enough to kill someone to cover up, it will be crawling with evil villains. How do I even get to it then?"

Landingpad kicked his feet off his desk and shrugged. "I guess I'm yer sidekick now."

Darkwing's jaw dropped. "Hey! Wait a minute. I work alone. Alone. I don't..."

The Scott slugged him in the face. "What ye mean ye daft bastard? She said they were tryin ta kill er cause she knew. Well, we all know now, don't we?" He walked towards one of the tarps.

"Right. Good point." The hero was on the floor and looked a bit dazed.

"Ya need to get to the top of that building right? I've got a bit of work ta do then. I'll get ye there. I should be able to finish up on this in three days no problem." He pulled the tarp away, revealing a plane in several pieces. It looked mostly whole, but the wings weren't attached, and sections of outer plating were missing.

"Wow! Cool! Is that some kind of jet? Like the Muggles use?" The girl hopped up and down as she rushed over to have a look. "Awesome! I've heard they go real fast!"

The man nodded and looked it over with his hands on his hips. "Aye. I ain't a muggle though. This one'll be special." It looked a bit like a fighter jet, but could seat about six people in the oversized cockpit. The body of the plane was much wider than a normal jet and could sit two side by side in the front seat. The back would hold four more. "I suppose yeh can stay."

"So, you're a pilot then?" Gilderoy noticed the odd shapes of the tarps. There were two more smaller planes in the room with them, both single engine prop planes.

Landingpad nodded. "Aye. A mechanic as well. These planes aren't legal, couldn't think of a good way te use em. Might as well make a sidekick o' myself, be a shame to put em to waste just dustin up here." He scratched his head. "I jes couldn't resist puttin a few enchantments in em."

The girl was grinning and hopping up and down. "So, you're like the best pilot ever?"

The Scotsman shrugged again. "Nah. If it flies, I c'n pilot it. Das all yeh need ta know."

Gilderoy put his arm on her shoulder for a moment. He lifted his hand and curled his fingers a bit as he realized it was covered in a film of filth. "Oh my. I suppose you should take a bath. You smell like wet garbage."

The girl glared up at him. "Gee. Thanks, Dorkwing."

The man smiled and shook his head. "It's Darkwing. Darkwing Man."

The redheaded girl hung her head and gave a sigh. "Right. I guess I'll go ask Landingpad where it is."

The masked man watched her trudge towards the man. He needed to ask about a place to sleep. His eyes were getting a little heavy. There was no way he was leaving until he had his shot at the big time crime. Grayback himself no less, the scumbag had hundreds of warrants. He couldn't take her home with him without revealing his identity anyway.

OooOOooOO

"The city lies in a grip of terror, evil permeates through the streets like the waters of a stopped up sewer. Only one man dares to defy it's icky stench!" Gilderoy stalked about through piles of boxes across the concrete floor of the hangar inside the bridge. He pulled his cape up over his face and leaned forward, only to fall flat on his chest as a little girl landed square on his shoulders.

Gwendolyn was wearing his hat and bopped him across his head with a cheerful grin on her face. "Ha! Too easy!"

Gilderoy chuckled as he rolled over and caught her up in his arms. "All right. Time for bed."

The girl smiled at him as he put her down on her feet. They'd spent the better part of two days within the tower, chasing each other about and keeping her mind off the recent tragedy. She looked up at the familiar mask and peered at his eyes. "You don't take your mask off for anyone?"

"No. No one, ever. I'm afraid my identity is my most important secret." The man shook his head and took the question in a good natured way. "The fewer people who know who I really am, the better."

The girl nodded and moved towards a ladder. She moved up to a platform with a double bed on it and hopped on the side, kicking off her shoes. "Really? I guess that's cool. Must be lonely though."

The blond man shrugged. "I suppose it is a little. My thirst for justice keeps me company enough though." He puffed out his chest and smiled at her. "Don't worry. I'll protect you until this is over with. Then we can get on with our lives."

The girl's face fell a little as she shifted on the sheets. "I guess. Thanks." She looked up to see him put his hat back on his head. "You're going out?"

He nodded. "I'm a night person, and evil never sleeps." He pulled the sheets up and tucked her into the bed. "Don't worry. I'll be here when you wake up tomorrow."

"Thanks, Darkwing." She settled into the mattress as her eyelids started to droop a bit.

Gilderoy smiled at her and patted her head. "Good night little one."

OooOOooOO

"Nicky, you're running out of time."

The small time hood swallowed hard. He was sitting in the back of a bar with his two hoods, nursing his wounds after the tussle on the street the day before. He gasped in shock as he realized who was sitting behind him in the next booth. "I uh. Mr. Grayback...we're lookin! We got a good lead! I'll get you..." A large meaty fist clamped down over his mouth.

"I smell her. Why don't you have her?" The hand pulled away, both of the small American's hoods were silent and cowering opposite him.

The goon started raising his voice and looked panicked. "It was that nut job from the other night! He swooped in and grabbed her! We just gotta find that loon and..."

This time the hand clamped down on his neck. Nicky gagged for a moment as his voice was cut off.

"Someone else? This is getting messy Nicky. Maybe I should step in and clean up the whole thing?" Grayback growled and the hood felt things popping inside his neck. He knew the werewolf wasn't talking about just killing the girl and her new friends.

"We'll take care of it! It's just some jerk in a costume!" It was a struggle for the greasy little man to get his words out. He gasped as his neck was released.

The werewolf cocked his head, chewed on his cigar, and seemed to think for a moment. "Costume eh?"

"Yeah. He's got this stupid fruity lookin outfit he runs around in. Mask n everything." Nicky rubbed at his neck and glared forward. He kept his tone in check and nodded.

"You can bet he knows what she does."

The gangster nodded. "We'll take care of all of em then. Bring the girl when we've finished."

The towering figure shook his head in an amused way. "No need. Just bring me the girl. He'll be along. You'll make sure of it."

Frankie earned a glare from Nicky, but spoke up anyway. "What if eh tells the Ministry bout dis?"

Grayback stood up, put a dirty bowler cap on his head and looked over his shoulder at the large dumb oaf. "Heh. He won't." With that he walked off and left them.

OooOOooOO

Nicky frowned as he peered through a pair of binoculars. "There! I told you that stupid freak had a place nearby!"

His two goons turned to face him. They were standing on a rooftop overlooking the place where they'd last seen Gilderoy and the girl. "That jerk is hangin out in the bridge tower. He musta been heading back when we ran into him. No way dat clown can show his face in daylight."

"Dat's great boss!" Frankie and Louie both seemed pleased. Nicky didn't care which one had spoken up. "Now what?"

"What do you think? We gotta nab that brat!" The balding criminal frowned at the pair. He let the binoculars hang from his neck and glared at them both. "Come on! We'll take care of it while that jerk is out runnin around."

Nicky gave a heavy sigh as he started towards the stairwell to the ground floor. His deadline was that night, and he wasn't about to screw up and end up with that werewolf breathing down his neck. Once that stupid package had arrived, he'd be on his own again. Grayback wasn't the type to hang around and run extortion rackets. He was only there on orders from someone he'd never met from higher up. "Lets get this over with. Then we can get back to business. Dis crap ain't good for my blood pressure."

"Dat's great boss!" Frankie cracked his knuckles and Louie nodded.

OooOOooOO

Gwendolyn couldn't sleep. She'd closed her eyes and relaxed for a bit, but it hadn't held back the tears. Despite being distracted by her new friends for the past few days, her only family had died less than a week before. She'd cried herself to sleep once she'd been alone for the past few days, and now she couldn't even do that. The girl sat up and looked out the window at the top of the bridge tower. She could see the wizarding town in the distance towards the observatory tower.

It was now early morning, Darkwing hadn't returned yet. That evening would be the night the people who had taken her life away would get their package. Whatever it was.

"Hey kid."

The girl gasped as she turned away from the window. A familiar face was grinning at her with a wand pointed at her nose with one hand, and a broomstick in the other. "N..." She started to scream, but froze up as a flash of light from the end of the man's wand made the world fade to black.

OooOOooOO

"Dear Dickwing chick,

We got the girl. Come and get her. We know she told you where and when.

Regards, the Kidnappers."

Gilderoy growled, Landingpad was leaning against the wall with his head hung low and his fist clenched. He had a half empty bottle in his hand, and wiped at his eyes with his sleeve. "I shoulda watched her closer. I was workin on..."

The masked man nodded his head and crumpled the letter in his hand. "Is it finished?"

The redhead glared at him and nodded. "Aye."

"We're going then. Tonight." Gilderoy glanced back at the man and tossed the note onto the ground.

"We're not going to the Ministry." Landingpad wasn't really asking.

"They would arrest both of us." Gilderoy shrugged. "By the time we got the chance to tell them, she'd be gone."

"Tomorrow night is a full moon. Grayback is a werewolf. It will be dangerous." The Scotsman was rolling up his sleeves. The plane was built, but still needed to be prepped for takeoff.

"Well then Landingpad. Let's get dangerous." Gilderoy had an angry glare in his eyes as he looked out across the city from the top of the tower. It was time the criminal scum learned just whose city this was.

OooOOooOO

Nicky swallowed and gave the girl a pitying stare as he walked away. "I got what you wanted. I can go now right?" He was already heading for the door, neither one of his goons had been willing to go with him.

Gwendolyn was on the floor on her hands and knees shaking in fear.

Grayback was looming over her. He chuckled and didn't even look back at the other man. "Yeah. Get lost. I'll be ready soon."

The girl stood up as the hulking man circled around her. He sniffed at the air and got a wide grin his face as he hung his head back and seemed to enjoy it. The girl shied away from him, ready to bolt, but his pace kept her contained.

Three Goblins walked away from a black box on a stone pillar in the middle of the room. There were windows surrounding them that overlooked all of the city. The tower was fifteen stories tall, and had a domed observatory at the top made of glass and pipe. There were potted plants along the walls, but the floor had a ring of stairs to an open floor that took up most of the middle of the room. Lavish red carpet covered the polished marble floor. The sun was going down in the distance, but the moon hadn't come up yet. Grayback continued to circle the girl and seemed to ignore them even when one of them spoke up.

"The case is secure. It should be transported to Gringotts at once." The creature hissed. "We are not responsible for it's loss, if something should happen..."

"It will be fine. I'll be here guarding it." He rolled his head forward in a lazy manner and gave the quaking girl a grin. "I've got something to keep myself occupied while I'm guarding it." His hand shot out and latched onto her throat. "I'll have lots of fun, yes."

The girl became enraged. "Darkwing Man is going to kick your sorry butt! I'm not worried at all!" She took a swing at him a few times from his grip. He didn't seem to notice.

The goblin nodded. "So long as you understand. You lose it, it's on your head. Until it is put back into Goblin hands for safekeeping." They all left the scene, ignoring the drama that had played out before them.

Grayback pulled the child up to his face and chuckled. "Yeah. I know about your friend. I'm counting on him showing up here tonight. You see, you might keep me busy for an hour or two. Lots of fun, but I'm gonna be here a while tonight. I hope he gets here soon. I'd rather make you watch me play with your, so called, hero for a bit. You're running out of time though." The man dropped her to the ground as the doors closed behind the goblins.

The girl balled up her fist as she failed to hold back her tears and glared at him. "He'll be here. You'll see! He's gonna cream you! You jerk!"

OooOOooOO

Landingpad chuckled as the jet soared towards the tower. The sun was gone, and the moon was just beginning to peek over the horizon. Darkwing lurched forward. "There! He's got her!"

The pilot looked a bit annoyed. "We probably could have flown up on broomsticks. I expected someone to be about with a broomstick or something. I don't see anyone."

Gilderoy had his face pressed against the glass as the moved overhead. "Well, there is a werewolf guarding it."

The Scot just nodded and moved them over the dome. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Darkwing shrugged. "Not really. I'm just sort of making this up as I go to be honest." He had a mad grin on his face as the top of the jet flipped up. He screamed like a girl with his gas gun in his grip as he fell straight into the dead center top of the glass dome. The glass held and he groaned as he peeled himself up. The girl had a huge grin on her face and the man didn't seem to notice him and kept his eyes on the horizon in the distance.

The lilac clad figure then slid down the side of the dome, knocking his chin and crotch against every piece of pipe framing he passed over. He came down right in front of the rather large man on his rear against the ledge.

Grayback just grinned at him, tapped the glass, and then turned up his finger to call him inside.

Darkwing growled and looked like he wanted the man to think he had done it on purpose. "Good thinking. Right in front of him. How embarrassing."

Grayback chuckled, pointed towards the horizon, and then at his watch. He turned and started walking towards the girl.

Gilderoy looked over his shoulder, the full moon was rising fast. He jabbed at the glass with the butt of his weapon and it didn't give, he repeated and looked on in horror as it continued to not work. He almost fell off the building as a trail of smoke, followed by a large hole in the side of the glass caused by a large explosion. The hero fumbled and clutched onto the pipes holding the glass in place with his fingers to stay in place. The jet hovered up behind him and the firm looking redhead was red faced, with a bottle of Scotch in his grip. The pilot gave a nod, not noticing the terror in the man's eyes. The front end of the jet closed up as the redhead flew off again.

Darkwing shambled over to the hole and dove inside the atrium. "Hold evil doer!"

"You're too late!" The large man was hunched over and fell to his knees right in front of the girl. She was moving towards him and he made a grab at her leg with gold glaring eyes. His skin was falling off and his teeth had grown sharper.

The girl escaped, but lost her shoe. A small metallic cylinder had clattered to the ground behind her and the werewolf was holding it's face in pain.

"Suck gas evil doer!" Darkwing moved towards the girl. "Come on!"

The young redhead veered away and headed straight for the box. "Not without that thing gone!" She hopped up and latched onto the box. The werewolf was whining and shaking about in the cloud of tear gas. The effect wore off fast, as the fully transformed werewolf took over and was unconcerned with such minor pain.

The girl found herself backed against the pillar by the monster as it stared her down growling and stalking towards her a few feet away. She fumbled with the box and put it between them. It wasn't very large or heavy, and looked to be made of light polished black wood.

"No! Forget about that! We've got to get you out of here!" Gilderoy launched another shell at the beast as he charged forward. The monster had managed to grab her about her waist and caught the shell in his mouth, crushing it in his jaws. The beast wasn't expecting the force of the pop, nor the burning of having a large amount of tear gas shoved down it's throat at high pressure.

Gilderoy looked on in horror as the beast waved the girl about over it's head, shaking the box loose. A small golden cup clattered to the floor out if it. It snarled and reared it's arm back tossing her over the cape clad figure's head, and out the hole in the wall. The hero dove at the edge, hoping she'd caught something. He looked down and saw nothing. "NO!"

The sound of the jet engine filled the sky. Landingpad had flown by low and slow, turned so that he could see the girl banging on the window calling towards him.

"Yes!" The hero pumped his arm and stood up. That was about when he remembered where he was and what he was doing. Almost as an instinct, he'd grabbed his wand instead of his gun when he'd whirled about.

Grayback was ten feet away and stalking forward. It's prey had nowhere to run.

Gilderoy knew he didn't have time to grab his other weapon. He also knew that making it forget it was a Tuesday wouldn't help. He only knew one other spell, and the last time he'd tried it, it had almost killed him. He knew he didn't have a choice. His eyes were beginning to water as the gas spread and thinned out inside the atrium. He licked his lips, shaking with terror as he spoke the incantation. Fiendfyre erupted from the end of his wand, washing over and filling up the glass from the inside as if it had been filled with a glowing orange liquid. There was a moment of nothing, then a massive boom.

The entire atrium exploded in a huge ball of flames. Gilderoy saw the building fall away as a solid wave of air impacted him. He fell back and down, felt his arm grow tight, saw a window in front of him a few floors below the damage from the explosion, hit it face first, and passed out cold.

OooOOooOO

"Darkwing. No." Gwen was shaking as she looked at the tower of fire the top of the observatory had become.

Landingpad was gripping the stick and had his head hung. "A real Hero after all then?" He turned them away from the scene and moved off at high speed. The Ministry would be about soon, a lot of brooms would be in the air.

OooOOooOO

Gilderoy Lockheart had been in better shape before. He wasn't wearing a cast, but had his arm in a sling. There were a few tied about his head, and assorted smaller ones all about his face. He looked up at the tall old building, an orphanage in the downtown area.

Inside, a young girl with red hair was looking down at the headline on the front page. "Priceless artifact destroyed. Criminal vandalism! Is the city in the grip of a criminal mastermind?" It was followed by a story by someone named Rita Skeeter, about the horrible costumed evil that had destroyed one of Hogwarts most important artifacts. It was a cup relating to Hufflepuff house.

She had a frown on her face and tears in her eyes. She'd been there for two months, told her story to the Aurors, and still they treated him like he'd done something wrong. He was dead anyway, but it still hurt her. "Jerks. Darkwing Man was a hero." She grumbled it and pouted.

She seemed surprised when a tall man with long blond hair and a cheerful grin on his face was standing over her. He was dressed in a rather boring wizarding robe of dark red and brown. There were a pair of glasses resting on his nose and he knelt down beside her. "Hello. I'm Gilderoy Lockheart."

The girl realized one of the adults was standing and watching behind them. She had a pleasant smile on her face, but looked a bit nervous.

"Bite me." The girl glared at the man. She knew what it was about, she didn't want to deal with parents. She knew she could get by on her own. It was the first time they had tried it, and she wasn't quite sure how to take it yet.

"Well. She's just perfect." He put his hand on her head and looked up at the woman. "I'm sure she'll warm up." The woman put her hand over her mouth and gasped as she realized the little girl had her teeth dug in right between his thumb and index fingers.

"Gwendolyn! Really!" The woman was appalled at the girl and swatted her with a rolled up set of forms on top of her head.

The man chuckled as she released him and put his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to his side. "I'm sure we'll get on fine in a few minutes. Isn't that right?" He leaned his head down, gave her a sparkling smile, and pulled his bandages down over his eyes.

The girl froze as her pupils went small. She worked her jaw for a moment and crossed her arms. "Fine." The girl turned her grin away from both adults and seemed annoyed.

The woman seemed to settle a little and nodded. "Are you sure? Mr. Lockheart? A child is a great deal of responsibility. If it were someone of less stature, I'd be a bit worried about this."

"Oh. I think we'll be fine." He looked pleased and the girl was sulking at his side still.

As soon as they were out of the building and together. The girl jumped into his arms in an excited hug. "I thought you were dead!"

"Come now. It takes more than a bit of evil to destroy me." He shook his head and puffed out his chest.

Landingpad was sitting in a car watching with a grin. "Come on. We've got a new place. My old place is the secret lair now."

Gilderoy glared at him. "Secret Lair, Landing Pad. Operative word being 'secret'."

The Scot seemed unconcerned. "Right. DW."

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next time: The Serpent, and the Sith Apprentice.


	30. Chapter 30

A Matter of force.

Part 30

The Serpent.

OooOOooOO

Aticus frowned down at the bloody mass of fur at his feet. He was seated in a tent, with a large map spread out before him. The camp outside was lit by torchlight. He stood up with his jaw hanging down as he looked at it. "Is that?"

Three Drow had walked into the tent, thrown it beside his map, puffed out their chests, and grinned in pride.

Garrus was behind them. He moved around and in front of the trio. "It's a dead bunny."

The Elder Drow's grin turned cruel. "How?"

The middle of the three Drow stabbed a knife into the ground at his Elder's feet. It impaled the dirt and stayed upright. "This."

Aticus lifted it, it was an iron blade. Very old and worn with being passed down for generations. "What sort of weapon is this?"

The Drow soldier fell to one knee and leered up at him with a cruel smile. "A relic of the Fey wars. It is forged of cold iron. Very rare."

Aticus clenched it in his fist. "Very expensive, very difficult to find."

Garrus looked frustrated. "So. What do we do then? Just a few weapons like that could..."

The elder Drow interrupted. "Expensive and difficult to find, indeed. Fortune has favored us. I know where we can find such weapons. It will cost a great deal of gold. The House Elf clans would be glad to oblige I'm sure. I just so happen to know a Dwarven Blacksmith family who still knows the art of forging cold iron."

His son nodded. "That will take a few weeks at least."

Aticus shrugged. "We have time. Our enemy won't kill us after all. We'll fall back to the fortress, draw them in, and destroy them." He pointed his finger to the marker on the map for the fort.

"What about Hogwarts?" His son turned to the trio. "There are plans in motion to destroy the nest. It is near to complete."

"Heh. Perhaps we can still find a use for it." The Elder Drow continued to peer at his map. "This changes everything."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter put his face into his hands. "Great."

Hermione and Ron were both standing in front of him. He'd been cornered by the pair and had a small frown on his face.

Hermione lifted her eyebrows and nodded with her arms crossed and a serious look on her face. "See. I told you."

Ron scratched his head. "She's got you pegged I'm afraid." He seemed cheerful and interested. "What is it this time?"

He shook his head. "It's one of those things I've got to take care of myself." He glanced over their shoulders. The bathroom was just behind them across the hall.

Ron caught on to the fact that the Potter boy had taken a glance at the door. "It's in there?"

"I suppose I shouldn't complain. How did you figure it out anyway?" The boy who lived scratched at his scar and sighed.

The girl leaned in and poked him in the chest with her finger. "You're just easy to read. I'm not going to tell you how I know. You'll just figure out a way around it."

"You can't come." He glowered at her and looked like his mood had soured a little. He crossed his arms and looked away.

"Why not?" Ron shrugged. "Tell us at least."

"I've got to kill a fifty plus foot snake that can kill you by looking at you. Unless you think you'll be of use blindfolded. You can't come." Harry felt a strange satisfaction by the blank expression on the girl's face. She'd gone rather pale.

"It's not where I can get to it right now. I've got to figure out when it hangs around in the Chamber of Secrets, the entrance is in that bathroom." He felt a little guilty as he enjoyed stopping the girl from speaking again. "I already know how to get it open. Anna figured it out a while back and told me about it."

Her arm dropped and she frowned and stared at the floor.

Ron chuckled and shook his head. "Sounds dangerous. Good luck." He gave Hermione a wide grin and shrugged. "It's good enough for me I'm afraid."

She glared at him. "He could be killed."

Ron shook his head. "I doubt it."

"He's our friend. We can't just let him..." The girl was just being stubborn. She had her arms crossed and looked very closed off, almost to the point of holding her breath.

Harry gave a sigh. "Look. I'll be fine. I don't see with just my eyes. You can't come."

"I'll bet you a galleon he'll be fine." Ron shrugged at the girl.

"What? Are you crazy?" Hermione was shocked and whirled around. "He's standing right here and you're making bets like that?"

Harry put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "It's a guy thing. Besides, sounds like he's pretty sure he'll win."

"A guy thing?" Hermione was perplexed.

Harry shook his head and chuckled "Every time I see one of my friends succeed, a little part of me dies."

The girl went rather wide eyed. "What?"

Ron grinned and nodded. "I know what you mean."

"Totally." Everyone but Harry looked surprised as they all turned around and saw Melvin grinning at them. "Hey. I kind of figured I'd find you here."

Harry nodded at the boy and didn't say a word.

"You still lookin for that snake thing? I heard you tellin your friends about it." He looked back and fourth between the other two teens.

Ron gave a small sigh and shook his head. "Hey. You pervert."

"Man, you're so whipped." The dark haired boy shook his head and clasped hands with the redhead.

Hermione was annoyed. "How long have you been there?"

"Relax. I work for the evil genius, remember? I already know all about this mess. Anna's got her own end to deal with." Melvin gave her a smirk and shook his head. "We got a bit of time between classes. What are you guys up too?"

"I'm trying to figure out the monster's schedule. No point in going in there until I know I can get to it. I'm not keen on waiting about in the dark with my eyes closed all day." Harry gave a small sigh. "To say nothing of explaining what I was doing while I was skipping class. I'll probably get in trouble when I get caught. Needs to be done though."

Melvin nodded. "Right. Still, I almost can't call it a monster. I mean, if anyone deserved it, Mrs. Norris was the one. The cat version I mean. Not that lady. Wow. Weird."

Ron seemed to agree and looked a little worried. "I feel sorry for her. A name like that."

Hermione frowned. "Not every wizard comes here. It's not bad at all I'm sure."

Harry gave a small shrug. "I suppose not. You might change your mind if a student gets hurt."

Ron and Melvin spoke at the same time. "Depends on who it is."

The girl was frowning at all three of them. "Boys."

Melvin nodded and smiled at her. "Yeah. Sorry."

"Jerk." She grumbled and crossed her arms.

The group turned as a Hufflepuff boy walked up and got their attention. "Harry."

None of the group but Harry recognized him. "You're on the Hufflepuff team. One of the chasers."

The boy nodded. "Yeah. Just wanted to wish you luck. That girl is...well, she's something."

Melvin smirked. "Yeah. It'll be something to see." He'd seen both of them on broomsticks before outside of school over the summer months. "Don't get your hopes up too much though. She usually beats him."

Harry narrowed his eyes out and stuck out his lip. "We'll see."

Melvin chuckled. "Dude. I like you man. I work for her though. You know how it is."

Hermione's face fell. "Work?"

Harry turned his eyes towards her. Something was turning about about that in her mind. He could tell by the way she sounded she'd taken that in. "It's her band. Technically, all of us work for her."

Melvin nodded. "He's my best friend, but she pays me." He took her by her shoulders. "You just wouldn't understand. My job, is to hit stuff, and be surrounded by pretty girls all summer. I met Christina Milan, and she was talking to me."

"Well, she was talking to Anna." Harry seemed to ponder that.

"She did respond. She said I was cute." He whipped his head around and pointed his finger at him.

"That she did. Perhaps it was the drool, or the staring, you looked like you were about to jump on her." Harry was amused as the boy worked his mouth.

"Well. I was." Melvin shrugged. "Stop ruining my dream. She was into me. I can tell."

"Wow." Ron was rubbing at his chin.

Hermione's knuckles were white. "Right. They're idiots."

The redhead nodded once and looked between the two boys. "Christina Milan? I wish I could sit next to her and just stare for a bit myself."

"Actually, there was a little interest. You were too busy staring at her chest to take advantage of it." Harry grinned at the boy and shrugged. He slapped his shoulder and stood up. "Come on. We've got class soon."

Melvin's grin faded for a moment. "You're an asshole, Harry."

"Yes. Do try to pay attention next time. I'm pretty sure you didn't put her off too much." Harry waved and called back to him.

He pointed his finger into the air and nodded. "She is into me though!"

Ron shook his head. "What a loon he is."

Harry nodded with a grin on his face. "I'll say."

The redhead shook his head. "I heard he got caught trying to turn himself into a girl just to sneak into the Ravenclaw showers."

Hermione was shocked and looked back over her shoulder with a horrified gag reflex. "That's disgusting!"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. He told me he got caught because he never got past looking at his own body. He also mentioned something about Anna being right and that I wouldn't unders..." His face had gone a little pale. "Oh. I see."

"What is it?" Hermione was right in front of him in a moment.

Harry turned a little pink. "Look. I uh..."

Ron looked interested, but didn't speak up.

"Well?" The girl was tapping her foot.

"It's better for girls." Harry relaxed and shrugged at her.

"What? What's better for girls?" Hermione and Ron both looked confused.

"Just. Don't worry about it." Harry stepped around her and moved off.

The girl couldn't help but push the subject. "Why? If it's something that's better for girls I might want to try it."

Ron nodded. "She's got a point I suppose."

Harry paused and looked at them. He opened his mouth, closed it, and turned away. "Ask Anna."

"I'd rather ask you! Maybe you could show me or something? Is it hard? Do you think I can't do it?" She rushed up to his side looking a little frustrated.

He smiled at her. "She'll tell you, I won't. I'm just not going there."

Ron shrugged. "Alright then."

Hermione's features fell a little, but she seemed to relax. "It's not worth it then. You're supposed to be hunting some sort of giant snake and you're scared of a twelve year old girl?"

Harry looked back, looked her up and down. The thing's she'd been saying hadn't helped the matter any. "A little, yes." He was a bit nervous, but not about Anna.

"What?" Hermione looked confused. "Is this about that match? I'm sure you'll do fine. It's not like you're going to let her beat you or anything. Why can't you just tell me? If it's better for girls I'd like to try it as soon as possible. Then you can try it, and we'll find out for sure. I'd love to prove that brat wrong." She got an evil gleam in her eye and rubbed her hands together.

The boy nodded and turned away. "If only it were that simple. Just forget about it. Ask Anna. I'm not saying anything."

"Fine. I'm gonna find out and try it for myself." The girl crossed her arms and looked away.

Ron scratched his head and decided it wasn't worth it. It was making Harry turn pink whatever it was. "Is it gross or something?"

Harry was moving off ahead of them, trying to keep a little distance between himself and the curious girl.

OooOOooOO

Hogwarts was abuzz with excitement. It was the morning of the most anticipated Quidditch match in memory. Anna Potter would be facing off against her brother that afternoon. Classes were light that morning, easy review work was planned for the day by the faculty.

Most of both teams sat glaring at members of the other team over breakfast. A few lewd gestures had passed from both sides.

The twins were both rather relaxed. Anna was sitting in her usual group.

Ginny was making nervous wringing motions with her hands. "You're not worried at all?"

The redhead shook her head. "Why? He's my brother. I'm sure I can beat him. Won't be easy though." She was eating her breakfast and spoke between spoonfuls of porridge.

"You usually win." Margaret shrugged and seemed to have a lazy interest in the conversation.

"Yeah. I suppose. He doesn't look any worse off than she is though. I'm sure it will be cool." Pansy was bobbing her head bouncing her ponytail about.

Anna nodded. "We both expect to win."

Marci looked over and swallowed a mouthful of eggs. "You're going to beat him though. You probably already know right?"

The Potter girl blinked and shook her head. "No idea."

"So. What were you and Cedric talking about in the hall earlier?" Margaret's smile grew a little wider as the redhead seemed to freeze and turn her head towards her.

"He was wishing me luck." The girl had her glass gripped a little tight. "What is it with you two and this?"

Pansy giggled. "He is cute."

Anna sighed and relaxed. "Yeah. He is. So? I can buy them by the dozen if I want."

Both girls rolled their eyes and looked away from her.

Melvin leaned over the table. "Hey. Harry said Christina was really into me. Has she said anything to you? You know, about me?"

The redhead nodded. "The drummer got drool on my leg. Keep a leash on that guy would you?"

Melvin's head fell forward. "Uh. Denied."

Pansy leaned in. "I don't remember that." She whispered it into her ear.

Anna turned towards her. "Neither does he."

He lifted his head and breathed in through his nose. "She's into me. I can feel it!"

The redhead nodded. "That's all well and good, but you're still not getting any until you leave Hogwarts."

He shook his head and seemed to pump himself up. "I shall not be denied!"

Ginny looked a little disgusted. "Wow. All that money, and he's still this much of a loser?"

Margaret shrugged. "Pretty much. A shame isn't it?"

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was standing in front of Professor Snape. "You'd better win." He glared at her and leaned across his desk.

Her lips turned up and she returned his glare. "If you've got someone better in mind. Feel free to take me off the roster."

"I'll keep that in mind. The team will feel it if you lose. I promise you that." He leaned back in his chair. "I've endured quite a bit for this. It had better pay off."

The girl tossed her hair in a confident manner. "I'm not planning on losing this match."

"I know. You'd better not make me regret putting you on the team, Potter. It's already seeming like more trouble than it's worth." He turned about in his chair and raised his arm to send her away.

The girl shook her head as she left the dungeon. It was time to go and get ready for the match. She could see a few other players in the hall moving towards the pitch. The rest of the students would be released for the match in about an hour. The man's vague threats meant nothing to her.

OooOOooOO

Oliver Wood paced back and fourth in front of his team. "We must win! Our time has finally come! I can taste it!" He glared at everyone in the room. The team was almost holding each other. Not because of their nerves for the match, but the ranting red faced rage of their team captain. "We've got to get out there and play our best! This could be the singe most important match of our lives! The moment we all remember! The shining moment that defines us!"

Angelina spoke up. "We're going to be late!"

Fred and George Weasley both jumped up and hefted their brooms as if brandishing swords. "Freedom!" They chimed it together and made for the exit.

Oliver hung his head, relaxed his shoulders, and sighed.

Harry moved up beside him with his broom on his shoulder and a wide grin on his face. "I think that went well. I just want to get started."

"We need this win. We're counting on you, Potter. All of us. Draco Malfoy has been putting up sixty points a game by himself."

The boy nodded. "I'll give you my best. She'd never forgive me if I didn't. That would be awful. I'd feel it for months." He zoned out a bit and looked like he was remembering something rather unpleasant.

OooOOooOO

Anna and Harry were face to face. They were circling above the pitch, with the players in formation. Madam Hootch was holding the Quaffle and about to start play.

Anna chuckled. "Are you prepared?"

"Go!" Harry bolted off as the match started, but his sister was at his side. They moved as if they were riding two brooms bolted together very close to each other. Their robes were intertwined as they circled about the edge of the pitch at high speed. Both of them turned as one into the match, twisting right through the other players.

Draco grunted as he heaved his arm and the Quaffle sailed through the goal. "Ha!" He pumped his arm and ignored being buzzed by the twins as they twisted over and under each other as zoomed through play.

The close flight of the two Seekers had thrown opposing teams off balance in matches before. Both teams were used to the fast and close fight of both Seekers and ignored the close proximity and near collisions of the pair. They always moved by without colliding.

There was a flash of silver, and both brooms turned as one right towards it.

OooOOooOO

Lee Jordan was on his feet. "This is it! Slytherin leads by Thirty points! Both of the Potters have spotted the Snitch!" He pounded on the table and was flailing about in a wild manner. McGonagall was holding a handkerchief in her hands over her lips and looked rather zoned out out at the match.

Both twins were right behind the Snitch, reaching for it. It turned, twisted and weaved about, but it was as if both of them had a rope connecting them to it.

Anna was growling and chuckling at the same time. Harry was right beside her, a wild grin of his own. They were both making grabs for it, but the other would use their fingers to push it just out of reach. They were almost having a one handed slap fight just behind the Snitch.

Neither one seemed to be paying any attention to where they were going. They stayed on it, slapping and poking it out of each other's grip for almost a half hour. They spun around, over or under one another to miss one of the Bludgers as they weaved around them as easily as the other players. Gryffindor's Beaters were doing a good job of keeping them away from them, Slytherin was knocking it right at them, without regard for their own Seeker.

One of the Bludgers zoomed in towards the pair. Fred slammed it away from behind Harry. Both of the redheaded Beaters were looking winded and frazzled.

Harry realized that they were getting winded. George slapped the other Bludger away from over them. They were playing what amounted to a game of air tennis with Slytherin's beaters, both sides were tired and panting.

"Warning. Shields failing." Anna glanced at her brother as they dove under the stands, moving through the supports just after the ball without even looking, and staying in tight formation with each other and the Snitch.

They came from the other side, and Harry smirked as Anna went under him. One of the Bludgers zoomed by where she had been and curved to follow after them. Not before she slapped the Snitch far enough away to regain her place on his other side and just manage to push it out of his grip with her fingers again.

"Slytherin has just reached a hundred and forty five points! Gryffindor is lagging far behind at only thirty five points. Soon, it may not matter if Potter catches the Snitch or not!" Lee Jordan's voice carried over the game. Harry's eyes went wide.

"Feeling the pressure, Harry!?" Anna nudged him a little to the forcing him to miss another grab. They were heading right for the goal post. He stretched out and spread his fingers as they came up on the pole fast.

"Not today, Brother." He heard her say it, and knew she had a confident smirk on her face. Another nudge pushed him a little more to the right. He spun up and over her just in time to avoid slamming face first into the goal post. His hand lashed out to strike the ball away, only to impact on the back of her fist.

He flipped the broom sideways and came to a halt while spinning around to face her. She was sitting on her broom, breathing hard, and holding the winged ball up.

Harry's head fell. "Looks like you win this time."

She nodded and smiled at him. "You'll get your chance. Next year." With that, she floated towards the team that was celebrating in the middle of the field.

"That rotten brat!" Oliver Wood screamed at the top of his lungs. "She cheated!"

"Wow. That was brutal! She almost killed you!" Fred was aghast.

"Harry! Are you..." Angelina looked a little worried. He'd come close enough to the post that a few people thought he'd hit it.

"I lost. I'll be fine. I guess." He gave a small sigh and looked a bit downcast as he looked down at his sister on the field. The band was congratulating her and a few of her teammates, less than half of them, gave her a begrudging slap on the shoulder. The captain took her hand and shook it.

A smirk formed on his face. "I can't wait to do it again."

"I don't believe they let them get away with that!" Oliver was glaring at them.

Harry arched his eyebrow and glanced over at him. "I'd have done it to her given the chance. She outmaneuvered me. Seems I've got some training to do." He looked down at his broomstick.

Alicia chimed in and tried to sound hopeful. "The season isn't over yet. Who knows? Maybe she'll miss a game this year." The team was all floating down towards the pitch again, heading for the lockers.

Katie Bell looked frustrated and rubbed at her side. "That doesn't get rid of Draco Malfoy. I wouldn't bet on it doing any good if she does."

The rather sullen group headed for the locker room. Harry walked into the locker to find his team tossing their pads about in frustration from the loss and sitting about with their faces in their hands.

He'd let them down and he knew it. He didn't say anything as he took off his uniform, sat down and crossed his legs, closed his eyes and calmed himself.

Oliver Wood strolled up in front of him. "You don't look very upset about this."

The boy opened his eyes and looked up at his angry frown. "It wouldn't help me. I've got a year's worth of training to see too. She's not going to be slacking off either. If I ever want to beat her. I've got a great deal of work to do."

Wood was calmed a little. "We were counting on you."

Harry nodded. "I know." He closed his eyes and relaxed again.

Fred threw his pads into his locker. "Lay off Wood. We lost. It's happened before. It's not his fault."

George didn't look pleased and nodded. "Yeah. Every year. Figure we'd be used to it by now."

Oliver put his fingers through his hair and slumped down on the bench beside the silent Potter boy. "I'm tired of losing."

Harry felt bad of course, he knew he'd let his team down, and they were all unhappy about it. It was his fault. He didn't know what to say. So, he sat in silence and tried to clear his mind as best he could. The truth was, he wasn't all that upset about it. He did sympathize with his team, and he of course had done his best to win, but it was only a Quidditch match.

A loss, but one he could accept, and move on to prepare for the next challenge. Listening to his sister for the next year. It would be awful. The team trickled out of the lockers, leaving him as the last one out. They were all quiet and sullen, and he'd not tried to disturb that. He knew the Captain would remind them at the next practice.

He was a bit surprised to see Hermione and Ron looking downcast as he left. "Oh. Hello."

Ron scratched his head. "Must be awful."

"I'm sorry, Harry." Hermione grabbed his arm. "I'm sure you'll do better next year. Right?"

"Well. I admit I feel bad. I did my best, but...it is just a Quidditch match." He looked about. "Don't tell anyone on the team I've said that. If Wood finds out he might lose it. I feel bad for them."

The redhead nodded and shrugged. "I guess. Still. I bet it will be awful. Having to hear about it all summer."

"I've not heard anyone talking badly about you. Everyone says you did very well!" Hermione was still trying to comfort him. "I don't think anyone is angry or anything."

"Are you kidding?" Ron frowned. "She almost creamed him with the Goal! You saw that too! She pushed him into it!"

The boy who lived put his arms around their shoulders and shook them both. "I'd have done the same given the chance. She wouldn't have done it if she didn't know I'd get out of the way. She is my sister. Believe me, I'm looking forward to next year already just for the chance to shut her up, and she's not even started yet."

"It's still cheating!" Hermione growled. "That should have been a foul!"

"Madam Hootch says he didn't move six inches. No foul. I say different." Ron seemed a little miffed about it as well.

Harry gave a small sigh. "Yes. Well, I'm afraid I'm with her. I'm just going to have to work harder before next time I'm afraid. There's nothing to be done about it now." He shook them both by the shoulder. "Come on. It's almost time for dinner." He didn't want to smile, but the corners of his lips turned up a little anyway. He was looking forward to next year's match more than ever now.

OooOOooOO

There were a lot of glares both ways across the dining hall. Slytherin looked rather smug, Gryffindor looked mostly irate, and the other two houses were both wary and irate. There had been a lot of speculation about the validity of the final play for the Snitch. A lot of the school though it should have been called a foul.

Draco was boasting in a loud voice so the nearby Gryffindor students would be sure to hear him. "It wouldn't have mattered if they had called it a foul. I'd have had us so far ahead it wouldn't have mattered if he'd caught it or not! They were no challenge." Several second and third year girls were sitting about him looking on in adoration. A few of the male students seemed a little impressed, but a quite a few seemed more annoyed and jealous.

Harry was eating and ignoring the general mood of the hall as usual. No one seemed to blame him for the loss. It was almost annoying. Even McGonagall seemed more irate with the girl than him. She seemed to think it should have been a foul as well. It just didn't sit right with him. He knew it was a good call, but the fact that Draco was probably right didn't help loosen his lips on the matter. If there had been a foul called, he wasn't so sure he could have caught it in time to stop Draco from making sure he couldn't.

"Ruddy Jerks." Ron was irate. Slytherin was rubbing it in wherever they could. Draco Malfoy appeared to be the hero of the day. Anna was with her usual group, and those around her group seemed to be in a better mood than usual. She seemed unconcerned with the general mood at large as well.

"Oh. I hate listening to them gloat." Hermione glanced over at the boy. "Sorry. I'm sure it will be awful."

The boy nodded and smirked. "You have no idea."

The redhead caught his eye, she was looking back at him and giving him a cheerful wave.

OooOOooOO

"Anna Potter. Kill you. Smell you. Taste you."

The girl was alone, a long hallway stretched before her. She was headed back to the dungeon, towards the dorms. Professor Snape had sent her to deliver a batch of potions to the clinic. She spent her time with him in silence, making ingredients and delivering things for him. A frown formed on the girl's face. Her wand came into her hand and she growled as her eyes turned to the wall beside her. "Great. Let's see if you're stupid enough to attack me." She was halfway to the dorms, and only had two directions to move.

"Rip. Tear. Kill."

"Yes. Come and get me." A smirk came to the girl's face as she held her wand ready and closed her eyes.

She could hear it, feel it in the hall. Coming up behind her, moving across the ground. She turned on her wand, but something was off about the sound of it. She could feel it ready, hear the familiar hum off the walls. "Yes. Come closer." She didn't dare speak the words out loud as the thing crawled towards her. She could hear it's breath, it's heartbeat...it was too fast.

Anna turned to strike, the serpent had reared it's head up and hissed in front of her. Her blade stopped, a familiar popping and hissing sizzled across the hallway. "What? I see." The redhead jumped back as another presence seemed to melt into existence in front of her.

The figure was taller than her, angry rage radiated from the newcomer. They both bounced back.

"And who might you be?" The second year Slytherin girl frowned at the presence. She knew the snake was near, but she couldn't pin down where it was looking. Whoever the figure was, they were using the force to distort her senses.

"Rage." It was a whisper, but short.

Anna nodded. "Oh. A girl then? How interesting." She moved her weapon up to block as the figure rushed her. The snake moved in a violent manner by her feet to throw her off balance. The redhead hopped onto it's back and rode it away from the assault. She hopped off as the snake tried to twist her off and threw her palm back.

Anna heard an angry snarling hiss as something heavy impacted the wall very hard. She jumped up and aimed down with her weapon as the snake's head passed under her. The strike was blocked as the taller girl jumped to prevent it from connecting. She was frustrated and confused.

"Oh. You were expecting an easy fight?" Anna blocked and leaned back as the figure hacked down at her again. The snake was turning itself about to strike at her again from behind. The girl jumped up, landed on his nose and flipped over her attacker's head using the ceiling to make her angry swipe miss. She landed in another block with a frown on her face. "You don't really think having him here improves your chances do you?"

The snake was coiling itself up to strike again. The angry figure simply pushed against her blade, trying to overpower her with brute strength. Anna pushed her palm out and her assailant was thrown into the side of the snake's head just as it tried to strike. The young Sith snorted in a half amused, half annoyed insult. "You're not the one I'm looking for. Someone has forgotten the rules. That's not very wise concerning Sith."

The figure and her friend had recovered. Anna could feel where the snake was, but it was keeping it's eyes on hers and hanging back. Both of her attackers had realized that trying to trip her up wasn't going to work. Her assailant was losing concentration, and the haze around her senses was clearing up.

The redhead frowned as the newcomer charged forward growling in anger. Rather than just block, she moved to attack. Her lightsaber flashed as the angry taller girl stumbled back under the assault, desperate to bock and dodge. Anna was cold, her eyes hard and a frown was etched onto her face. She hacked in a relentless manner, forcing her opponent to spin and parry as fast as she could.

The attacker was trying to back off, catch herself, and ended up flat on her back. She was getting her ass kicked by a second year girl with her eyes closed. The younger girl was on top of her, pushing down on her lightsaber with unimaginable force. The redhead threw her free hand out and the snake was thrown away as it tried to take advantage of the situation.

"Where is the book?" Anna growled as she kept the girl straining to her limits with what looked like ease.

The downed girl pushed her palm up and Anna was forced back enough to let her get her feet and move back. The redhead charged forward again, locking blades with her and pushing her back against the wall. "Where is it? Give it to me, and I will let you live, for now. I'll bet it will be easy to find once I kill you and find out who you really are."

A burst of power allowed the cornered girl to shove the young redhead back again by pushing her off with her weapon. She gasped and moved aside. "That was you? That dream?"

Anna frowned a little deeper. She still couldn't recognize the voice, but whoever it was sounded like a young woman. "Heh. If you tell anyone, I'll find out who you really are. You've just tried to murder me in the middle of Hogwarts. That won't go in your favor."

The figure growled again and thrust her hand forward. Tendrils of electricity burst fourth from her fingers.

Anna had not yet opened her eyes. A cruel looking smirk formed on her face as she caught the energy in her hand and put it out by closing her fist around it. "You're nothing but a Sith Apprentice. I am a Lady of the Sith. You've got no chance against me with this pathetic power. Give me the book."

Her assailant hissed a reply. "Come and get it." It took Anna a little off guard as she realized the serpent had said that.

Anna felt like a fog and rolled in around her, when it was over, she was standing alone in the hall. She opened her eyes and started walking. She looked most unpleasant and walked at a brisk pace.

Professor Snape was moving towards her with his fist balled up. "Where have you been, Potter?" As usual, his tone no louder than a harsh whisper.

His voice gave no promise of mercy and she looked up at him with her usual calm and neutral expression. "Someone tried to kill me in the hall just now."

The man stopped and froze. He looked around half expecting to find a hacked up body.

The girl growled. "They got away, and I didn't see who it was."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Don't toy with me, Potter."

She shook her head. "My brother and I are not the only ones of our kind in this world. I know of at least two more. My brother is the only person I've trained."

"Who are the other two then?" The man didn't look all that impressed, but was taking in what she was telling him.

"Draco Malfoy, and the one who just attacked me. A girl, an older girl." The redhead nodded once and seemed to be thinking on it more for herself than holding a conversation with him.

"A wild story, Potter." Snape sneered.

"I will give you my oath that it is true. I'm willing to bet this person wouldn't mind taking a shot at my brother as well. He'll need to be warned, but it's best if it's kept quiet otherwise." The redhead looked up at him. "I do not joke about this kind of matter. I should remind you that thanks to you I am running a war. It's not so outlandish that someone might want me dead you know."

The man growled. "Watch your tone, Potter. You're in trouble as it is." The redhead looked irate enough as he grabbed her arm and pulled her along. "There will be no wild stories of assassins in Hogwarts."

The redhead nodded, keeping pace with him without trouble. "I agree. I'm afraid a story like that to get out of trouble is a bit beneath me. I'll accept your punishment, but I'd like to speak to Dumbledore about this. He is Headmaster, and I'm afraid this can't go ignored."

He jerked her shoulder and turned her to face him as he leaned in and jabbed with his finger. "I'm losing patience with you, Potter."

She shook her head. "I'll go around you if I need to about this. I am sorry, Sir, but someone just tried to kill me and I am not pleased about it." It was foolish for her enemies to stick out their necks. She needed to find out who had tried to kill her, and find that book.

Snape stood tall and brushed off his cape. "Very well, Potter. We'll see the Headmaster then." He jerked her arm and pulled in another direction.

OooOOooOO

"Yes. I do hope this is important, Severus. It is getting late." Dumbledore had his head poking outside his private quarters. He was wearing a night cap and bed robes.

"It would seem so." Snape nodded and turned to glare at the redhead.

"Someone tried to kill me in the hall. It wasn't a house elf, or a drow." Anna looked up at the Headmaster with a calm and even gaze and nodded.

The old man's jaw opened, he blinked twice and looked down at her. "I beg your pardon?"

"Someone tried to kill me while I was alone in the halls. They jumped out at me while I was alone in the eastern hall. They were using a lights...a wand like mine. I don't know who it was, only that it was an older girl. Her...identity was hidden from me." The redhead looked confused for a moment.

"Some sort of identity masking spell?" Snape glanced at the old man.

"So it would seem." He nodded and stepped out into the hall, pulling a bathrobe over his shoulders. "Both of you come with me to my office. We'll see what happened."

OooOOooOO

Anna frowned as she watched Dumbledore peer into a mirror and several crystal balls. He had a deep frown on his face and shook his head. "Something is missing here."

Severus was glaring daggers at the back of her skull. Waiting for Dumbledore to confirm his suspicions about her honesty. "Verifying a story like that one way or another should be simple." He didn't think things were going to end up in the girl's favor. He'd caught her in a lie, and wanted to savor the moment.

Anna looked a little downcast and sighed. "I figured as much. Slippery Bi...brat." She corrected herself and averted her eyes away from the old man.

The old man gave her a sympathetic frown. "Yes. It should be very simple indeed."

"So, she was lying then?" Snape's cruelty showed for a moment on his face.

"No. I do not believe she did." Dumbledore looked sullen and leaned back in his chair as he sat behind his desk. "Nor can I find any proof her story is true."

"What?" The Potions Master's face fell.

"There's nothing. Attacks of such hostility are remembered within these walls. An attempted murder here is considered insanity. It should be easy to discover such an act here, and who was involved. This is most distressing." The old man looked very dour and concerned.

"We must find out who this is then." Anna nodded and smirked as her eyes grew dark for a moment. "If they can get around something like that, it's not good for the wizarding world at large for them to be running about with impunity. A trained Sith can make sort work of a large group of wizards. She is very dangerous."

Dumbledore frowned. "Are you so certain?"

The girl turned her eyes up at him. "You know the answer to that already."

"What is she talking about?" Snape stood up and loomed over her from behind.

"Severus, I'm afraid that while there is no proof that her claims are true. It is because the evidence has been wiped clean. I said something is missing and I meant it. There is a moment missing, a very long moment." Dumbledore leveled his eyes on the redhead. She looked like she was thinking of a hunt. "There is little that can be done. I'm afraid that I've nothing to report to the authorities."

The redhead nodded. "Yes, Professor." She didn't look very concerned with the matter.

The old man nodded. "I do hope you realize that taking matters like this into your own hands is not acceptable."

The redhead nodded. "I don't plan too. It's best to wait for the opportune moment. If you don't discover who this is first, they will try again. Not for some time though. This girl, she wasn't very strong yet. Right now, discovering her identity could save us all a lot of trouble in the future."

"Really?" Snape didn't like the way she sounded. "Why did I only find you then?"

"I could have killed her in a moment." The girl frowned at him. "I want justice, not revenge. I didn't have much trouble scaring her off. She needs to be caught and punished for trying to cut me in half." Anna needed to know who she was. She had to find that book, and now she had the first scent of her quarry. Then she needed to be destroyed, sending her to Azkaban would only make her more powerful. She knew about Freddy. She would have to be careful in her dealings with Draco as well. If he did hurt someone, it would be best if they kept the Ministry away, until either herself or Harry could get to him. The girl knew too much anyway, arresting her and having her sent to wizarding prison wasn't an option. It would only make her worse, twist her, and make her grow in power.

Anna found herself questioning the decision to be up front with the faculty about her attacker. The men were both peering down at her. She needed to find her first, get the book, and make sure she was destroyed. She didn't think goading whoever it was into attacking her again would prove difficult once she found out who it was.

She'd gotten too eager in a bull headed quest towards one goal. Her mistake and lack of patience might cost her a great deal in the future. She knew she'd screwed handling this well up. All she could do was make the best of it, and try and make sure she got to whoever it was first.

"Come along, Potter. We're finished here." Professor Snape turned towards the door.

The girl moved with him, behind him and to his right. Her eyes became rather unfocused as she moved behind him. It was time to end Freddy. He'd become a liability, and would be harder to prove if she stopped using him. His usefulness had come to an end, and she now knew what she needed to do to find the Horicrux.

The other Sith had to be destroyed. It was just a matter of being patient, and waiting for the right moment. It would be nice if her brother managed to take care of that snake before she ran into her again. She wanted to catch this one while it was still young and weak, and it would be easier if she was alone.

OooOOooOO

Harry rushed down the hall with Ron at his side. He had a deep frown on his face as he'd rushed from the common room towards the end of the night. Dinner was over, and curfew was near.

"Harry! What is it?" Ron was panting for breath, but had managed to keep up. He slowed as they neared a large gathering of chattering students. There were a few frightened squeals within the crowd as the group surrounded something on the ground.

The boy who lived pushed through the crowd and stopped at the edge. Hermione Granger was lying on the ground. She looked horrified, her eyes wide open and her hand up to protect her face with her other arm holding a load of books. Harry frowned as he looked over the scene. The way she was lying indicated that she'd seen the snake in the mirror hanging from the wall beside her. The books in her arms were all about Basilisks. "No."

Ron was frozen at his side. "She's not dead is she?"

Harry shook his head. "No. She's petrified. Very much alive." The boy turned his head and looked down the hall. McGonagall was rushing towards the scene with Dumbledore at her side.

OooOOooOO

Harry was standing in the corner of one of the halls in the shadows away from the windows. He spoke in a quiet tone to the girl in front of him."Your restorative has been stolen. Hermione's been..."

Anna frowned and crossed her arms. It was the next day, the school was quiet and a cloud of uncertainty had settled. Everyone knew about what had happened to Hermione. "We have a new problem. The stupid snake attacked me as well. That's not that much of a problem. The real problem, is that someone has broken the rule of two, or we're dealing with more than one Sith Lord."

Harry sighed and nodded. "I see. Can't you ever have good news?"

The redhead gave a small shrug. "I don't know who the new problem is. It's a girl, older, but not a teacher. She's new to the Force." She leaned forward. "Be careful. She was working with the Snake. You might find more than just the monster."

The boy nodded. "That's...weird."

"I'll see you around. You know what a mess things are for me right now. I'm afraid I can't stay long." The redhead rolled her eyes in an exasperated way and sighed. "Later."

Harry looked serious and nodded. "Yeah. See you."

She paused as she walked away as she seemed to think of something. "We can get Mom to brew some up. I've got enough ingredients at the house for a bit. Write her and have her send it here. I'm sure she won't mind. Just hope things don't get worse. We've only got enough for a little."

"I'll take care of it tonight." The boy nodded, his serious thoughtful frown remained.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter hefted the blade in his hand. He'd taken it off a suit of armor in the hall a short time ago. It was heavy in his arm, but not so large as to hinder him. He spun it around his wrist a few times, testing it's balance as he moved through the darkened hall.

It was the middle of the night and the school was empty. He was wearing a cloak and the hood was pulled down over his head. Filch was off on the other end of the school, and the serpent was in it's lair. He was sure of it.

He turned and saw the door in the hall ahead of him. He moved forward through the shadows towards the door.

"Going somewhere, Potter?"

The boy froze up, the sword moved behind his back as he whirled about.

Afina seemed to melt from the shadows and walked up to him. "Wandering about at night? You're in a lot of trouble. Mind telling me what you're doing out here?" She swung her hips as she moved up to him.

The boy didn't seem to notice and wasn't distracted by the youthful and healthy appearance of the teacher. "Well...I..."

"Yes. I'm afraid you're worse off than you think. Professor Snape is in charge at the moment. Professor Dumbledore was called away for the evening." She strolled up and seemed to try to peer behind his back.

"That sword. What do you need a sword for? There's not supposed to be anyone else down here." She leaned forward as she asked him, showing off her cleavage as she did so.

The boy was put off and shook his head. "Are you coming on to me or interrogating me?"

The teacher's face fell into a frown. "A great deal of trouble indeed. Last chance to speak up."

"I've got to kill the Basilisk. There's one inside a secret chamber in the girl's bathroom. I was going to use this. I was kind of hoping to not get caught you see. My wand leaves a rather distinctive wound." He relaxed and let the sword hang at his side.

"Are you under some sort of curse?" It would explain his lack of interest. She was reaching out with every trick she knew to keep him honest and attentive.

"No. Really. What do you think happened to Mrs. Norris? If word of it gets out, they'll shut down Hogwarts." The boy was frustrated. He'd be lucky if he didn't get sent home.

"I don't suppose this has anything to do with your friend, Miss Granger?" Afina crossed her arms and frowned as she tapped her foot.

The boy shook his head. "There's no antidote for her in there. It needs to be stopped before anyone else is hurt."

"So you figured you'd rush in, and slay the beast? A second year?" The woman seemed amused. "I'm afraid I can't allow that."

"That's too bad. Because the noise has attracted it's attention." The woman looked surprised. "If you look behind you, you'll die."

The teacher smirked and almost turned her head. Fortunately, she heard it. The scraping of scales against the polished floor. "What?"

The boy grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. "Close your eyes!"

The woman did so, uncertain and confused. "Potter. What are you..." A loud hiss silenced her.

"Well, hello there." Harry kept his face towards the beast. The sword clattered to the ground and his wand ignited. He'd already been caught. He'd planned on killing the snake, and just leaving the body hanging out the entrance to the chamber.

The creature gave an angry snarl, it's tail whipped out and lashed at the pair. "Jump!" Harry said as the end of the creature passed under them. He kept his wand in front of him.

"I can hear it." The woman's tone was calm and even, her heartbeat was steady, and her emotions kept in check. "I can't tell where it is." The serpent was coiling itself up, and scraping it's scales together. It made it difficult to pinpoint where it was with her ears.

The boy hacked down with is weapon, there was a hissing pop and an angry hiss. He pushed the woman back as a section of the serpent's body rolled out towards them to knock them down. It was twisting and turning across the floor of the hall, trying to trip them up with it's body. Harry kept pushing the woman back, and she complied without resisting. He was keeping it from sneaking it's coils behind them. He poked with his wand as one of the thick coils came near and it shrieked and hissed in anger and pulled back again.

The serpent was enraged, and not very injured. It kept moving forward towards them. The boy smirked as he jerked his arm, and threw Afina to his right. "Sorry professor." He heard a door close as the woman's surprised gasp was cut off.

The boy straightened himself up and held his blade upright. "Now. For you." He pushed Hermione from his mind. Having his eyes already closed only made it easier to find his center, to find peace and prepare himself.

The snake hissed and snapped at him. He simply poked the creature in the nose with the tip of his weapon. It backed off and shook it's head before hissing in anger. The coils seemed to jump to life, rushing towards him, trying to pin the young Jedi to the wall. He hopped up over them, hacked downward and jumped as another coil tried to wrap him up with the one he'd just cut a gash into.

The serpent's head lashed out at him from the side, thinking the boy was distracted. Harry landed on top of the head and drove his weapon downward. The snake hissed and shook about in a violent manner. The boy struggled to stay on top of the shaking head, but continued to push down on the scales with his weapon. The struggles slowed, and the snake went still.

The boy wiped his forehead, his breath was fast and sharp. He stood for a moment looking down at the creature, slowing his breath and calming himself. His weapon shut down and went back to his side. Without a word he turned towards the bathroom. The door opened for him and he raised his hand behind him. The snake was pulled along by the tail by the force and up to the edge of the sink. The boy hissed at the entrance, and the stairwell opened up in the bathroom floor.

Afina was standing in the doorway looking on with a frown on her face. "What are you doing?"

The boy walked up to her. "Hagrid is innocent. This proves it." He waved his hand behind him. "I'm ready to go Professor."

The young looking teacher seemed confused. "Go?"

"You caught me. If I've got to be punished by Professor Snape. I'd just as soon get it over with." The boy looked over his shoulder at the snake.

The woman's lips turned up. "If you can make it back to the dorm, without anyone else seeing you. I killed this snake."

"Ma'am?" Harry's face became rather blank.

Afina turned her back on him. "Let's just say, winning a Quidditch match on a foul doesn't sit right with me. I'd hate to see the House Cup end up in Slytherin's hands as well."

He seemed to catch on. "She beat me fair. I didn't go six inches. She just nudged me more than once." He walked past her and into the hall.

Afina looked down at the serpent. It was dead for certain, and now she had a long night ahead of her. "Interesting pair. I hate taking the credit. He deserves it. Hmmm." She stuck her head out into the hall. "Potter. Could you come with me? I've got a better idea."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was flushed and looking at the floor. He was standing in front of Professor Snape with his head hung between his shoulders.

"I said he just saved my life." The woman held her nose up. "I gave him detention and was having him help me move that storage room full of Gilderoy Lockheart books to the furnace."

Snape narrowed his eyes at her. Harry was silent and looked like he wanted to be elsewhere. The boy gave a small swallow and shuffled his feet. "Detention? For what?"

The woman was good at lying. "He was talking to his friend Ron Weasley during a lecture."

The dark haired man snorted. "Where is Weasley then?"

"He noticed me before he'd done anything wrong." She said it without missing a beat.

The man rolled his eyes. "Go on. This had better impress me."

Afina was enjoying herself. "Oh. I'm sure. I went by the dorms to pick him up."

"In the middle of the night?" Snape seemed irate with her.

"I'm a night person. It's hard to adjust after five hundred years." She was butting heads with him. She knew he didn't think she was being very honest.

"I stopped to use the restroom, and I was attacked by a Basilisk. He killed it, and rescued me. It crawled out of some sort of chamber in the floor under the bathroom."

The boy looked up at her with wide eyes. "I uh..."

Snape was glaring at him, his back had gone straight and his eyebrow was twitching. "Is this true?"

The boy seemed to calm quite a bit. "I killed the snake, I guess I saved her too." Her story was sort of true, he had to help with the books the next night. Snape just didn't know the order the events transpired in.

"There is proof of this?" He stood up and swept his cape behind him.

"Yes." The woman chuckled. "There's a dead Basilisk in the girls bathroom, and the chamber is still open." She shook him by his shoulder.

Snape glared down at them. He had to see it himself, even though he knew it was true. The memory of a limbed and beheaded Troll in the hall was enough for that. "I see."

"Oh. I'm quite impressed. I do believe this clears Hagrid of any wrong doing. It should be the end of that messy business with the Chamber of Secrets, and it explains the mystery behind that petrified cat and that girl." Afina was enjoying doing this to the man.

Harry was as well, but was doing his very best not to show it. It was very difficult.

Snape's head had whipped around, his eyes wide and angry looking. He turned his gaze down at the floor. "I see."

OooOOooOO

Severus was in Dumbledore's office with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. "I'm not so certain she was being very honest about what happened."

The old man shrugged. "I see no reason to disbelieve her." He was relieved. Had anyone found such a creature in the school, they would have been forced to send everyone home and close the school until it was taken care of. "I'm more concerned with that missing potion."

Snape's looked a little surprised. "More concerned?"

The old man nodded and leaned on his elbows over his desk. "Yes. It is most disturbing. The snake is dead. No longer a danger."

"Still. It was too close for comfort. It was very convenient that the Potter boy just happened to stumble across it." Severus paced back and fourth.

"That snake didn't steal those potions. Someone, a person, broke into the clinic and took them. That causes me a great deal of concern." The headmaster nodded his head as he closed his eyes and thought about it. "There was no evidence left behind, once again."

The Potions Master seemed to understand. "Anna Potter's story seems more credible."

"Yes. Someone here was trying to make sure that creature could not be easily remedied."

Snape was looking out the window. "Who?"

Dumbledore looked up at the dusty looking bird that was perched near his desk. "I'm not certain. I do not think, this person has any love for those two children."

The teacher glanced back over his shoulder. "Perhaps with their plans foiled, they'll give up."

"I do not believe that will be the case." The old man shook his head.

Snape nodded. "It can't be helped at the moment. We don't know who it was."

The Headmaster nodded. "I suppose you are right. Still, we should be mindful."

"You're starting to sound like that boy." Snape turned and left the office leaving the old man alone.

Dumbledore sat back and worked his tongue on the inside of his cheek. He had a lot to think about. The danger had passed before anyone had really noticed, and the students were all back to normal.

OooOOooOO

The holiday had come, and Gryffindor was on top of House Points by fifty points. Dumbledore had gushed over his victory over the last meal. The odd thing was, he didn't feel bad about it at all. Afina had lied, sort of. It seemed almost like something his sister might pull. He'd kept his mouth shut and let it go. Everything she said had happened. He did have to help her haul about five hundred hard cover books to the furnace. It hadn't taken them very long, and he'd only been a bit tired the next day.

Hermione had been cured the next morning. The owl had delivered the cure from his mother.

He turned to see Hermione and Ron rushing up to his side. "Harry! Thank you!" The girl wrapped her arms around his neck and hung there.

The boy flushed and smiled at her. "Hello Hermione. I hope it wasn't too bad."

"I don't remember. It was like I fell asleep." the girl flushed. "I heard it was you that..."

The boy who lived nodded. "Mom made it. Anna had a bunch, but someone took it. It was her idea to get Mom to brew it up for you."

Ron slapped her shoulder. "It's nice to know you'll be here to nag us when the holiday is over."

The girl's cheeks flushed as she glared at the redhead.

The Weasley boy snorted in amusement. "Have you finished packing yet? We leave in a few hours."

The girl hung her head. "It seems like we've gotten in twice as much trouble this year, and it's only just now the holiday."

"Hey. That's Anna." Harry noticed the girl walking ahead of them. Cedric Diggory was talking to her as they walked. They were moving towards each other, and he walked into a conversation between the pair.

"I'm not sure. I guess I'll probably hang out with everyone. No relatives coming or anything this year." The older boy was looking up at the ceiling with his hands over his head. "I'm pretty sure no one in the neighborhood is going anywhere this year. At least, I haven't heard about it."

Anna noticed her brother and stopped. Her brow furrowed as she stopped dead in her tracks. Something was off. There was a door that lead out onto the pitch nearby. The windows along the wall next to them gave a clear view of white covered ground. It looked very peaceful and quiet. "I sense...nothing." She knew that should be odd, but she didn't know why.

Harry jogged up with Ron and Hermione by his side. "Anna." He looked over and nodded a greeting at Cedric that was returned. When he looked back, his sister was walking outside with a rather dazed expression on her face. The Potter boy's features fell as he looked confused and followed after her. "Anna? Anna? Hello?"

She put up her finger back at him, not looking back at the four students who had followed her out. All of them looking confused.

Ron spoke up first. "Is she all right?"

Cedric looked at her brother. "She was fine until a moment ago."

Harry shrugged. "Don't look at me. I've got no idea."

The redhead was looking about and moving out into the snow covered field. It was up to the top of her knees and she trudged through it, wrapping her robes around herself a bit tighter. She stopped and looked about. "I don't feel anything. I should, but I can't."

Hermione looked irate. "Why are we standing in the snow again?"

Harry gave a nervous laugh as he moved closer to his sister. "Anna. Come on. What is it?"

"I can't feel them." She rushed forward and seemed to vanish into the snow.

The other four children moved up to where she had vanished in a sort of confused and frightened jog. They found a hole, a very large hole with several boulders set up like a crude doorway dug into the ground.

Cedric's eyes went wide as Ron and Harry both walked in to follow the girl after glancing at each other for a moment. "Wait!" He stumbled for a moment, and went after them. "I get the feeling I'm going to regret this."

"Hey! Where are you going? What's down here?" Hermione followed in last. She stumbled and caught herself on the stone doorway. She looked down at her hand as she pushed off and frowned. It was red, blood red, and dripping. The girl's eyes went wide as she rushed after her friends. "Hey! Wait! There's blood on..."

Everyone was standing around in silence as she staggered into the large cavern. It was as large as an average home. There were lumps of things lying about, and pools of something covering the floor.

Anna Was sitting over one of the things, looking down on it with tears in her eyes. "No."

Hermione was confused. "What is this place?"

Harry glanced back at her. "This is where the bunnies at Hogwarts used to live."

"What? Where have..." It hit her all at once. "Oh. Oh no!"

OooOOooOO

TBC...


	31. Chapter 31

A matter of force.

Part 31

The Force Unleashed.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was on her knees, tears flowed down her cheeks as she cradled the remains of her bunny. "Shemp." She muttered it in a hoarse tone as she shuddered over the torn remains of her friend.

Harry was standing over the mess with a frown on his face. Hermione and Ron standing behind him, both looking horrified beyond belief. Cedric was near the entrance, looking wary and searching about the edges of the room.

All of the bunnies in the room were dead, arrow filled bodies, torn and sliced with blades filled the room.

"What is this place?" Ron muttered as he looked about. He was holding his wand over his head, providing light. There had been torches in the room, but they were lying about, blood drenched and useless.

"It looks like it was some kind of nest." Cedric moved up beside the Potter boy with his wand gripped in his fist.

"I'm not sure." Harry took a step towards his sister. "Anna...are..."

"No." She spoke without looking up at him. Her three remaining bunnies holding their heads low around her. It was obvious she was crying from her voice, though none of the children could see her.

"This is...horrible." Hermione sounded like she was close to joining her.

The redhead nodded, still kneeling over the fallen bunny. "It was a nursery." She stood up and pointed to the wall.

The three children gasped in horror as she walked over to the far wall. There were several bunnies nailed to the wall with what looked like railroad spikes. Their bellies split open, and their entrails hanging down to the ground.

"These bunnies are all female...were..." The girl's tone was soft and she shuddered.

The room went dark, the sound of earth moving started and the room shook. A huge cloud of dust consumed the room and the children all staggered about coughing.

Ron was the first to tie his towel around his face. Everyone else quickly followed his example. "I've got a bad feeling about this." He looked about in the shadows, Anna and Harry's two wands giving the only light. Hermione raised hers, and Ron did the same, a light spell giving more light to the situation.

The entrance was a large pile of very large stones. "This wasn't a collapse, somebody dumped all this down the entrance." Harry looked at the stones, there was very little in the way of dirt in the debris.

"Yes. They don't seem to care that our friends are with us. This is some kind of trap." Anna growled and turned towards one of the walls. "Harry. We've got a problem."

Cedric had his head hung and gave a heavy sigh. "Not again."

The boy frowned and nodded. "I noticed. Hermione, Cedric, get behind me. Ron, stay where you are." He turned to face another wall, positioning himself between it and them.

Ron and Hermione both cried out in fright as the walls in front of them began to crumble, something was digging it's way out, several long slender pointed stick like things began to poke through, all working furiously to move dirt away. Anna's chosen wall was doing the same thing. Within a split second, a four foot wide spider popped out of each hole.

Anna growled as she hacked the arachnid in two, and another that followed behind it as well. "Harry. I'm afraid we've stumbled across another larger problem." Another of the creatures skittered towards her, only to lose legs and it's life a moment later. Harry dispatched two more in a similar manner.

He arched his eyebrow and tapped his foot on one of the bodies. "Really? We're trapped underground and we've just killed several giant spiders."

The redhead shook her head. "No, we've only just started to fight our way through hundreds of them. We've also got to kill one the size of a tank. Aragog is the reason Hagrid lost his wand. They caught him with it, and assumed it was the monster that you killed earlier this month. We won't be able to stay here very long. The only way out, is the way they came in."

Ron kicked the one on the ground. "I've seen bigger." He reached behind his back and pulled a handgun from behind his waist.

Hermione was shocked. "How are we supposed to get through all that?" She was horrified and shaking. Her eyes went wide as she noticed what the Weasley boy had in his hand. "Where did you get that?"

"Ron. I suppose I'm glad you've got that." Harry nodded at the boy. "Keep close to us, and make sure she's all right. Great time to bring this up by the way." He turned towards Anna and glared at her. "You knew about this. You've mentioned giant spiders before."

She returned his glare. "I didn't know it was now until these things jumped out the walls at us, all right?"

Cedric was confused as he peered at the strange object in Ron's hand. The red haired boy had his wand gripped in his other hand. "What is that thing?"

"It's called a gun. It's a muggle weapon." Hermione was scared out of her mind. "I can't believe you brought it to Hogwarts, but I'm glad you've got it now."

Harry shrugged. "It's no more dangerous than a wand, or a knife. Every student carries both of those around all day here. Be careful with that Ron, don't go waving it about in front of Muggles. You'll get arrested."

The redheaded boy looked surprised. "Nice to know. I got it over the summer in that mess in Romania."

Harry looked into the largest of the two holes and prodded inside with his wand. Everything was covered in a thin layer of web inside, it covered the floors, walls and ceilings. It was big enough to stand in, the other entrance would require them to duck and crawl. Hermione was shaky enough as it was. She was latched onto Ron's back, looking wide eyed and nervous. She was gripping her wand in her fist and hating every moment of what was happening.

"I hate spiders." Ron grumbled. "At least these don't have machine guns." He pointed the barrel of his weapon down the long empty tunnel ahead of the group.

"What the hell are you talking about? You're driving me crazy." Hermione turned her rather shaken looking eyes towards him. "Please, just shut up and lead the way."

Anna frowned at her. "You'll be fine. Keep quiet, these things are drawn to sound. We'll be up to our necks in them soon enough." She strolled into the tunnel with a firm frown on her face. She didn't look worried, but her anger was clear.

The frazzle haired girl glared at her. "You're not helping."

Cedric gave a nod. "Yes. It's bad enough. Please stop trying to comfort us."

"We're looking for a way out right?" Harry grumbled as he hopped up behind her, and helped the other two into the passage. Cedric moved up behind them on his own. It was four feet high, and wide enough to navigate easily.

"Well, we'll get these three to safety right away if we can of course. The two of us do need to kill Aragog though. In the forest he was far enough out of the way to ignore for a time. I'm afraid we're under the pitch right now though. If left unchecked, students will start disappearing from the greens between classes. These tunnels are new, and they weren't made by spiders." The redhead knocked her fist against a webbed up post. "This is a serious problem."

"The ones who built the tunnel would have built a way out then." Harry nodded.

"The House Elves have been digging this all year?" Hermione was shocked.

"Probably the Drow, I'm not sure how long." Anna nodded at her. "They have an alliance with the House Elves. I'm sure a House Elf would make a good meal for one of these things, but a Drow I'm not so sure about. There may not be an emergency escape. Going through the nest may be our only option."

"Nest?" Hermione shuddered.

"Harry. Is someone going to try and kill us for every holiday now?" Ron didn't look like he liked the idea much.

The young jedi shrugged. "I'm not sure. I hope not."

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Hermione glared at Anna.

"No. I don't want to lie just to make you feel better." The redhead gave her a small but gentle frown.

Cedric shook his head. "I should have known better than to follow you in here. Here we go again."

"They're coming." Harry stopped moving and looked down the winding passage.

Anna nodded and took up position beside him. "You three stay behind us, you'll be fine. Ron, you cover them with that weapon."

OooOOooOO

The spider tunnels were cool and dry, a light webbing covered everything.

Anna had her wand in front of her on the ground, using it like a walking cane. She was leading the group and looking about, burning the webbing on the floor away in front of her.

"Anna. They're coming." Harry spoke in a whisper and moved up beside her.

The girl nodded. "I know. Get behind me." She pulled her weapon upright. There were a few frightened gasps and mutters behind her. A sound had started from ahead of them, a skittering that was growing in tempo and force.

"What is that?" Cedric glanced back at Ron.

The redhead looked alert, but not worried. He was pointing his weapon behind them and covering the rear. He didn't think there was a danger there, but they'd come through the walls before. "Spiders. Lots of them." He didn't sound pleased and looked rather disgusted.

Hermione looked panicked. "What do we do?"

Harry glanced back at her. "Stand there, let us do the work, and you'll be fine." He looked back towards his sister. The hallway ahead of them became blocked as the spiders charged forward. There were four or five blocking the hall ahead of them, but it was obvious there were many more behind them.

Anna tossed her arm. Her weapon spun in the air on it's side and moved down the hall like a giant food processor blade. The children all held their ears at the number and intensity of the shrieks that filled the tunnel. The weapon vanished over an incline and the girl started forward, a short way down the hall her weapon returned to her hand and she held it forward to light her way. She was no longer concerned for the webbing at her feet.

"That was a lot of them." Harry looked disgusted. The spider remains covered everything, and their path was now dripping with entrails and goo.

The redhead nodded. "About fifty. We've disturbed the nest, they will keep coming now."

Hermione was clutching at Cedric, the nearest person to her. He didn't seem to mind, and held his own wand up to light his way. He looked as nervous as she did.

Ron kept his hand on their back and shoved them forward a little through the rather disgusting passage.

They found themselves in a large open room. The walls were crawling with spiders, hundreds of them. They didn't seem to notice the children as they stood in the entrance looking on in horrified wonder. The walls were covered with giant brown sacks filled with eggs.

None of them dared to speak. Harry looked at his sister's face. They were side by side at the front of the group. "Well?"

The redhead jumped into the middle of the room.

Harry looked back at the trio with them. "Ron! Get up here and cover this entrance. We'll clear out this room."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "What?"

Cedric looked about the same. "Er. Right. Um. We'll just wait here then."

The redhead pulled down the brim of his hat and called to them. "Come on. Get behind me."

The other two children rushed back into the tunnel.

Harry landed next to his sister. The spiders were descending on them from the ceiling, and crawling forward from every angle. "Well. This should be fun. Any ideas?"

The redhead shrugged. "Kill them." She formed a ball of energy in her free hand, pointed up at one of the egg sacks on the wall, and blasted it. The brown cloth looking egg sack burst into flames. She waved her hand down and it slammed into the nearest group of spiders killing several.

Harry looked overhead, spun his hand around over his head. The dangling spiders began to spin on their webs, becoming entangled together in one big strand that trapped many of them. He pointed his weapon at a nearby wall and it ripped itself free of the ceiling and slammed into one of the cavern walls. A moment later he caught it on fire with a small ball of energy of his own. Another thirty spiders perished in a moment.

Anna had a grin on her face as she tossed her weapon, carving through the oncoming wave and returning to her hand in time for her to spin it around and carve five more into pieces. "Show off."

"Who are you to talk?" The boy waved his arm as several threatened to overwhelm him and three rows were tossed back like a wave in the ocean into their own numbers. He tossed another energy ball into another egg sack and ripped it off the wall with the force as well, taking two more spiders down with his weapon as he did it.

Anna had crouched down, Spiders swarmed from all around her, blocking her from view and appearing to cover her from above and the side. They all flew away, several splattering against the walls and floors around her. She bounced over the crowd, carving spiders in her wake as she jumped off of them and into the gaps in their numbers, taking three or four down at a time as she spun around with her weapon and hopped away again. A flash of blue behind her caught her attention as she landed away from several more.

Harry's lightsaber flew back into his hand in time to spear he one sneaking up behind him. A spider looming over his sister fell in half and she nodded at him.

There were only about ten left and a few swipes from both twins ended them all. There were no more egg sacks left either. Every spider that had been in the room was dead. It was a rather disgusting mess.

Hermione was hanging from the entrance looking on with her jaw hanging. "H-Harry?"

Ron was beside her looking rather relaxed. His weapon was hanging from his grip at his side. "Ugh. Well, at least they're dead." He walked up to the pair and looked about the room with his own wand making enough light to see with.

Cedric stumbled out behind him. "Yeah. All of them." He sounded rather haunted.

The older boy didn't notice the large pile of dead spiders behind him begin to move. He didn't seen the legs surround him from behind. He felt the floor hit him in the face as it landed on his back, within a split second his legs were pinned and his left arm was stuck to his side.

The sensation stopped as a loud bang echoed through the cavern. Hermione screamed in surprise at the sound. The older boy looked about. What was left of one of the giant spiders was lying beside him. It's face was gone, and looked burned somehow.

The redhead's shoes appeared in front of his face. "Ouch. What the..." He froze as a familiar humming noise filled his senses, and he found himself on his feet before he realized what had happened.

Anna gave him a small look over. He shied back a little. She looked very serious and dusted off his shoulders before turning away. "Come on. The sooner we get out of here the better."

OooOOooOO

None of the children were sure how much time had passed. Cedric and Hermione were still in the middle of the group. Ron was covering the rear again. He'd killed about thirty of the spiders, the Potter twins had killed hundreds. They were moving forward at a slow pace. Waves of spiders would swarm at them at once, but their defenses had held thus far.

Ron glanced back over his shoulder. "Hey. I think we're almost out. The air here taste better."

Anna and Harry both looked back at him and nodded. The redhead spoke up. "There's a light up ahead.

The group moved forward. Cedric had his arm across Hermione's shoulder and was holding her at his side. The girl didn't seem to mind much, and was looking about with wide eyes while holding his robe in her fists. "We'll be out soon then?" She looked at Harry's back and up at Cedric.

"Yeah. Soon." The older boy looked like he was feeling better. His eyes were locked onto the redhead's back. He narrowed his eyes a bit and shook his head before looking down at her. "I've got a bad feeling about this though."

The girl cringed and let his robe go. "Don't say that." She did feel better. The could see a way out at least.

The tunnel had become very wide and tall. It was large enough to drive traffic through, and a light from a small hole in a very large room ahead of them shined down from above. It was sunlight, and it wasn't very late. They could see the beginnings of an incline that would carry them out of the cavern.

A dull thump sounded from ahead of them. The spider was at least a hundred meters away as it stomped up to the entrance and blocked out the light with it's mass.

"Well, I think it's a little bigger than a tank." Harry looked surprised.

Cedric and Hermione jumped as it spoke to them. Ron looked disgusted and raised his weapon pointed towards it.

"No one ever leaves the nest. Die." The walls all around it began to move as it's children began to crawl through around it.

Harry had his lightsaber ready, and Ron picked a few more off the walls. The boy who lived looked to his sister. "Now what?" He almost fell over as he realized she was charging a ball of energy in her hands that was about the size of a beach ball.

"Harry. Get ready." She hissed and pushed her hands forward.

The boy planted his feet and pushed his lightsaber forward as she tossed it at the giant spider. The girl put her hands up in front of her.

The children behind them gasped as a flash of light blocked their view of the giant spider. The whole tunnel shook, and a wall of twisting orange heat seemed to form just in front of the twins. All at once it rushed away and appeared to be sucked out of the entrance.

"What was that?" Hermione swallowed and staggered forward. The entrance was clear, not a single spider could be seen, just a few wisps of steam from the ground and walls.

The Potter twins both looked to be recovering from a good long jog.

The girl glanced back at Ron, who tipped his hat up and strolled forward with a grin on his face. "Is that it then?"

Anna nodded and stretched her arms. "I think so." She gave a nod and started moving ahead.

Harry moved back to Hermione and Cedric. "Come on. We should be able to make the train still."

The girl let the older boy go and moved up to his side to peer at him. "Who are you?"

The boy who lived shied away a little. "Harry Potter."

She nodded and looked down. She knew Harry was special, but what she'd just scene defied explanation. There was nothing about this sort of thing in any wizarding book she'd read yet. She'd only seen hints of the power she'd seen on display. Ron seemed to know, but Cedric was surprised as well.

She glanced at the older boy. He didn't seem all that surprised, less than she was. He was looking at the Slytherin girl, but keeping his distance. She was making him nervous. She was making her nervous as well. Anna hadn't spoken much, she'd been like that as of late, but now she looked angry.

Ron smiled as they stepped out into the forest. They were inside the stump of a giant and long dead tree. The inside was burnt, and a few charred legs and torsos remained. His face fell a little as he realized that the ground was covered in half burned dead spiders. Quite a few. They looked like they were sprayed out of the entrance and into the forest. "Eeeew." It wasn't the best thing he'd ever smelled, but it was nice to be out of the hole. Some of the spiders were still burning, but they were surrounded by snow.

The others stumbled out behind him. All looked dazed and up at the sun shining down between the branches. Anna moved off a bit away from the group.

"Well. I guess we should head back." He glanced at Anna and seemed to get that she didn't want to be bothered.

Hermione was looking over at her as well. Ron seemed to notice as well and leaned into Harry.

The boy moved off before anything could be said and walked towards the redhead. She sat down on a nearby fallen tree trunk and brushed her hair aside while glaring at the ground. She didn't look well.

Harry moved up to her side and put his hand on her shoulder. She shoved it off and stood up, turning away from all of them. "Harry. Go home."

The boy staggered back, surprised, but cautious. "What?"

Anna turned about, all three children backed away from her at once. The glare in her eyes was more than enough to make them jump. There was a red glow in her irises.

"Anna!" Harry sounded alarmed. "What are you doing?"

"Go home. Make sure Mom and Dad are safe." The girl turned her eyes away from them and looked back at the smoke rising from the center of the forest.

Her brother got a forceful looking frown on his face as he made to grab her shoulder. "You're..."

"I'm not going back on the express, Harry." The girl's voice had grown cold and her fists were clenched tight at her sides as she stepped out of his reach and turned away. "Go home."

The boy shook his head with his wand gripped in his fist. "I won't let you. I'm going..."

"No you are not! I'm going to end this war." The girl was firm as she whirled around to glare at him again. Her eyes were off, dangerous, and the color of her irises had changed to an almost orange from gold. "If I fall, you still have much to do. Our friends will die if you fail. Ron, Hermione, Margaret, Pansy, Melvin...all of them will suffer if you fail."

The boy backed away, his lightsaber in his hand was still shut down, but he gripped it. He was nervous, and it showed. "What? No!"

"Do you not understand? If I die, the bunnies may end with me, but the wizards will not. They're after me, they'd use you against me if they could, but if I'm dead, they've no reason to bother with you." She glared at him and shook her head. "I've got to finish this. I can't just give up. They will hunt me down and destroy me even if I give in. Do you not understand?"

"What are you talking about?" Hermione was in tears and stepped towards her.

Cedric and Ron were watching the scene in silence side by side. Neither one moved to interfere but both looked worried.

"Harry, a declaration of war isn't a wanted notice. It's a bit more than issuing a warrant for my arrest. They mean to imprison and execute me, regardless. The only way to stop this, is to die, or beat them. I'm sorry, I'm the only one who can do it, and you cannot help me." The girl shook her head. "Go home, Harry. Guard our parents, our home. I will return when this is finished. I've no intention of dying."

"I can't just leave you!" The boy was upset, he waved his arm and stepped forward. "I..."

"You have a duty to protect your friends and a destiny beyond this. Just as I do mine. Voldemort cannot be left unchallenged if you care for them. You don't need me for that. Go home." She shook her head. "You can't help me. I've got what I need already."

Ron was pulling on Hermione's arm. "Come on."

The girl looked at him with pain in her eyes. "You can't..."

He frowned at her and shook his head. The girl's eyes fell, and she nodded with great reluctance. Cedric looked like he felt terrible, and moved up to assist Ron, he didn't reach for her though.

Harry stood looking at his wand, his eyes turned towards his sister. "Anna..."

The redhead gave a small sigh and shook her head. Her face had gone from angry to saddened and the faintest hint of a smile came to her lips."Harry. Just go. I'll be...I'll be fine."

"You don't look fine. You don't feel fine." The boy shook his head.

"Do you intend to use that to stop me then?" She looked him dead in the eyes. "You're not coming with me, and unless you do, you're not going to stop me. This has to end. It will only get worse, and I've no leverage to negotiate now that they've figured out how to kill the bunnies. I must defeat them. I'm afraid it's the only way, my Padawan. You cannot risk involvement in this. I am sorry."

Her brother gripped his weapon and looked down at it. "I don't like this. I don't think I should leave you alone. Don't think I can't feel it."

The girl nodded. "I know. I don't like it either. I've no other option, and you know what I am, young Jedi. Tell our parents I'm sorry. I know there's nothing I can do about them getting worried. I've run out of options, and this puts them in danger. I will survive."

The boy was conflicted, he took another staggering step back, hung his head, and glared back at her. "You'd better come back. If you don't, I'll find you." Without another word, he whirled around, rushing away from the scene, tears falling down his cheeks. The other three children looked on, confused and upset, but followed after him.

Anna was alone. A moment later, her three bunnies hopped towards her out of the nearby brush. "Come. It is time. We are prepared to finish this now."

The creatures all nodded and waived their arms about as they screamed in a cheer.

OooOOooOO

Dumbledore was looking over the grounds. The students would be leaving soon, so he indulged himself in a drink to warm his chest. The Headmaster was standing in his office, looking out the window with a warm smile on his face. He took a sip of the light brown glass in his hand, swallowed, and settled for a moment.

There was a bright flash of light from the center of the forest. He blinked in surprise and looked confused as the boom hit. A moment later, a ball of fire about the size of a bus landed in the middle of the pitch.

The glass in the old man's hand hit the ground and shattered. He ignored it as he stepped up to the window with his jaw hanging. "Merlin!" He could see eight legs inside the flames, curled up and burning away over the body of the giant spider.

OooOOooOO

Aticus stood overlooking the field of dead bunnies. They could still see the torches in the distance. "We've held here for a week now. Our trenches and archers are working well. Tomorrow, we'll start taking ground again." He had a dark grin on his face as he looked at his son. "We've finally gotten our weapons. Cold iron short blades and arrow heads. Our day has come at last." Large crates were being dragged and stacked around the inner walls of the fort from the south entrance. The bunnies held the forest to the north, and waited in the distance for the next battle.

Dobby nodded at Garrus's side. He had a smirk on his face and held his spear against his shoulder. He was confident and prepared, though he didn't look forward to the fight. The bunnies wouldn't kill, but they fought hard. Though they could kill them, it would prove to be a painful experience. "Panties Drawer Fortress never fell. Soon, the bunnies shall fall."

The younger drow nodded as well. "Your spirit is admirable. It's a shame you were not born Drow my friend." His eyes fell a little. "Still, I've heard reports of strange noises, the smoke plumes in the wood have not risen for two days. Though we can still see the light of their torches in the evening. I've a bad feeling about it."

"Any word from the Wood Elves?" Garrus glanced at Dobby.

"None, sir." The House Elf shook his head and shrugged.

At the edge of the wood, a lone figure strolled forward, two bunnies at each side.

"Sir! A wizard from the wood!" A scout called from the lookout tower above.

The Elder Drow shifted and narrowed his eyes as he peered across the snow covered field. The figure was dressed in black, and was only a bit taller than an elf from the look of it. "It's her." He glanced behind him and raised his hand. "Hold your weapons." The two bunnies that flanked her, held flags. One red, with a white rabbit head in the center of a black circle, the other was a round cog like marking on a dark blue background. The young wizard had a white handkerchief in her hand.

It took ten minutes for the figure to near the wall. She stood tall, and fearless, dressed in black with a hood covering her head. Her voice boomed across the empty snow field as she called. "I have come to give you one last chance to surrender. If you do not, there will be casualties. You will be crushed."

"The only death will be your numbers!" Garrus snorted in amusement and called down to her.

"What say you, Elder Drow?" The girl already knew his answer.

"Bring your worst human." Aticus sounded amused. "Our walls have held, and will..."

The girl turned away and marched off towards the tree line dropping the white handkerchief in the snow as she turned away. She moved about halfway across the field and raised her wand over her head, fully extended. "Cry havoc, and let loose the dogs of war!"

A red beam of light blasted from the forest, a strange noise started in the distance as a sharp report, nothing like black powder, echoed across the valley. It impacted the wall, and a huge chunk of stone crumbled away from the fortress side.

"What?" Aticus uncrossed his arms. A chilling mechanical sound echoed in the distance, that was multiplied several times a moment later. The ground began to vibrate a little as a dull and steady thump sounded in the distance.

"So be it, Drow." The girl called to him from the field before turning away and vanishing into the edge of the wood.

The tree line split apart and an outcry started within the fortress. Emerging from the wood was something none of the elves could begin to describe. About fifteen ten foot tall two legged walking machines, with what appeared to be armored heads began stomping from the edge of the wood. Each with a turret under the front side of the 'head'.

"What manner of..." Garrus looked on with wide eyes and a slacked jaw. Red beams began shooting from the turrets mounted on the machines. The walls shook from the impact as explosive roars sounded from the bolts of energy the walking tanks fired. "Ready the bows! Man the..."

One of the catapults mounted on one of the shorter towers exploded in a ball of fire and debris as one of the bolts hit it from the tree line, much larger than the ones coming from the two legged walkers.

"Prepare for battle!" Aticus drew his cold iron sword and held it into the air. "Ready your..." His voice trailed off at what he saw next. Five more walking machines, each about three times larger than the smaller two legged battle tanks stomped from the wood on four legs. The turrets on these machines were much larger, and they began to open fire. On top of the lead in the second wave of machines, the hooded black figure stood, a beam of red light in her hand pointed forward.

A huge swarm of creatures rushed from the wood behind her, each wearing an armor plate on it's chest, and a helmet with a T shaped visor.

"What on earth?" Garrus was confounded, his voice barely carrying over the explosive crumbling of the fortress wall. The section next to them crumbled away, just as the wave of bunnies reached it. They poured in, arrows bouncing off their armor.

The Elven creatures rushed forward to meet them, armed with knives, spears, and short swords. They never reached their targets. Each bunny was holding a small black weapon that fired smaller versions of the bolts the tank like walkers were firing. They fell to the ground in droves, twitching and writhing on the ground, drooling and crawling about in agony.

Anna Potter jumped down from her mount and strolled into the fray. Arrows passed around her in the air, curving around her and missing as she moved with confidence. A firm frown was present on her face as she moved into the center of the fortress stepping over the fallen in her path as if she didn't notice them lying about around her. Her pace was steady, and she was focused on what was ahead of her.

Angry cries echoed through the mess as the elves tried to pull themselves together. Their forces being pushed back further into the halls of the structure for cover. The bunnies were firing at them without relenting, using the butts of the weapons for melee attacks as they drew close in. There were a few bunnies killed, but their armor kept them protected. Only the most skilled of the Drow archers were presenting any sort of resistance. Without looking back she tossed her blade to cleave the head off of one such Drow as he dropped three of her minions with neck shots.

"Fall back! Into the fortress!" Aticus was rushing away, into the halls with Dobby and Garrus with him. "Retreat to the inner chambers, bar the doors!" The larger machines weren't moving in from outside the walls, but stood stationary and waiting outside the crumbled outer walls. Their head like cockpits were moving side to side, scanning the field for stragglers and elves trying to escape.

OooOOooOO

Anna growled as she moved up to the barred doors where the elves had retreated. They were made of heavy wood, and were covered in black burns from the bunnies weapons. They didn't give way. "I'll deal with this myself. Secure the area out here." She turned and looked at Moe, Curly, and Larry, who were commanding the forces. They all saluted her. Her lip curled up as she glared at the doors. "It's time they learned what they have disturbed."

The girl raised her hands and pushed forward with her palms. Echoes of panicked screaming elves sounded from behind the door as the heavy wood doorway was blasted off his hinges by an invisible force, tossing elves about in it's wake. Her wand came to life as she walked forward.

The elves fired arrows at her, but they stopped in mid air and clattered to the ground before reaching her as she moved forward with a firm frown and an evil glare. She waved her arm, and entire rows of archers were lifted off their feet and tossed against the walls. Her wand hacked through any elf that neared her, cutting cold iron weapons into melted slag with ease. Energy bolts from her forces moving in behind her kept her from getting swarmed.

She twisted about, raising one of the House Elf Elders into the air with a raise of her palm. He hung suspended and grasped at his throat seven feet off the ground. She tossed her wand and speared him through the chest before pushing with her palm and sending him through a stained glass window to his doom. Her wand remained in the air and returned to her palm in time to impale another gray haired house elf that was trying to crawl away at her feet. She didn't even look down at him as she kept going and pulled her wand up to continue forward. The young sith tossed her wand again, spearing another elder elf through his chest as he tried to run towards one of the towers along the top of one of the inner walls.

The elves charged forward after she lost her weapon, but her other hand pointed at them, and huge arcs of electricity shot out of her hands at them, disabling the whole crowd at once. They twitched and shook, stunned and in agony in the wake of her power.

The girl snarled like an angry beast as she turned her eyes towards the retreating elves. With a wave of her hand, a hunk of wall the size of a large car ripped itself from the structure and landed, crushing another fifteen elves in it's wake as it bounced until it hit another wall and landed on top of another of the House Elf Elders.

"Retreat! Run for your lives!" The elves were scattering away, rushing for their lives away from the angry Sith towards the back exit. It was a tunnel in the basement that led to the path behind the fortress.

Anna raised both her hands and screamed in rage as she saw Aticus, Garrus, and Dobby move with the flood of elves into the tunnel. She raised her hands and pulled down, curling her fingers. The entrance crumbled down and trapped another fifty elves in the room with her. The bunnies were rushing in behind her, blasting at the remains of the fortress's defenders.

The girl looked around, the fortress was hers. Nothing but dead and stunned elves littered the ground around her, only a handful of fallen bunnies were strewn about the fortress. She turned to the nearest group. "Take the surviving elves prisoner. Lock them in their own dungeon."

The bunnies around her saluted and went about collecting the surviving elves. Only those the girl had killed were dead. The bunnies still weren't able to take lives, and their blasters were all stunning weapons. Far more effective than bows and arrows. The Sith turned towards a nearby stairwell and moved up to the outer wall on the side of the fortress. A half million bunnies were marching by. Only about five thousand were armed with blasters, and the bunnies within the fortress were tossing theirs down to the masses below to aid in the push forward.

Her walkers were stomping by within the crowd, and she hopped down onto the top of one of the AT-AT she'd constructed. They were much smaller and more primitive than those she'd commanded in her past life, but very effective against the weapons and tactics of the elves.

Her army marched ahead of her towards the elven homes in the distance. A strong wind swept by her, blowing her cloak about as she watched. "This will be a day long remembered."

OooOOooOO

Eden Falls was a smoking ruin. Anna Potter strolled through the town through rows of bunnies standing at attention, guarding the remains of the House Elves homes. Most of them were full of holes, a few were in flames, a handful were nothing but piles of rubble. The battle raged on ahead, towards the Great Hall of the Elves. It was a towering structure, looking almost like a primitive domed stadium made of timbers and heavy stone blocks. The walkers were milling about the cobbled stone streets, none were being used against the large structure. It was the last stronghold of her enemies and the only resistance left. Flashes of light from the bunnies blasters could be seen around the entrance, keeping the Elves contained within.

She had other things to worry about at the moment. A bunny was leading her through the streets towards a tall three story building. She pushed open the double doors and moved inside, the bunnies had surrounded it, but didn't enter. Her wand lit the area around her as the torches within had all gone out, leaving the only light within from the windows on the outer walls.

Unarmed House Elves cowered in the shadows all around her. Several adult females, two males, and about two hundred House Elf children were huddled together in a large central chamber.

The adults were cradling babies, looking on with tear filled eyes, trying to silence the frightened cries of the young. There was simpering from the older children, the babies were wailing, terrified of the noise outside.

The girl's glare scanned the room. She was breathing heavily with a harshness to her breath. She almost sounded ragged and labored, gasping for air. "So. This is the nursery?" None of the children were adolescent, all were younger than twelve or so in human years. Several bunnies had moved in behind her, shining lights mounted on their blasters about the room. They refrained from firing. "The school is secure?"

One of the bunnies at her side saluted and screamed as he waved his arms in excitement.

She gripped her wand and looked about the room, her anger surging as the memory of the bunny nursery loomed in her mind. Her vision went red as other memories surfaced, the cries of young and defenseless Sand People on her former home planet, the sobs and terrified screams of the younglings in the Jedi enclave. She staggered for a moment, as a hundred other memories flooded her mind. Each one more horrible than the last.

Anna wavered, her palm went up to her temple as she staggered. The light of her wand flickered, and went out. She put her palm against a nearby wall to steady herself and looked about the room again. "Load them into the cages. Take them back to the glen. None of the children are to be harmed. Put the adults in with the youngest to care for them. Guard them carefully, and don't let any escape."

With that said, she turned about and stormed back towards the battle.

The armed bunnies raised their weapons and jerked them towards the exit at the adults.

The redhead walked outside and turned her head to watch as they were loaded into caged carts being drawn by troll sized bunnies. She found several smaller bunnies by her side awaiting instructions. "Do the same with the school for the elder children. Watch the older children carefully, but do not harm them. I want prisoners. Move them to the glen, and I will return to deal with it when we've finished here. I want every house elf here rounded up and captured." She looked towards a single bunny and nodded towards him. "Send word to begin transporting the prisoners from the fort here as well. I want them all together when this is finished."

He saluted her and rushed away.

OooOOooOO

Aticus was in chains, Garrus and Dobby were linked to him at his side. His head was hanging, and his breath haggard as he was shoved forward by the side of one of the creature's blaster in his ribs. Tinglebum and the remaining elders, three of them, were on their knees ahead of him already.

He was being pushed up a hill, the cries and wails of the House Elves could be heard all around him. The females were the loudest, every surviving House Elf in the glen was chained up around the bottom of the hill. It overlooked the village, with the Great Hall standing in the distance. Most of the village had survived, there were only about fifty casualties, all of them the result of the redhead entering the fray. A few had even been rescued from death from within the flames of some of the homes, or under the rubble by the bunnies. More than ten thousand of them chained or tied in long lines by their hands, necks, and ankles. It was quite a sight to see.

They were in tears, their wails filling the air as they sobbed, tore at their hair, and stumbled about in their bonds.

The girl was at the top of the hill. Aticus, Garrus, Dobby, and the remains of the House Elf Elders were all forced to their knees in front of her.

The Elder Drow chuckled at his position. "Just as promised. We are driven before you, the lamentations of our women fill the air, and we are utterly crushed." He was glad the other elder Drow could not see his position. They were all back within the caves with most of his people. Only the fiercest of his warriors had come with him, and the survivors were all in chains with the population of Eden Falls. Garrus and Aticus were all that remained of the leadership that had been sent to help the House Elves.

The redhead smirked. There was no humor to his words, it was as if he thought he was dreaming. "Not quite. There is one other thing."

Tinglebum looked up with horror in his eyes. Garrus and Aticus gasped as she turned to face the hall. The entirety of Eden Falls population was captured and surrounding them. "What?" The Eldest House Elf was confused.

The girl raised her hand over her head and started chanting. It was something neither of the Elven creatures had ever heard before. "Darkness beyond twilight. Crimson beyond blood that flows, buried in the flow of time, is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer, all the foes who stand, against the mighty gift bestowed, to my unworthy hand. Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed, by the power you and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!" A huge ball of power formed within her hand and she shoved her palms forward. Rather than releasing the ball all at once, a beam of power erupted from the front.

The elven creatures all went silent as Anna used the fireball trick she'd taught her brother in a much larger scale than ever before. A huge dome of burning power bathed them all in a crimson orange light as what appeared to be a bubble of flame replaced the Great Hall. When it cleared, there was silence, and the building was nothing but a crater in the distance, smoking and ruined.

She turned to glare at Tinglebum. "You will now give me your unconditional surrender. If you do not, I will execute you here and now, and your replacement will do it for you."

"By the Gods!" Garrus managed to stutter. Dobby was shaking at his side, and Aticus was too shocked to speak.

The Elder House Elf had his palms in the dirt before her. "Such terrible power!"

The girl growled. "I could have exterminated all of you. You pathetic delusional old fool." She paced before them with her hands behind her back. "You almost destroyed your own kind. For what?" A crumpled piece of paper fell to the ground in front of his face. "For this?"

He looked up at her, his chains jingling as he shook in terror. "I..."

"Surrender, now." She lifted him by his collar and shoved a pen into his hand. A rolled up scroll fell open in her other hand and she shoved Dobby to his knees before laying it across his back. "You have brought death and suffering to your people for nothing but trash, waste. End it now, or I will end you. Perhaps your replacement will be wiser."

The wrinkled dry hand was shaking as he put his mark upon the page.

OooOOooOO

The Elven tribes were marched to the Glen. They were whimpering, terrified, pathetic looking messes. They stood about in the streets, in chains. Their homes torn to the ground, replaced with crude factories, mining operations, and holes leading to cavernous tunnels. The bunnies lived under the ground. It had not escaped the prisoners' notice that there were no children with them. They all feared the worst, but were too terrified to do any more than cry about it.

The females were taking it the worst, they sobbed and clawed at themselves, curling into balls and rocking themselves in tears.

Tinglebum was staring in a spaced out manner as the bunnies led him underground through one of the larger openings. He'd seen the girl enter there, and Aticus was shoved in behind him. Neither one said a word, and allowed themselves to be shoved into the hole.

They found the girl sitting at a table with a meal spread out before her. Several casks of whine, roasted meats, fruits, and breads littered a long table. The wine was Tinglebum's private store, and the girl had a half drunk goblet in her hand as she sat with her legs kicked up onto the table. She didn't smile at them, but frowned and looked irate. With a wave of her hand, their chains fell away.

"Have a seat. Let us drink to the fallen." She motioned for them to sit on the bench opposite her.

"The children..." Tinglebum muttered. "Please...I..."

The girl turned her eyes towards him. "I remember what you did to the nursery at Hogwarts."

Tinglebum went pale, the girl was a little surprised that he could become any whiter. Aticus stiffened up, his eyes wide with shock.

"I am no monster. Your children are safe." She shook her head and took her feet off the table. "You will all be freed before the sun sets. I've no intention of imprisoning you all. You may return to Eden Falls."

"The bunnies will pull back then." Tinglebum nodded, relief flooding his face.

"No. The bunnies will stay." Anna gave a small snort that was half chuckle.

"What?" The Elder gasped and clenched the table. "I demand that..."

"You're in no position to make demands." The girl shook her head. "Come with me. I've something to show you." She stood up and motioned for them to follow.

After a few winding halls, they came upon a well guarded room. It was a large underground chamber, lit by torch light. The young House Elves were running about, the older ones were huddled together with the adults, hovering about the infants to be closer to the adults. Many of them looked worried, but the younger children were rushing about the room.

There were juvenile bunnies bouncing about the room. Several females cared for the infant children on the opposite side of the room from the House Elf infants. Some of the Elven children were smiling, laughing as they played with the fuzzy young bunnies. The older male bunnies guarding the room were relaxed. There were a few toddlers of both races crawling about on all fours, within the room. Playing with each other.

"Tell me. Where is the threat to your people here?" The girl frowned at him. "I see nothing but peace." She gave a small sigh and put her arms behind her back. "There is sadness, worry, but not by my hand. They will reunite with their parents, the cries of suffering will stop. Some will mourn for those who were lost, but there will be no war between these children."

Tinglebum was looking at her with a slacked jaw and wide eyes. "I..."

"You are free to go. The bunnies will take the children up to meet their parents shortly, and you will all be allowed to return, to rebuild what you and your arrogance have destroyed. You have no rights to the waste of others. Think what you have brought upon your people for nothing more than a few wadded up scraps of paper." She shook her head and looked very tired. "For nothing more than a bit of trash, that didn't belong to you in the first place. For pride." She turned away and left them both.

Aticus gave a heavy sigh. "I advised you against this. I aided you because of our oath to your kind. It will not happen again."

Tinglebum glared at the ground and clenched his fist. A great shame filled him as he stood there overlooking a room filled with children at play.

OooOOooOO

Anna frowned as she stepped out of the caverns below the remains of the village. "What?" The House Elves were looking on with hope filled eyes at the scene, giving it plenty of clearance.

There were seven Aurors standing around Rufus Scrimgour. Ten more were standing around the crowd of Elves. "Anna Potter, you're under arrest. Hand over your wand." The bearded man puffed out his chest and held out his hand.

The redhead narrowed her eyes at the men and her blade came to life in her hand. "Come and claim it." She cocked her head and frowned at him. The Auror group froze as the Bunnies in the group all had weapons pointed at them. They all seemed to realize at once that they were outnumbered, surrounded, and out gunned.

Tinglebum moved out in front of her, an evil looking leer on his face as he smirked at her. "You would move against the Ministry?"

The Head of the Ministry of Magic drew his wand as he shook his head. "I suggest..."

"You listen to her." Aticus moved up to her side. "The Drow will stand with you, Potter."

Anna gasped and looked at him in surprise. "What? I just..."

"Never have I faced one so worthy. If there is to be a battle, the Drow would be honored to stand at your side." He smiled at her and shook his head. "I have never met a human who understands true honor in the way that you do. Your cause was just, the House Elves had our oath to bind us to their cause, foolish though it was. Besides, the entirety of the Ministry could not have accomplished what you have done. I would prefer to fight with the winning side of a battle."

Tinglebum's jaw dropped, he started to open his mouth as he shook his finger at the Drow elder, but a new voice cut him off.

It was a feminine voice, cultured and smooth. "As will the Elves of the Forest. Rufus, stand down. I'll not allow her to be punished for what she has done."

Everyone turned in surprise as a youthful newcomer moved from behind the shocked House Elves. She was the same size as the other elves, with ears just as long. Her nose was short like that of a human, and her eyes as large as the other elves. Long flowing golden hair poured out the sides of her brown hood, and she was flanked by two males of similar appearance.

Anna lowered her wand and turned it off. The aurors had all backed away from her. "Who are you?" She didn't sound upset, and nodded at the new elf.

"I am Avistra. You have done our kind, and human kind a greater service than these men realize. I suspect perhaps even more than you realize yourself." She turned to glare at the nervous looking men. "This was a cause that was worth fighting to protect. If you do not wish a war between wizards and both the Drow, and the Elves of the Forest, I suggest you stand down now. This girl deserves praise for what she has done, not punishment." The Elven woman turned her eyes towards Tinglebum. "I advised you against this. You deluded fool. I cannot believe you would be so arrogant. I told you, those creatures clean messes even the House Elf clan cannot hope too. Instead of persuading you, it merely turned your heart against them, hardened your head, and blinded you from the truth."

The Elder Elf growled at her. He glanced at Anna again, unable to argue. He had surrendered, and signed the contract. It binded him, and he could not go against it.

"This is a Wizarding affair. She has broken our laws. She is dangerous, and such power cannot be left unchecked. The ministry cannot allow a child to control such a terrible power. That blast was seen for miles around. She's broken the law on more than one level. We are aware of what happened at Eden Falls. At the very least, she'll lose her wand. She's not old enough to use magic. Though, I doubt she'll get off so easily after this mess." Rufus crossed his arms and glared at the girl. "She'll be arrested, and charged according to our..."

"You will do nothing of the kind. I told you already, she has our protection." Aticus crossed his arms and returned the glare. "Even if it means fighting along side the Elves of the Forest."

Avistra seemed surprised to hear that, but nodded. "As you say." She turned towards Scrimgour. "I do not think you understand the gravity of this Wizard. That girl is a hero, and I do not mean because of her battle. The Humans owe her more than you realize. Your fear and misunderstanding of her power is no excuse."

Scrigmour growled. "I am not so certain she is human. Not even a dragon could have done that much damage in a single battle. Such power, must be controlled, and contained. She cannot be allowed to go free I'm afraid."

"I'm no hero." Anna was confused, but nodded in gratitude to the new elf. She glanced at Aticus and did the same. She then turned to face the head of the Ministry. "You're not taking my lightsaber unless you pry it from my cold dead hand, Wizard. I am Sith, and you've no claim to the Force. I've used no magic here. My weapons are Muggle technology, and the Force."

The Ministry Head growled, his Aurors looked nervous. The House Elves around them weren't sure what to make of things, and kept distant. "All right. Out with it." He turned to glare at the Forest Elves. "Why should I allow her to go free? She's proven far too dangerous."

The blond elven girl pointed at the river that flowed through the glen. "Tell me what you see here."

"It's just a stream." One of the Aurors beside Scrimgour spoke up, looking confused.

"Really? Allow me to show you how this 'stream' as you put it, looked only two months ago." Avistra waved her hand, and a section of water nearby changed. It didn't look much different, save a wadded up paper, a plastic ring from a pack of sodas, and a slight murky brown tint to the water.

"What's the difference?" Rufus Scrigmour didn't look impressed. "So it's a bit nicer?"

"When these creatures first came to our wood, we worried." One of the male elves at her side smirked and gave Anna a warm smile. "We didn't know what to make of them. They didn't harm the wood, so we let them be."

Avistra nodded. "We are very grateful that we did. The longer they remained, the healthier the wood became."

"I don't understand." The head of the Ministry turned his eyes towards Anna.

"I do. The bunnies exist on trash, waste, human waste." The redhead seemed to realize what she was saying as the words left her mouth. "They're cleaning up the mess we're making of nature. Haven't you noticed the streets are cleaner, even in the worst of neighborhoods? When was the last time you saw a food wrapper, or a soda bottle on the ground anywhere?"

"Yes. We are most grateful." The elven woman bowed to her in a deep sweeping gesture. "The human muggles have noticed, though they blame recycling, and their conservation efforts. They've not changed their habits. Yet the river in the great city called London is safe to fish in again, safe for swimming, safe for drinking as it has not been since before your kind settled there."

"They don't just eat trash, they absorb toxins. I made them to test potions, they soak up chemicals like sponges, and filter gases when they breathe. Sometimes when you screw up a potion it can release toxic gases and liquids. They're designed to clean up those sort of messes without putting myself at risk." Anna seemed to just realize it herself as her eyes became rather unfocused. "There are millions of them, and they're spreading fast."

"We've already began moving them across the great waters of the oceans." Avistra gave her a warm smile, and looked close to tears. "Soon, they will exist the world over. Erasing the damage caused by the spread of the rather messy apes your kind are."

"What?!" Scrimgour looked insulted and surprised. His aurors had already put their wands away and were looking towards him waiting for directions.

The blond elven girl glared at him. "If she had not stepped in to defend them, we would have." She then turned her eyes towards Tinglebum. "Be grateful that she did, for we would have destroyed your kind. Even with the Drow protecting you. They are fierce warriors, but they cannot match our numbers."

"It doesn't matter. She..." The head of the Ministry was clenching his fist.

The elven woman turned and scolded him in a harsh tone. "She has shown more restraint than Gedoric would have, more cunning than Salazar, more Wisdom than Helga Hufflepuff, and a greater understanding than Ravenclaw herself would have regarding this. We will not permit her to be punished for saving more than your nearsighted race can understand." She jabbed her finger at him. "Fool. She deserves to be rewarded for this, not punished. We have watched this war closely, and less than two hundred elves have fallen in a war that should have taken the lives thousands. She is to be commended as a great warrior, and hero."

"Wars don't make men great." Anna shook her head and frowned at her. "I'm not proud of this. It very nearly cost me more than you realize. I'm not talking about him either." She nodded her head towards the intimidating leader of the Auror group. She'd come very close to repeating her past mistakes when she'd happened upon the House Elf children.

Aticus nodded. "Drow believe this as well. War is when those who are already great, stand above those with them. A soldier who fights for personal glory, is more dangerous to his allies than the enemy."

Anna frowned as she realized the aurors weren't the only humans standing in the crowd. There were others as well, most writing on scrolls and notepads. Rita Skeeter amongst them. Several had cameras, the war had been getting coverage.

"Very well." Scrimgour gave the redhead a sour frown. "I'll withdraw for now. We'll be watching you, Potter. Closely. I'm not certain this is over yet, it's not entirely my decision."

Avistra nodded. "I know who I should speak too. Do not worry my dear. You'll not be bothered with this again."

"No, not for this. Potter, this has not ended. I cannot ignore what you've become. We will be watching you." Rufus Scrigmour glared at her. It was obvious he wasn't planning on letting it go.

Anna returned his glare and frowned. "Fear, leads to hate, hate leads to anger, anger leads to suffering." The man was afraid, and it wasn't just him. All the wizards present were worried, and watching the events close. She looked down at her hands and clenched her wand. Whatever her reasons, she'd changed the way the Wizards saw her forever. It was something that would effect her brother as well. The world had just become aware of what she was capable of, and it wasn't all good for her. There were many who would react with fear, and see her as a threat. She wasn't so sure they were wrong. "I've removed an immediate threat, and created another. Way to go, Anna." She muttered it under her breath and gave a small sigh as she hung her shoulders a little.

The Aurors turned away, leaving the redhead standing with the elves. Aticus turned towards her. "The Drow were honored. I look forward to meeting you again Anna Potter. With my blade at my side."

The girl nodded. "And not at your throat."

He grinned at her and turned away to leave with his son. Garrus gave her a serious looking nod and followed.

"You know much of Drow." Avistra moved up to her side and kissed her cheek. She leaned in and shook her shoulder. "I look forward to meeting you again as well. You are not the only one on this plane with gifts."

The redhead flushed a bit and seemed a little surprised. "Yeah. I suppose we will see each other again."

"I'm as sure of it as you are. Be careful friend. Your gift runs deep, and it is not wise to let the world of men discover this. I fear what they know of you already may lead to great challenges for you. Perhaps more than you realize." The elven girl whispered it into her ear and kissed her other cheek before letting her go and turning back to walk away with her companions.

The young redhead nodded. "I've realized that. Thank you. I must be wary of the Ministry, perhaps as much as the Death Eaters."

The House Elves started wandering about, confused, but freed. Anna turned away as they erupted in joyous cries as their children rushed out the entrance behind her. In the rush of the crowd, she vanished from sight before any of the reporters could reach her.

OooOOooOO

Anna was tackled into the snow by her mother the moment she opened the door to her home. The woman was on her knees sobbing as she clenched the girl in an almost crushing hug. The girl was flushed as she returned the embrace and patted her back. "Calm down, Mom. It's over. I won."

The woman pushed her shoulders back and held her at arms length. "You're grounded. Don't ever do that again!" Tears fell down her eyes as she frowned at her and shook her in an almost violent manner. She pulled her close again and practically carried her into the house.

"What? I didn't start the stupid war!" Anna took a glance towards her father and brother, who were looking on from the doorway. Both looked relieved, but neither one was planning on getting between Lily Potter and her little girl. James managed to get his arms around them both as they entered.

"Well. At least she'll be home for Christmas?" Harry scratched his head and looked up at his father.

James gave a small sigh and smiled at him. "I'm just glad she's all right. She'd better have a good explanation for all of this."

Harry shrugged. "It'll be all over the papers tomorrow."

"You can see the future now too then?" The man arched his eyebrow.

Harry shook his head. "Call it a hunch." He pointed out several reporters milling about just outside the property.

"I used to dream about being famous when I was younger of course. Never thought it would be because of my kids." James Potter hung his head and moved past the boy into the house.

His son nodded. The boy's smile faded as he looked back over his shoulder at where his mother had taken his sister. He wasn't sure what to make of what had happened, but there had been a great disturbance in the force. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind, she'd done something, skirted the edge of darkness. She'd turned away though. "Careful, Anna." He looked at the wand he had in his hand, flipped it in the air and caught it before putting it back on his belt.

The house was being watched and he looked out across the lawn. A smirk formed on his face, he feared what he might have to do with it one day. Something had changed that day, he didn't know what it was though. He took a few breaths, letting foggy clouds out as he stood in the doorway and cleared his mind.

Despite it all, he couldn't shake the feeling that he would one day have to face her with the weapon at his side. With a small sigh, he turned back inside and gave a small chuckle. Despite it all, he did have hope.

He didn't know what the future would hold, but he was pretty sure that tomorrow, there would be peace. It was enough for now.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next time: A peaceful holiday.


	32. Chapter 32

A matter of force.

Part 32

Grounded

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was grounded. Her brother was outside with their friends, running about the neighborhood. It was still morning, and both her parents were sitting in the living room on the couch. The paper was spread out across the coffee table, and they were both looking rather perplexed. The girl was sitting at the top of the stairs. They had been sitting that way for most of the hour. Coffee her father had sprayed across the room was long since cooled in little drops across the table.

The girl looked on with interest. She didn't have anything else to do. She couldn't say they weren't being fair grounding her. She had blown up an entire House Elf village and destroyed a fortress after all. Still, it was a little annoying that she hadn't started the war and was ending up punished for it. It was childish, but she was thirteen, screwed up head or not. She was also thinking she should have been grounded much longer. She had pretty much built that war, whether she liked it or not. Even that was not her fault. The girl's brow furrowed as she thought about it. "That jerk. I'll never forgive him." This whole stupid war was his fault. Severus Snape had deliberately...that struck her. She sucked in a quick breath and growled. It was shaky, but too much to ignore. He might have not known it would start a war, but he might have. Snape didn't make sense to her, but it was something to think about. Palpatine didn't seem to make much sense at the time either. She wasn't about to end up a slave again, but she couldn't just attack him without discovering either way first.

The girl perked up and lost her train of thought as her mother came walking up the steps towards her. The woman sat down and put her arm on her shoulder. "Anna. I'm sorry. I'm at a loss." She looked a little zoned out. "I feel terrible about this, really, but I have to ask. I don't want you to worry. We love you, very much. I know it's not your fault, and I don't want you to think that we won't take care of you. We are grateful for everything you've done. Though, I admit it's a bit much this time."

The girl started to worry a little as she felt her mother shaking at her side. "What is it?" Her tone was even and she looked like she realized her mother was afraid.

The woman pulled her into her arms. She was crying. "Are you really my daughter, or are you something else?"

The girl froze up in her arms. Her features contorted a little as she thought about it. She felt the woman squeeze her a little tighter. "Of course I'm your daughter. I'm just, something of a crazy sort of genius." She understood what the woman was asking, and why. It hurt her a little, and that surprised her. "I'm sorry. I sort of got railroaded into this when I made the bunnies. I couldn't not do it, really. The elves just declared war on me out of nowhere."

"Anna! You built machines! Huge walking monstrous things!" The woman didn't let her go and looked a bit aghast. "We saw pictures of you in that fort! What you did was..."

The girl, she could tell the woman had calmed. She seemed a little shocked. "Well, I had to do something." She blushed and kicked her legs a little. "I didn't build those things. I've got a connection. He's a genius engineer, but a terrible field man." Her emotions had a way of surging up at unexpected moments since she'd started at Hogwarts.

The woman was looking at her with a blank expression. Her face looked a bit irate for a moment. "Who?"

The girl picked herself up off her mother's lap. Both of them brushed their bangs out of their faces in the exact same manner as they stood up. "Well, you wouldn't believe me if I just told you. Come on, I'll show you."

OooOOooOO

"Annabelle Potter, there had better not be someone up here!" Her mother was getting angry and was starting to stomp a bit as she moved up the stairs.

The girl came out of the Owlery in the attic with her bird on her arm. "Huh?" She shook her head. "Come on. Take a look."

The girl walked over to the owl cages and reached under them. A large number of rolled up blueprints became scattered across the floor. "See."

"What are these?" The woman was confused.

Anna looked up at her. "Probably plans for this evening's venture to take over the world. Right Carrot?" She turned and grinned at her owl.

The woman looked a little horrified. "What?"

Anna pulled her silent owl a little closer to her face. "Speak up would you."

The owl turned it's head towards the still horrified and frozen Lily Potter. "What do you mean? Those are plans for...a new kind of dryer. Yes, that's it..."

Harry's owl skittered to across a long perch behind Lily. "Narf. But Carrot, you said that we were going to take over the world tonight! I bet we could have even more fun with wet clothes! Oh! Can I get inside the drier and ride about? That sounds fun! Poit."

The other owl was glaring at it's cohort. "I'll consider it."

Hedwig seemed pleased. "Narf! Great!"

Lily Potter almost screamed, but her eyes rolled up and she hit the floor.

Anna gave a heavy sigh. "Now what?" She went to her mother's side. The woman sat up and pushed herself away from her and the talking owls.

The girl shrugged. "Hagrid got them for us for our birthday when we turned eleven. When we went to get our supplies for school with him."

Lily's features calmed. "Well. I suppose that explains a bit."

"He built those machines. Well, the bunnies built them, he just designed them. Those little blasters they have now too." The girl shrugged and sat down beside her. "Look. He did something to me, but I'm still me. I just, remember more than I should, several different ways."

Her mother gave a small sigh. "What do you mean?"

Her daughter shrugged. "I can see the past, see the future, I'm empathic, I remember quite a bit of a couple of past lives. That's where this Force stuff comes from."

Something came back to the woman from her own past. An older wizard who she never met, but respected a great deal flashed into her head. "Those without it cannot understand the burden that comes with great power. The more power, the heavier the weight." It was a passage from a book the man had written. It was an odd thing to come forward from the reaches of her mind at that moment.

"He tried to destroy me, and instead made me stronger." The girl stood up and her owl jumped off her arm to a nearby perch. "That's not to say it didn't cost me a bit." Her mother's arms came from behind her back and draped over her shoulders.

The woman didn't say anything, but held her.

"I'm sorry. I just...I don't know. It's left me feeling a bit lost." The girl's voice shook a little. She didn't move and stood in her mother's arms. "It is as if I came from someplace else at times, but I know I belong here. Somehow, I feel I am meant to be here."

"I think I understand." She let her go and started down the stairs.

Carrot cleared his throat. "I see. Well, I hope you're not in too much trouble for that little war. I suppose I did have a wing in that."

Her mother stopped in the stairwell and remained silent, but the girl could tell she was relieved.

They just stood there for a long moment before Lily spoke up. "Well, since you're inside. You can help me out for a bit today. I've got to brew up a few things in the lab."

The girl nodded. She followed the woman into the potions lab just below them. It was almost as large as Snape's dungeon, with very large heavy wooden tables and counters, lots of glassware, several sizes of cauldron, each with it's own flame, and several very large racks of ingredients.

The woman walked behind the table and smiled down at the girl. "It's your favorite class right?"

The girl nodded and grinned. She pointed her finger into the air, but her mother put her hand over her mouth. "You are not the greatest Potions Genius in the Universe dear. You're a second year." She opened the book in front of her and released the girl's mouth. "Her name was Marigold Tomfoot. She pioneered the cauldron, the..."

"Her theoretical work was sketchy." The girl frowned at her mother. "She didn't do as much for the cauldron as Herbert McMannis, or Louis Maywether Bottomtrot."

Lily paused, looked over her shoulder at the girl and shook her head. "Well. You are Severus's student, aren't you?"

"I'm afraid I agree with him there." The redhead smiled. "And I am the Greatest Potion's Genius in the Universe. What do we need to make anyway?" She walked over to a thin plastic rectangle Lily hadn't noticed before. The girl flipped it open and an orange screen lit up on the upper inside half.

"Something for boils, warts, um...a stool softener, and a half dozen doses of liquid eyeglasses." The woman put her hand on her hip. "You can gather the ingredients off the shelves." Her daughter was playing with a large holographic display that had appeared before her. "Anna. What are you doing?"

"Finding out what you need. I can remember the rest off the top of my head, the liquid eyeglasses I'm...ah...here we are." She turned and grinned at her mother.

The woman rolled her eyes, shook her head, and seemed amused. "Are you going to get me those ingredients or..."

The girl blinked and looked up at her in surprise. "What do you mean? I'm halfway through prepping them."

Lily looked down at the table, where several mortars, a few knives, and a pair of candles were roasting things, all working by themselves to prep ingredients for the potions, each with it's own area. She looked on with her jaw hanging down. The ingredients portioned themselves out, and were arranged in neat and easy to pick up piles on top of several strips of paper.

"Now you just have to brew it right?" The girl was smiling at her mother.

Her mother nodded. "Um, yes. That must be useful." She seemed to think about it and looked a little impressed.

"I'm an apprentice. I've been doing this for Professor Snape all year." Anna perked up. "Hey. I'll show you something really cool!" She rushed over to a book that was resting on the counter top next to the laptop. "I found this when I was a first year. It was inside one of the books in the library."

The woman was trying to pry her eyes away from the prepared ingredients and moved over to her daughter. She took a folded up piece of notebook paper and opened it. Her cheeks flushed.

"I wrote Professor Slughorn last year when I learned he taught you. I asked him about what it was. He told me it was a potion's index." Her daughter was grinning at her.

"Yes. I used..." The woman's feature's fell as she looked at her daughter. "Had a hand at it yourself have you?"

The girl nodded and seemed pleased. "Yeah. Of course."

The woman turned her nose up and gave her a smirk. A bit of pride was warming her chest a little. "All right then. Let's have a look."

Anna shrugged, turned to the holographic display and started shifting the screens about. They moved in her hands and she spread them out to about three feet high and five feet wide. "Here. Have a look then." It was the oddest satisfaction to her to feel her mother's reaction.

Lily looked down at the laptop. "A computer then? I'm not so certain that's legal."

Her daughter creased her brow a little. "Why not? No different than an enchanted book really. It's not like it's networked or anything."

Lily was looking at the figures. Her daughter felt a twinge of disappointment, but it was overshadowed by her pride still. "How odd. You're terrible at math."

The girl giggled and shook her head. "Yes. The computer isn't though. It's base thirteen. The whole Universe is. The great question and all that. Hermione Granger is one of Harry's friends remember?"

Her mother got a rather blank expression on her face. "What?" She slumped down onto the floor on her rear. Anna moved down beside her.

"Mom. Please don't pass out again."

"Are...wait...that makes..." Her eyebrow arched up. "Huh? What do you know...if..."

Her daughter nodded and shook her shoulder. "Yeah. Works pretty good now doesn't it?"

"That would be the greatest...the calculation is immense! You don't suppose..."

"Well, yes. It would take a long time for a person to calculate. Ten years easy. I've got a supercomputer though, and I've had almost two years to work at it." The girl shrugged. "It's not complete yet, but the bulk of it is done. I've been buying a new potions book every two weeks or so since I ran out of them at the library in Hogwarts. I just donate them to she school when I'm done. I'd say it's ninety percent done. I've only added a couple of things from the last two books I bought."

Her mother looked over at her. "What?"

The girl shrugged and pointed her finger in the air. "Sorry. I beat you to it. I told you I am the Greatest Potions Genius in the Universe! I'm not just saying that, I can back it up!" This time her two puppets appeared on her shoulder and cheered.

"Anna you're the greatest! Anna you're the best! Anna! Anna! Yeeaaaahhhh!"

"I've been testing the results all year, and it's been spot on. I've invented sixty four new potions just trying it out. She pulled an armload of scrolls out of a cabinet on the wall. "Look, these are all my patent applications. I'm positive I'll win the Golden Scarab again when I publish it next year. Somewhere around sixteen volumes I'd say. Printing it out will be pretty easy."

Her mother stood up and dusted off her dress. She shook her head, moving her hair off her neck, pointed her nose up, and gave a heavy sigh. "So. I take it there's nothing else you're planning on surprising me with?"

"No. That's pretty much it." The girl shook her head and fumbled with the scrolls.

The woman smiled and patted her head. "That's good. Come on then, I'll brew up those potions." She was almost too perfect in some ways, and an absolute horror in others. Just like her father, but taking it to extremes beyond what she thought reality capable of.

The girl nodded. "Okay."

Her mother dusted off her hands again and looked down at the ingredients. "We'll go down to the kitchen and bake some cookies after this. How does that sound?"

The girl nodded. "Okay."

Her mother smiled down at her and started working, pouring ingredients into a small cauldron. She didn't need to make a lot of anything that day. Her daughter was having fun from the look on her face, and she got the feeling she was being teased a little. "Have you done that sort of thing before? I'm sure we'll have fun."

The girl shrugged and nodded again. "Yeah. I did all the cooking at the Dursleys. Well, Harry did a little too sometimes. Usually it was me though."

Her mother's tone went a little dark. "Did you now?"

"Yeah. I don't think Aunt Petunia can even make toast." The redhead snorted in an amused manner. The woman looked down to see her grinning and brushing her hair out of her face with her fingers again. "She had to cook once when both of us got sick, and it was awful."

Lily stirred the pot a little harder than she needed too. "Well, I'm sure we'll have fun."

The girl shrugged yet again and nodded. "Everything here is fun."

Her mother blinked and worked her jaw a couple of times. "Really? You're supposed to be gounded." She poked her chest in a playful manner.

"Yeah." Yet another shrug, and the same grin.

The woman leaned in and pinched her nose. "That's not supposed to be fun."

"I'm home with my family for Christmas. I've never done that before." The girl knew it was coming and her smile widened a bit. "It's nice."

The last words got right to her mom. She gave her a warm smile and grabbed her as she sniffled. "You're did this on purpose you brat." She leaned back and pinched at her nose again.

The girl nodded. "Yeah, but it's true anyway."

The woman gave a heavy sigh and shook her head. "My, but you are daddy's little girl." Anna didn't know it, but the first time her father had told her mother he loved her had ended in almost exactly the same way. Lily flushed a little, Anna looked confused, but pleased.

"Okay. I guess." Anna found herself scratching her head on that one. Her Uncle had said similar things before as well. "I guess everyone seems to think so. I don't get it."

Lily found herself chuckling. There was a moment of bittersweet pull on her conscience. "How could I have doubted?" She looked at the girl's back. She could see her reflection in the mirror just behind her computer as she turned it off and closed it up. Her hand moved up to correct the hair over her face. As her eyes focused on her own reflection, she caught herself doing the same thing. The woman's gut twisted as she looked down at what she was doing. "I never should have asked her that. I can't believe I was so..." She stopped muttering to herself as her daughter turned back towards her.

The girl moved up beside her and sat down on a stool. "That's going to have to boil right? Might as well get on to the next one while we wait." She looked up at her and smiled.

Lily returned the smile. "Right. I suppose we should."

OooOOooOO

Harry was munching on a gingerbread cookie and sitting on the couch with his sister. Their parents were elsewhere in the home. The house was large, and they were locked away in the master bedroom having sex thinking the children were occupied and unaware. Neither of the twins could hear them.

Anna scratched the side of her head and shifted about. "At least they're getting it out of the way now. I hate it when they do it right when we go to sleep. I have trouble sleeping before they're done and some nights it's taken a while."

Harry nodded. "You made a real mess I hear." It didn't bother him, he could tell it made his sister a little uncomfortable. They were both empathic, and sex was an emotional experience for both of their parents. They really enjoyed it. Neither of the adults knew it, but they couldn't hide it when the children were home with them.

"Yeah. Wasn't much fun." The girl was glad for a distraction. "We can't trust the Ministry. I don't think they care much for either of us. Those in power see us as a threat."

"Well, you did destroy a village. I don't think they're all that worried about me." He narrowed his eyes at her a little.

"You'd be wrong." The girl looked forward and seemed thoughtful. "We shouldn't trust them."

"What are we supposed to do?" The boy shook his head and seemed a bit bemused. "Fight everyone?"

"We are not wizards. Obey the laws of magic concerning magic. To us, they are the muggles. They do not command the Force, so they cannot control it." The girl shook her head.

"Anna, what's this about?" The boy looked surprised and a little irate with her.

"Harry, I am training you to found an order. One that is to serve all sentient life, to protect, and promote peace. Not just among wizards." The girl gave him a rather smug looking smirk. "We cannot afford to let them take control of us and bind our power by their laws. I do not intend to hide from the Muggles forever. It's not fair to them, and some of who both we, and those who will come after us, must find to grow will live among them."

The boy seemed to relax and calm a great deal. "What do you mean?"

The girl put her hand on his shoulder. "There is no such thing as separate but equal. The wizards will seek to control us, to keep themselves on top. Our goal is not to dominate them, but to make sure they do not control what we must build. It is not their place. They will not agree with that."

"I think I get it. So how do we go about doing this?" Harry seemed more open, but still cautious.

"When you use magic, obey the laws of magic. When you use the force, obey the laws of the force." She chuckled and shook her head. "Right now. This is just legal haggling. We're rich enough to keep that end going for quite some time. When the fight comes up, we'll spend a bit of time in court. Even if we lose, we'll buy quite a bit of time with it. Once we reach seventeen, it will be much easier to get out of their grip. We must be cautious until then, they're poking around, looking for their chance."

The boy hung his head. "I take it you think this is soon."

"Probably. I ended up butting heads with Rufus Scrimgour over that mess with the House Elves. He's the head Auror, he'll be the Minister of Magic one day." She growled a little. "He'll be trouble in the future. He doesn't think we should be so strong, and that we should be controlled. Me in particular, yes. It won't take long for him to figure you out as well. He already suspects."

The boy hung his head. "Great. I think I get where you're going with this."

The girl nodded. "We need to use politics. A war with the wizards is out of the question. There aren't enough of us to fight them all. Won't be in our lifetimes likely." The girl glanced at him, hopeful he could handle things. "We also can't let them slap chains on us, or push us around. Azkaban would not be a good place to put any Force user. Their instinct is to control us. Use us for their own ends. We've got a lot of work ahead of us, and it will be in our lives until long after the demise of Voldemort."

"What are our ends?" The boy leaned into her shoulder a little.

"I just told you. Start the order. You were never meant to be the only Jedi. I do hope you've realized this by now. We are not wizards. Just as the muggles can't use magic, and have no say in wizarding law, the wizards have no gift for the Force, and cannot control us. This will take time and patience, padawan. It is not a goal we will reach in the near future. Still, we must prepare. Events are already in motion and how we handle things now can be very important to the future. Be mindful. The people of this world are ready to come into the Force. The need for the Jedi is greater, and more urgent than it seems. The Force will come to them regardless. From what I read, Warlocks were just the beginning of this. I believe the will of the Force has brought me here, to this place. I believe I must rebuild what I once destroyed."

The boy nodded. "I see." He looked over his shoulder. Their parents were done.

Anna looked a little relieved as the sound of the showers running could be heard through in the pipes in the walls. She tensed up and cringed. "Uh. Not again."

"Go dad." Harry gave a small chuckle. He looked over at his sister's sullen frown. "Oh, come on now. They love each other, and really enjoy it."

Anna nodded and glowered. "Yeah. I'm not mad at them. Still, it's our parents. Gross. Couldn't we have aged them a little before we brought them back? You know, take a little of the edge off?"

Harry laughed and shook his head. "Well, they did only just have their first children two years ago."

Anna nodded and smirked at him. "Noticed that did you?"

The boy shrugged. "Of course. I wonder if they know yet?"

The girl shrugged. "Not sure. We'll tell them later if you like. Might be fun?"

Harry seemed to think about it. "I'm not so sure it's such a good idea."

The girl nodded. "You're probably right. I'll tell Mom later when it's just the two of us. One of those bonding moments. We had a few of those earlier today."

Her brother shook his head. "I don't think you're supposed to plan that sort of thing."

OooOOooOO

Anna was grinning at her mother. "Hi." The woman was standing behind the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee in her hands. She didn't usually drink coffee in the mornings.

The woman perked up and tried to look better than she was feeling. She'd felt ill when she woke up and gotten sick. She was still feeling a bit queasy and looked a bit bleary eyed. She was drinking coffee because it masked the coppery taste in her mouth. Tea just tasted wrong when she got that feeling in the past. "Oh. Good morning dear."

The little redhead sat down on one of the stools opposite the woman and set down a small jar. She cocked her head and grinned. "Here."

Her mother blinked. "What's this?"

The girl's grin became a bit wider. "It will make you feel better."

The woman frowned at her. "I'm not drinking it if I don't..."

"It's morning sickness. You're pregnant." The girl pushed the bottle forward. "About seven weeks or so. You're not going to get rid of it with going out jogging every morning like you've been I'm afraid. It's only going to get bigger. You weren't doing it this summer when we left I noticed."

"Where did you get this?" The woman lifted up the bottle. It was a small glass container that she gripped between two fingers. "You're not supposed to be brewing up potions."

The girl shrugged. "I know. This is a tonic though. Doesn't require incantations or a wand."

The woman growled. "Oh. Right." She should have known that, and consoled herself by convincing herself she was just finding out if the girl knew. It was the right color and viscosity. "I'm not pregnant. I've just come down with something." She opened the bottle, found it smelled as it should as well. She put the stopper back in and set it down in front of her.

The girl thumped her head on the counter. "Nuts. I owe Harry a Galleon."

This caught the woman by surprise. "What? Why?"

"I thought you already knew, but weren't saying anything to anyone. He said you've got no idea." The girl lifted her head up and sighed. "You'll feel better in a half hour if you drink that."

The woman looked irate, her state hadn't left her in the best mood. "I am not."

The girl shook her head. "I can tell."

Her mother crossed her arms and leaned across the counter. "How?"

Anna blinked. "I can feel both of you."

"I'm not." The woman turned her head away and sat back.

"Drink that and you'll know for sure in half an hour. It won't do anything if I'm wrong." The little redhead smiled up at her mother.

Lily grumbled and chugged the bottle. "Fine."

"If you want to find out, just ask me, or Harry, and we can tell you what sex it will be." Anna turned about and walked out of the kitchen to sit on the couch and watch wizarding programming.

Lily groaned and sipped at her coffee. "Oh. It's going to be a long day." The girl seemed convinced she was right, and she was going to be inside with her all day.

OooOOooOO

"Oh. Good morning dear. I'm glad to see you're feeling better." James Potter kissed his rather zoned out wife on the cheek as he walked by her in the kitchen. She was holding a cup of long since cold tea in one hand, and leaning against the counter with the other.

She shook her head and seemed to notice him. "Oh. Hello James." Her voice was a little lost for a moment.

The man seemed to notice her state. "All right. What did she do now?" He seemed curious and a little amused.

"Huh? No. She's fine dear. I'm just, a little out of it today." She smiled at him and adjusted his collar. "It was a hectic morning."

"I'm glad to hear it. I've got to admit she's got me a little nervous. I almost expect the Ministry to beat down our door at any moment." The man kissed her on the cheek. "You should get some rest then. You looked awful this morning."

She nodded and smiled at him, she'd not really been paying much attention to what he'd said. "Right. That's not a bad idea." She walked away and her smile fell away to a rather neutral expression. "I'm going to have to make some more." She turned about and walked into the living room right by her confused husband.

"I thought you were going..." She moved right past him and picked up her pace. He looked a bit surprised to see her jog out into the living room and hop over the couch. "Nevermind then. Wonder what's gotten into her?"

Anna watched her mother land next to her on the couch. There wasn't much on in the morning over the holidays. Harry was out and about again, and she was still grounded. "Oh. Hi. Feeling better are we?"

The woman had a huge smile on her face and shook her arms. "Much. Tell me."

The girl returned the grin. "A girl. Just one this time."

James poked his head out of the kitchen and looked confused as he took a cup of coffee from Kreacher. "Thank you." The house elf moved away and went about his business. "Women." She seemed quite pleased and was talking to Anna. He shook his head and smiled as he went back about his day.

OooOOooOO

Harry was standing next to the door to his home. The terms of Anna's punishment kept her isolated. He couldn't have anyone over for a few more days. It was mid afternoon, and pretty much everyone was having lunch at their own house. He was a bit dirty, but in good cheer. "Oh hello."

There was a House Elf standing next to him. It looked up and licked his lips. "I er..."

He opened the door and waved his arm. "Well, it's a bit cold. Come on in." The Elf followed him in and glanced around playing with his hands. The boy looked down at the creature and grinned. "What brings you here? Who are you?"

"I am Dobby, Sir. You are Harry Potter?" The creature looked nervous.

The boy nodded. He couldn't feel any hostility, and the Elf seemed nervous. "Yes. That's right."

"Yes. I am to serve you, Sir." The House Elf bowed before him in a shaky manner.

Harry looked confused, then irate. "Anna! Anna!" He turned and almost ran into her.

"Yes?" She had a pleasant smile on her face.

"What is this?" The boy jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the quivering creature.

"Your House Elf." The girl shrugged and looked over his shoulder at Dobby. "Hello. I was wondering when you'd show up. It's been a few days. I do hope it wasn't too much trouble putting everything in order."

The boy rubbed at his temples. "Why do I have a House Elf?"

"Yes. Well, he was a great hero during the war. They called him Dobby, Last to Fall." The girl nodded. "He was included in the terms of surrender I'm afraid. You can't refuse it."

"What am I supposed to do with him?" The boy looked a bit irate.

"Put him with Kreacher. They'll get along all right." The girl shrugged. "Welcome, Dobby." She waved him over. He crouched and cowered over to her side, but didn't dare touch her. "Kreacher can show him the ropes and all." She rested her hand on the House Elf's shoulder and he jumped and squeaked a bit.

The boy sighed. "Hello, Dobby. I'm afraid I wasn't expecting you."

"Dobby is sorry!" The creature looked horrified and threw it's fist at it's own face. Anna snagged both of his wrists and he looked up at her in shock.

"Stop that. You're not permitted to hurt yourself here. He's a celebrated hero among his people. He used to work for the Malfoys. Trust me, Harry. He's better off here. They actually sing songs about his bravery and loyalty. He deserves better."

The creature looked confused. "Musn't speak so of the..."

The girl glanced down at him and smirked. "He, is your master now. You've nothing to fear from the Malfoys. There's nothing they can do about it. You'll find this home is far kinder than the one you left."

Dobby looked up at the boy with wide eyes and licked his lips. "Dobby is...very pleased to be here, Mr. Harry Potter."

Harry hung his shoulders a bit and nodded. "All right then. Come on. I'll introduce you to Kreacher. You'll be working with him I suppose."

OooOOooOO

James Potter sat next to his daughter on the couch. "Where did you get that ribbon trap?" He looked quite pleased and had strips of thin colorful ribbons crossing his chest and hanging from his shoulders. His hair was a bit messy, and a few bits and strands were still hanging from his head. He put his arm around her and had a wide grin on his face.

"I've got connections, why?" She was chuckling at him and looking at the mirror.

He shook her shoulder. "Well, so do I."

"Yes. I'm afraid you'll find Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus are a bit out of practice. I'm going to cream you if you try it. I know it was you who reversed the gravity in my room last night." The girl looked rather smug. "I woke up on the ceiling this morning."

"What? You don't think us old hacks can take a young hack like you then?" He seemed amused and looked up and away from her.

"You've no shot." The girl shook her head and looked haughty.

The man blinked in surprise. "Well, I've heard that before." He had, it was a little jarring.

"What are you up to? You've been stuck in here for two days. Must be awful." He squeezed her a little in his arm as he said it.

The redhead shrugged. "Just watching television. There's not really anything on though."

Her father nodded. "Yes. I'd noticed. I almost miss work when there's nothing to do sometimes."

Anna chuckled. "Well, you could always..."

The man squeezed her again. "I said almost."

His daughter nodded and looked amused. "What are you up too?"

"Your mother is upstairs watching her Soaps, I hate them, and you're not watching them. So I figured I'd come sit here and bother you. Until I got to the Hallway that is."

The teen shook her head. "Seems I only delayed the inevitable then."

"Ah. You're just as much of a brat as your mother, you know that? I'm going to get you back for this you know." He squeezed her again and gave her a fake looking snarl.

"Oh. I suppose I should make plans to counter then." She seemed pleased.

James Potter was already plotting against her. "Hmm. I'll think of something."

His daughter shrugged. "I'm sure you will."

He seemed to remember. "Oh yes. Would you mind telling me why your mother thinks your owl can talk?"

The girl looked up and shrugged. "Because he can."

The man nodded once and shook her shoulder. "Oh. Of course."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter had been busy with her own thoughts as of late. She'd not even read the coverage of the end of the war, she'd been avoiding for a time. It wasn't something she'd enjoyed much, and she wanted to be away for a few days, she could afford the time considering she wasn't going anywhere. Still, she knew she needed to know. She lifted the paper up while stretched out on the couch. They now had two House Elves, so there weren't any chores to do. It was more of a punishment than she'd first thought, she had nothing to do but read, watch the broadcasts, and listen to music. Dobby and Kreacher were sharing a room that now had two of each seat. Sleeping arrangements worked out well. Kreacher preferred under the bed, while Dobby liked the foot more.

"Oh. That sociopath." Anna frowned as she read over the article her parents had seen about her in the paper. "No wonder they were so upset." It was written by one Rita Skeeter. It was worded to make it sound like she'd slaughtered thousands of them, and vaporized most of the village. Her tactic had become blatant intimidation at the end. They had to feel death breathing down their own necks to back off. It was the reason she'd used the incantation for the dragon slave, not as any sort of personal joke, but as way to frighten Tinglebum even more. She had felt his will break.

The worst part was seeing the pictures. They moved, and showed a considerable amount of her hacking elves and tossing large things about. Another showed her blowing the Great Hall out of existence. The death of the House Elf elder she'd speared and tossed through a window repeated in it's own little picture.

Something caught her attention below the story. It was the bottom half of the paper, below the war coverage. "Mysterious masked vandal destroys observation tower and important Hogwarts Artifiact?" Her eyebrow raised, and she read on. Her mood shifted in an instant. The cup was destroyed, it was gone already.

"What? How?" The girl finished the article. It was rather sparse with any sort of details. The identity of the twisted melted lump of gold in the picture was confirmed. Another of the smoking ruins of the observatory was next to it.

She lowered her paper to see her mother sitting next to her sipping on a cup of tea. "Did you learn anything?"

The girl growled as she looked at the rag. "Yeah. Don't trust Rita Skeeter. That gossip mongering hag has a talent for making things sound as bad as they can, and she takes great glee in doing it. Horrible creature."

Lily choked on her tea for a moment and started coughing. She looked a bit horrified. "What?"

"I met her once, she sneaked into a hospital wing after I got hurt before Harry went back to get you to get to me after that mess with the vampires. She's an untrustworthy woman, and a gossip hound who twists the truth to make it tell the story she wants you to hear. Oooh. That woman annoys me."

Lily chuckled. "You don't like her story I take it?"

The girl nodded. "And I don't like her." She held it up and frowned at it. "She makes it sound like I burned the whole village to the ground, and slaughtered half the House Elves in England! It was only a hundred and forty two, out of a force of something like Ten thousand. I had to get to that jerk Tinglebum and make him surrender before he called a larger force from service. I did as little damage as I could to do that."

Her mother sighed and pointed at the picture of the Elder getting speared in the chest. "As little as possible?"

The girl nodded. "Old men have a habit of making new wars for young men to die in. Every Elder I killed may have saved thousands of Elves further down the road. I could make a bunny that can kill, I'd rather not. It only would have escalated things, and I'd have all of the rather large population of House Elves in England after me by now. I broke his will, not with the lives of young soldiers, but his fellow council members. It was the fastest and most effective way to gain victory, and get them to leave me and the Bunnies alone."

Lily shook her head and looked serious. "You did brew up your own personal army."

The girl shook her head. "No I didn't. The bunnies won't do that for me again. They aren't all my slaves and servants. They won't all follow me into any war I feel like starting you know. We were allies, I don't control them. They allowed me to command them because we were facing the same enemy and I have enough of their trust because I'm their creator. They are their own race, and only the three I made are more pets than servants. They will follow any instructions given to them that won't hurt someone. They're minions, and I'm afraid I've got no more control over the lot of them than you do anymore. They will fight to defend themselves, but they won't get involved with a conflict that doesn't threaten them directly I'm afraid."

The woman was impressed, but a little scared. The look on her daughter's face kept her calm, the girl looked like she didn't like talking about it much. "Well. I'd better not find out about anything else like this on the front page again."

The girl nodded. "Sorry, it kind of swept up on me. I didn't have any free time really once the mess started. I'm just glad it's over now. I've got enough to worry about at Hogwarts without it."

Lily seemed to think she was talking about her studies, and nodded with a small smile on her face as she turned to look at the program playing on the mirror.

OooOOooOO

James Potter was tying a letter to the leg of his owl. He went to the window with the bird on his arm and sent it off. He watched it fly off with a smirk on his face.

"Oh. Hello." He looked over at Anna's owl, remembering what she'd told him. His face fell, a large screen was set up in front of their cages, the little owl was projecting slides and pointing it's claw at the fabric. The larger owl was seated on it's rear on the floor and watching in a dazed manner.

"Pay attention Hedwig. We've got to be ready for tonight, the phazonic ionizor will create the energy we need to...Oh. Good evening. It's nice to meet you. You must be the father then. Mr. Potter." Carrot seemed to notice the man who hadn't noticed their corner yet.

The man gave them a rather blank stare. "So, um. What is it you're doing there?"

Harry's owl looked up at him. "Narf! We're takin over the world! Ha ha...or maybe it was washing all the china in Italy?"

Carrot puffed out his chest. "Ahem. Yes. Do not fear, we shall be kind and merciful rulers! With my genius, I can lead the world into a new age of peace and prosperity!"

The man gave a rather dazed nod. "Oh. Right then. Good luck with that." He turned and walked away. He passed by his son's owl and it turned it's head to follow him across the room and down the stairs.

"Poit!"

He bumped into his wife at the top of the stairs. He opened his mouth and started following after her.

She looked at him and smiled. "She says Hagrid got them for them on their birthday when they turned eleven."

He seemed to calm. "Oh. That explains it then."

OooOOooOO

Cornelius Fudge shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

Rufus looked shocked. "Surely, you can't be..."

Fudge frowned at him and he went silent. "Have you gone mad?"

The towering Scot growled and glared at him. "She must be controlled. She is dangerous."

The Minister of Magic gave a heavy sigh and slumped down into his chair. "Perhaps."

His head Auror stepped forward and put his fist on his desk. "Why not? We can't just let her wander about unchecked."

"For starters, the threat of war." Fudge shrugged. "She's got powerful friends, and dangerous enemies. She's world famous as a musician. Not even we can erase her existence anymore. She can't just vanish. People will ask where she went."

Rufus had a dark look on his face. "We need to contain this. She destroyed an entire village, one of our allies. She would not be the first person to vanish without a trace either."

The rotund man leaned back in his chair and looked unimpressed. "I'm afraid that the courts have agreed with her legal representative. Her family hired a Goblin lawyer a few days ago. I'm afraid she's got grounds for a good defense. One we won't be able to silence."

"Defense?" Scrimgour roared and stood upright. "She..."

"Yes. The bunnies requested her help it seems. She was acting as an organizing general for their defense against extermination. Her wand was sent to the court, and no record of any illegal spells cast was found. On top of that, the Elves are the ones who declared war. She was named specifically in that. The courts ruled that she did indeed have a right to defend herself." The hefty Minister shook his head again and rubbed at his chin. "I'm afraid given the circumstances, we can do little more than be amazed she survived. Even if she did use her wand, there are enough people asking us why we didn't step in that it's not worth dragging it out."

"Why didn't we?" The Auror growled and jabbed his finger at his superior. "We've got photos. We can prove she was using magic, and well outside..."

Fudge nodded and shifted about in his chair. "Yes. We do. I'm afraid they're rather useless given the circumstances. We do nothing, not now. There's too much political pressure involved, and our legal grounding is shaky at best. Especially considering the verdict the courts presented. We'll get involved when the time is right. Right now would only cause a huge mess, no matter what the outcome. We'll get our opportunity I'm sure. Patience is our best option."

Scrimgour nodded. "I see. She's getting stronger, Sir. I agree we have time to act, but it must be soon. If we wait too long, it will be costly. That girl is dangerous, maybe even more than 'you know who'. I suspect her brother may be almost as powerful. I read the reports about what happened on that train. This must be contained."

Fudge had the back of his chair facing him. "I'll keep that under consideration. For now, you leave that girl alone. She's too hot right now, let things cool off a bit before we start dealing with her, and that brother of hers. You're not the only one who has been keeping an eye on that situation."

The towering Scotsman seemed to realize it was time for him to leave and turned to walk out of the room looking a bit calmer. Fudge was right and he knew it, but he was relieved that it seemed the man was planning to do something about it.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter gave a heavy sigh. "You're in a good mood." Anna was cheerful and almost skipping about the house. It was a few hours after their morning practice, the only time the redhead was allowed to even exit the home. There was a heavy layer of snow on the ground outside, and the boy was lounging in front of the mirror watching a news program.

"Yes. Things have gone well, considering. The war is over. I'll have a bit of free time now and then again when we get back. It's rather nice." His sister paused her skipping about and leaned over the back of the couch. "I'm not grounded anymore either! I haven't seen anyone but you and our parents for more than a moment in the doorway in four days.

"What are you doing?" The boy glanced up at her.

"Huh? Nothing really." She hopped over the couch. "Kreacher is making breakfast with Dobby in the kitchen. So I figured I'd come out here and annoy you. I've not had much opportunity as of late. How is everyone by the way?"

"Fine." The boy looked away from her.

Anna gave a sigh. "Well, you've clammed up. What's going on?"

The boy shrugged. "They've been asking about you. They all seem impressed. I'm getting a little tired of having to tell them I wasn't there."

His sister gave a small nod. "Yes. Get used to it. The wizards have seen the Force unleashed. Not on them, but they have reason to worry. We're something new, something different, something to be feared, something to put under their control."

"Feared?" The boy didn't like the way that sounded.

"Human nature, brother. Be excellent to each other, but be aware of what's going on around you as well." The girl shook her head and smirked. "There are those in the wizarding world who will see us as a threat to their power, and seek to control us, or destroy us. That will happen regardless of what path we choose."

Harry had a serious frown on his face. "I think I get what you're saying."

The girl gave a small sigh. "Well, you will understand one day. I'm sure of it."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter walked into a rather quiet room and sat down with everyone's eyes on them. They were in the Diggory place, Cedric had the largest bedroom aside from Harry, Anna, and Marci. The Von Camp place was out of the question. Anna wanted to be away from her house. She'd gotten off early, her parents weren't angry about what she'd done. They were afraid, and worried, but it had eased a bit and they'd let her go. Her mother seemed to be more upset she'd taken so long to say anything about it to them.

She was also aware that her father had talked the woman into it.

As it was everyone in the neighborhood was looking at her with wide eyes. Brian and Mark were backed against the wall of the room. Noriko had a huge grin on her face and was bursting with excitement. Marci was sitting very still, and seemed to be shaking a little. Cedric looked much the same as the other boys, but hadn't backed away from her.

Lee Jordan seemed more impressed than anyone. "Wow. My parents would have grounded me for life!"

The girl crossed her arms and gave a small sigh. "Before anyone asks, I'm not answering any questions about the war. I'd rather just forget about the whole mess. It wasn't any fun at all."

Noriko looked surprised, so did Marci. "No fun?" The Asian girl spoke up.

Anna shook her head. "Not one little bit. It was awful, the whole mess. I don't want to talk about it."

Lee seemed confused and a little disappointed.

Cedric gave a small nod. "Yes. Glad you're all right. It is over, right?"

The redhead nodded. "Yeah. Done and over with. I've nothing to worry about with the House Elves, or the Drow." She gave him a withering smile and seemed to relax a little more.

The Jordan boy spoke up, Mark and Brian tensed up. "Are you sure? I heard it helps to talk about things sometimes?"

The girl gave him a small frown and shook her head. "No. I'm afraid this isn't like that."

Noriko kicked her feet. "My parents read about it in the paper. They say you helped the bunnies. We've got a couple that live in our yard now."

"Yeah. Mom is totally into them. She says the lawn should be beautiful next year. They're supposed to be good for stuff like that." Brian spoke up and nodded at her. "I gave them a baseball bat and a sledge hammer the other day. Those things are awesome."

Mark flushed and nodded. "They're all over the place. We've even got a bunch at the school now."

Anna grinned. "Yeah. They are pretty useful."

Cedric nodded. "Anna. I'm never, ever following you into another dark cramped place, ever again. I just wanted you to know that."

She looked at him, smiled and reached out to shake his shoulder. "Hmmm. That's not true."

"I really mean it." He looked quite firm and clenched his fists.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I know, but it's still not true."

He looked at Harry. "Is she pulling my leg?"

The boy shrugged back at him. "How should I know?"

"Is it true? You killed a spider the size of my house?" Mark was gripping the front of his shirt.

Harry chuckled and shook his head. "No. It wasn't that big. Maybe half as big?" He looked at his sister.

Anna thought about it and nodded. "Yeah. That sounds about right."

Noriko narrowed her eyes at him. "You said you weren't there."

"Well, I came back with Cedric. Remember? He was there for the spiders with Ron and Hermione." Harry looked like his skin was crawling a little.

The older boy shuddered and shook his head. "Ooh. It was awful. Some of he smaller ones were as big as I am."

"Yeah. I wish I could have seen that." Brian looked excited about the idea.

"No you don't." Cedric frowned at him.

"Wow! You must have been really scared!" Marci chimed in. Noriko nodded in agreement.

The Diggory boy cocked his head a little and stiffened up his back. "Well. It wasn't that bad. Not really."

"Yeah. He took it rather well I thought." Harry shrugged and smiled at him.

"Not even when that one almost got you?" Mark was trying to not look all that impressed.

"Well, maybe a little." Harry glanced at Cedric as the older boy said it and pointed his thumb up a little. "Okay. I did get a bit worried for a moment when that happened."

Anna smiled up at him and sat on the edge of the bed. "See, I knew you'd get used to it."

He frowned at her and sat down on the end of his bed. "I still haven't."

OooOOooOO

Harry sighed as he shook Melvin by the shoulder. Pansy and Margaret were squealing a little as they rushed up to Anna and almost tackled her. She was more subdued, but it was obvious she was glad to see them. "Hey man. How has the holiday been?"

The drummer shrugged. "Well, it's not too bad." He nodded over at Sirius and Lissa. They were greeting their friends. "Pansy's staying at our place now."

Anna smirked as she noticed Lissa showing off a ring to her parents. Her mother hugged her and they rushed off towards the kitchen together. Her father slapped his friend on his shoulder, looked sullen in a joking manner, and pulled him towards the couch. She looked over her friends towards the pair and both girls turned back to smile at the two boys.

Harry grinned back. "Well, that's nice. Anna is right again it seems."

Melvin nodded. "We'll be here for Christmas. Your parents invited everyone over here this year."

The Potter boy started towards the stairs. "Yeah. That's what Dad said. Come on, have you heard the new Metal Rain album?"

Boggs nodded. "Yeah. It's pretty awesome though isn't it? We'll put it on, and play some cards. I've got my Battlemage deck with me."

Harry thought it was a good idea. "Excellent."

OooOOooOO

Pansy bounced a little on Anna's mattress on her knees. The three girls had all gone up to her room and were sprawled out across her very large mattress. "So. How was your holiday so far?"

"Yes. We've not heard from you since you wandered off with Cedric at school." Margaret stretched herself out and relaxed her body beside the redhead.

Anna was on her belly with her legs kicked up. "I'm fine. It's been wonderful since I came home. Odd considering I've been grounded. I admit it was a bit boring."

Pansy calmed a little and peered at her. "What happened? You just left."

"I ended the war, and came here. Since then I've been grounded." The redhead shrugged. She spoke up again before either could respond. "I'll talk about anything but the war, and Cedric Diggory."

Margaret gave a small sigh. "Who else is cute? Nothing interesting for miles. Kind of a shame."

"I guess Lee Jordan isn't too bad." Pansy shrugged.

"That blond boy that lives down the road looks a little nice. No brain though. I don't need an intelligent man, but he should be able to follow directions at least." Margaret looked up at her hands. "It's not one of those two that's distracting her."

Anna arched her eyebrow. "Distracting?"

Margaret rolled onto her side and propped her head up on her palm. "So. Who is the cutest boy in Hogarts?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Who cares?"

Pansy rolled her over with a playful push. "We do!"

Margaret chuckled. "Well, I think it's Marcus."

The brunette blinked. "Yeah. Flint does have a really great butt."

Anna snorted. "Hard to see through the pads. He's not bad looking. In good shape and all that."

Parkinson gave a small sigh. "I dunno. Reginal Cobbletop, or maybe Lewis Redding? I can't decide. Reginal has that long dark hair, but Lewis has a dreamy smile." She was flushed.

"Reginal, he's that sixth year in Ravenclaw? Hmmm. I suppose. Lewis though? Not bad, but I wouldn't say he's the cutest. His ears kind of stick out a bit." Margaret nodded.

"I think he's cute." Pansy shrugged and grinned at her.

Anna looked thoughtful and a little annoyed with the topic. "I'm kind of with Margaret on Lewis. He's cute, but not that cute." She seemed to realize that both girls were looking at her. She sighed and frowned. "I suppose it's my turn then?"

Pansy nodded. "We told. It's only fair that you do."

"Well, I don't really know. I never really thought about it much." The redhead let her head fall back again.

Margaret snorted. "No. We know the answer, and you just don't want to admit it."

"Yeah. Out with it." Pansy used her fingers to tickle the redhead's exposed belly for a moment.

Anna burst into laughter and curled up. "All right! Jeeze! I'm thinking..." She sat up and scratched her head. She had to pick someone. "Um... wait... hmm..."

The raven haired girl poked her side. "Any answer but the one you're thinking, huh?"

The redhead whipped her head around to stick her bottom lip out at her a little. "Grrr."

Margaret smiled. "I'm right aren't I?"

Anna furrowed her brow. "No. I'd say Clause, but he's not there anymore. Hmm. I'd say the cutest boy in school..."

Pansy leaned in with Margaret.

Anna relaxed. "Matthew Robinson." Another sixth year boy in Ravenclaw. She'd never spoken with him, but had noticed him before.

"You like him then?" Margaret grabbed her shoulder and leaned on her.

"I thought this was about how cute he was? He is, but that doesn't mean I'm interested. There are a few boys at Hogwarts who don't look bad. It's not like we're there with a bunch of trolls." Anna kicked her legs and looked back and fourth between them.

Pansy sat back. "All right then. What famous person are you looking forward to meeting the most?"

Anna laid herself back across the mattress and put her hands behind her head. She usually tensed up and worried about being in that kind of situation when she realized what she was doing. This time, she relaxed and sighed. "There's lots of people I think I'd like to meet really." She decided to just go with it and grinned. "How about Allen Maxwell? I've not seen him in a movie I didn't like."

Margaret grinned and put her hands up to her chest. "The American actor? Wow. That would be nice! He is so adorable!" He was in his twenties, and had appeared in several movies over the past few years. Most of them were action movies that featured him shirtless at some point. He'd taken a few dramatic roles that had gone over well also. "Anna is right though, there's lots of famous people I'd like to meet. Who most though? Hmm..."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was sitting on a park bench. The snow had melted, but it was still forty degrees outside. She had a long dark green dress made of heavy fabric on, a winter coat, a pair of large gold tinted sunglasses, and was holding a newspaper up in front of her face. Her hair was done up on top of her head and the only part of her visible around the front and back pages. She was finished with her shopping, and her family was still milling about in the stores, finishing up their own. Her bunnies were lazing about behind her in the grass a short distance away. Her packages were all inside them.

There was nothing of real interest in the news, the war coverage was over, and it was pretty much devoted to the Holidays, and events that were going on because of it. It was still a week and a half until Christmas.

Someone walked up next to the bench. The girl ignored whoever it was, they were bustling about with something. She cocked her eyebrow when she realized there was a bit of sniffling going on accompanied by some rather unmelodious plucks on a stringed instrument.

The redhead glanced over without lowering her paper. It was an older girl, about nineteen. Her hair was dyed blue from blond, and she was sporting a leather jacket and a pair of jeans with tears across one knee. There were tears in her eyes, running her thick mascara. She didn't seem to care much, and looked over at her with a deep frown on her face. She was tall and slender and looked to be in a sour mood besides being sad. She set to work on what was in her lap, a rather busted up looking light pink guitar. There was a chunk missing from the bottom, newly broken off, the strings were a mess and she was bending one of the string adjusters back into place.

Anna didn't move, she realized the girl wanted her to leave. She very much wanted to be alone. The familiar sound of a portable amplifier came on. She started playing loud strong chords and making adjustments. The redhead sat still and started to smirk. "Well, what have we here?" The girl started to play, and the Potter girl was less surprised than she should have been. It was loud obnoxious metal, from and older band called The Scorpions. There had been a bit of drama last year, and they had broken up. The lyrics of the band were rather vulgar, and the girl was singing them at the top of her lungs. The song was pretty much about two people who licked each other into orgasm, and then had sex. They had a strong cult following, and kept just out of main stream. It had been a real mess, and a media circus, a lot of fans were angry.

The girl was growling as she finished the song. She'd expected the girl to have caught the hint by now.

"Had a bad day or something?" Anna spoke up but kept her barrier of newsprint in place. She was feeling a bit moody since the war. She needed to do something really nice for someone.

"Gee, ya think?" The girl almost started to play something else, but sat down on the edge of the bench farthest from her.

"Well, you're not bad. Better than Walter Hemingston, ugh, what a loser." The strange girl turned the page and didn't look over at her.

"Yeah? What would you know anyway? I'd like to be alone. Could you leave?" The older girl seemed a bit surprised. She was referring to one of the band members who played in The Scorpions. "Kind of hard being in a cover band for a group that isn't there anymore anyway. I guess."

"No. I'm afraid I can't leave. Why don't you just tell me about what the problem is since we both seem to be stuck here." Anna could sense the girl was relaxing a little bit. She wasn't being so aggressive, but still wanted her to leave.

"Fuck it. I got taken for a ride kid. What are you? Some kind of psychiatrist?" The older girl was curious about who she was sitting with. She looked to be a teen.

"How so?" Anna pushed her just a bit with the force. It didn't take much, she did want to say it out loud, but she was afraid too. The girl was probably on her way into a very long night of alcohol and crying alone.

"Fine. I found out the only reason my ex-boyfriend let me into his band was so he could fuck me. He said there's no chicks in The Scorpions, and girls suck on guitar. That dick-head Ronnie, I'm ten times better than him. He pretended to walk so that asshole could get into my pants." Tears were falling down her cheeks. She was looking at the pavement and leaning over her knees.

"Where?"

The girl blinked, the girl next to her sounded pissed. She answered more out of reflex than anything else. "The Tank. It's close to Knockturn Alley, just past it on the..." She looked over and frowned, the girl was wearing sunglasses and had the paper crumpled up in her lap. She stood up and pulled out a small phone from her pocket. "Rufus! Hi. Are you busy? I kind of need you for something. How fast can you be at The Tank? It's in Diagon Alley. Yeah, that wizarding place. Bring Steven with you will you? I've got something I want you to see." She paced about in front of the confused older girl. Rufus represented several wizarding bands, and had contact with the wizarding world through his old boss, so she knew Steven could get him there. His old boss had opened a doorway for him, and the wizarding worlds entertainers seemed pretty eager to ply their trade for a new audience. The Scorpions were one of several wizard bands that performed for Muggles. They'd been around and under the radar for years. "Just call him up and have him come get you. It will take you about five minutes." The girl paused to listen for a moment. "Yeah. Tell him I've solved his little problem."

The tall girl stood up and scratched her head. "Um, I think I'll..." The thirteen year old girl put her palm against her chest. "Hey. Come on..."

The girl whirled around and closed her phone. "Now you. Show me the low down dirty scumbag that says 'girls can't rock'?" She pulled off her glasses and frowned.

The girl looked down at her, became very dazed, and seemed to think on it a moment. "Whoa."

Anna smirked. "What's your name?" She snapped her fingers and her bunnies hobbled over to her side.

"Karen." The girl shook her head. "Hey, um...are you?"

Anna nodded. "Nice to meet you. Show me where I can find this place."

OooOOooOO

The bar went silent, the metal riff playing from inside stopped cold, and the chattering and hooting of a younger and mostly male crowd became quiet. A thirteen year old girl had just kicked the door down and pointed her finger at the stage. "You! The low down dirty son of a bitch that says 'girls can't rock'! I challenge you." She had her guitar hanging from her back and a mean glare in her eyes.

An older balding man hobbled over. He looked mean and grizzled. "Hey. You're too young to..."

The redhead lifted her hand and he stopped cold. "We're fine. We'll leave when our business is finished. We're not here to drink."

The man repeated it, and walked away. Karen squeaked in surprise, she was behind her, looking rather flustered and wondering why she was going along with it. "What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?" It was right about that point, she remembered some of the other recent news about the girl. She also noticed the bar had gone very quiet.

Anna blinked as the girl became very relaxed. She let go of her hand, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah. That's him there."

Anna walked through the crowd at the stage, they parted in her wake. The older girl walked up at her side with a smirk on his face.

The lead singer of the band was looking down at her. He got a stupid cocky looking grin on his face. He started laughing. He had a guitar hanging from his waist and a pair of leather chaps over a pair of jeans. His shirt was off, and his torso was covered with body art. The man had blond hair down to his waist and a goatee that was only a little darker than his hair. "What? You think you're gonna prove you're better than Ronnie? You stupid bitch. It doesn't really matter if you are. There ain't no chicks in The Scorpions."

Anna was aghast at the horrible stereotype before her. "So girls can't rock?"

"No, don't be stupid. Name one." The guy stood up, and lifted his belt.

Karen shook her head and slapped her forehead. "Oh, I don't know. Anna Potter."

The meathead shook his long mane of permed blond hair and rubbed at his cheap looking goatee. "We both know that bitch is riding on her brother's back."

There was a gasp from the crowd. "Eddie! You idiot! That is Anna Potter." Ronnie had a frown on his face. He looked very nervous. He was a tall skinny pale skinned man with a black bowl cut. None of the band was older than twenty two or so.

The man shrugged. "So? What's she gonna do? Blow me up?" He made a series of explosion sounds and opened and closed his hands. He shook his head and chuckled.

"Stop posing. You had no idea who I was. Moron." The redhead growled and clenched her fist.

The man shrugged. "As for your offer, no way. I don't play with no kids. Heh."

Anna shrugged and waved her hand. "I'm not really asking." He was tossed off stage and hit the floor on his belly. The redhead strolled on stage and looked about at the rest of the band. "You. Off." She jerked her thumb at Ronnie. "I heard you playing when I came in. You've got no shot anyway."

Karen walked up the stairs to the stage, still making faces and putting her middle finger up at her former boyfriend. She didn't know what it would accomplish, but it was fun. "What are we doing?"

"You play, they can back you up if they want, and I'll do rhythm and vocals." The redhead shrugged.

The girl became rather pale and looked shocked. "You want to jam with me?"

Anna shrugged. "Yeah. Sure, come on. We'll do 'Serpent and the Frog'." It was extreme metal, very fast and difficult to play and kept with the theme of the cover band. The bass player and the drummer behind her both looked at each other. Neither one looked like they were willing to risk not doing it and pissing the girl off.

Karen nodded and started playing the song. Anna did her part and the crowd had relaxed and was back to hooting and hollering as they drank. The two band members she'd tossed were standing in front of the stage. Neither one looked happy, but the owner had let them know they were leaving if they did anything about it. All it took was a look and a shake of the man's head. He turned and smiled at two people who had just walked in. He stuck out his hand and walked over to them ignoring the scene in front of him.

By the time the pair had finished, they had gone through about five different songs. They stayed with the cover theme, and played a set of The Scorpions music. All of the songs were fast and hard but one.

Anna stopped after the fifth song. Karen had a huge grin on her face and was hopping up and down. She shook her head and smiled as she took the microphone into her hands. "Hey, Steve. I think Scorpions should have a chick in it. How about you?" She turned her eyes to see the girl look over at her in confusion, her cheer seemed to melt away, and her jaw dropped.

Steven Michal Johnson, the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of The Scorpions was walking onto the stage. "Hey. I think I might like the way that sounds. We'll give her a shot, have her come play a few sets. If she can keep doing what she was just doing, she's got a job." He stuck out his hand and grinned at the girl. He had long golden blond hair, and a smooth looking goatee. He looked to be about four or five years older than Karen. He was also built like a wrestler, and had tattoo art poking up onto his neck from his collar.

Karen was looking at him with wide eyes. "Oh my God." She looked at Anna and seemed to choke. "Did I get run over, or have a broom fall on my head, or something?"

"No. Rufus, could you tell the girl what she's just won?" Anna was really enjoying what she was doing.

"Yes. A recording contract with The Scorpions as the new lead guitarist. Given the events of last year, they're looking for a replacement to get started again." The balding man had one of his hands behind his back and smiled at her as he lowered a pair of sunglasses to look at her. "That is, if you're interested."

"Yeah. It was a shame we had to fire that asshole. We're better off for it, just missing a little bit. We're desperate to get back on the road again, and you're the best I've heard yet. We've been looking at cover bands. Seems we have quite a few." Steven smiled at the girl who hadn't yet moved. She was just looking at him.

"Hmm. We seem to have lost her." The blue haired girl turned her eyes towards Anna. The girl smiled at her. "Hey, the best part of all..." She turned to look and scowl at the two men still standing at the base of the stage. They were just staring, jaws hanging down and not doing anything but watch in shock. "Now there's a chick in The Scorpions."

Karen's grin returned and she took Rufus's extended hand. "Oh, Hell yes!"

Anna slapped Rufus and the girl on the shoulder. "I'm afraid my work here is done. I've got to go now. I want to get back before my parents realize I'm gone. Later. I'll see you around Karen. Have a good time." She waved and jogged out of the bar and back onto the alley.

Karen looked up at Rufus and Eddie. "Um, what just happened?"

The balding man smiled. "She's a very strange girl that one. If you want her to like you, just remember two things."

The blue haired girl and Eddie looked interested. "What's that?" Asked Eddie.

Rufus shrugged. "Be excellent to each other, and Party on dudes."

Eddie gave a cheerful grin and nodded. "Excellent."

The manager waved his hand. "Come on. We'll go someplace else and work out the details. I know a place nearby that makes great American style Pizza." He spread his hand out and grinned. "It's on me."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was standing in a dress shop with his mother. He was looking out the window with a smirk on his face in a rather dozed state. "It looks nice, Mom." He would have escaped with his sister if he didn't need to pick up something for Ron and Hermione still. They were the last two people on his list, which had grown quite a bit larger over the last year.

James looked bored and was almost drooling on top of a rack of clothes he was leaning on. "Yes. Very nice dear."

The woman's eyes turned towards the boy and she pushed on the back of his head a little. "Harry. You're not even paying attention."

The boy turned and smiled at her. "Sorry. Just got a little spaced for a moment." The woman was holding a very bright red dress with white trim up over herself. "It's nice. For the party I guess?"

"Yes. I was thinking I should get something nice. It is a bit bright though." She hung it back up and gasped as she pulled out the same dress in an almost maroon color. "Oh! This is much better."

Her husband shook his head to wake himself. "Sorry, Lily, you've lost us I'm afraid. Come on son, let your mother have fun here. I've still got a few more things to pick up myself."

The boy shrugged. "Well, I do need to pick up a few things still." He stood up and walked past his mother as she peered at the racks.

Lily gave a small sigh. She only had one more gift to by, and the shops would be open most of the day still. She almost protested, but still hadn't decided whether or not to buy the dress. "Yes. I suppose I'll catch up to you then."

OooOOooOO

Anna was jogging back from her little adventure with Karen. Her bunnies were keeping up behind her. She saw the park ahead of her and slowed down. Only to have someone grab her arm and pull her aside in a gentle manner.

"Oh! There you are! Maybe you can help me decide?" Lily pulled her into a store and turned her in front of her. She held up two dresses, one was a natural looking red and green gown, the other a velvet maroon dress with white trimming and a low cut neckline that would show a bit of the top of her cleavage. "For the Christmas party?"

The girl blinked. "Both. Wear that one to the party, and save that one for Dad."

Lily blinked. She looked down at the velvet dress and put it up against her. She cocked her head and seemed to just realize that one side of the skirt was cut up to the waist.

The girl spoke up from behind her. "I'm not seven you know. You can stop being so embarrassed. You should and you know it. It's very slimming."

Lily gave a small sigh. "Well, they are rather expensive. I'm not sure I want to get them both." She glanced down at her daughter. "I might never be able to wear it again. Oh, I've got to start thinking about maternity clothes soon."

Anna slapped her forehead with her palm. "I can't believe you just said that. As if you've got to worry about how much something like this costs? Just buy them, it's obvious you've got a use for them both. So what if you can't wear it again?"

The woman's features fell a little. "I know. Still. I guess you're right." She shook her hair off her shoulders. "I would look good in it wouldn't I?"

Anna nodded. "He'll stop like a deer in headlights. I promise."

The woman smirked. "Thank you dear. He didn't think much of it earlier."

Her daughter shrugged. "He's male. It'll be different when you're wearing it."

Lily gave a small chuckle. "Well, I see your point. Come on, we'll get a few things for ourselves while we're here as well."

Anna realized what she'd gotten herself into, but somehow, she didn't mind too much. "Sure."

OooOOooOO

TBC...

The Christmas Party.


	33. Chapter 33

A Matter of force.

Part 33

A Holiday to remember.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sitting in his room with Ron Weasley. They both had complete collections of Chocolate Frog cards, and had them spread out across the boy's bed. There was still a week to go before Christmas, and they were chatting about normal things for wizarding boys their age. Quidditch, racing brooms, comics, movies, and the things that fill up most boys free time.

Harry leaned in and slapped his friend on the arm."It's a bit strange. Muggles used to wear that style of hat a long time ago. I saw them all over the alley when we went the other day. All sorts of people were wearing them." It was a bit odd to see people dressed like he and his sister did as well. There were even a few people wearing Jedi style robes. He didn't bring it up and was amused at his friend's reaction.

Ron shook his head and his jaw dropped as his eyes went a bit wide. "Really?"

Harry smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah. All over the alley. Hats like yours. Even grown ups."

The redhead seemed confused. "Older people?"

The other boy scratched his scar and nodded. "Mostly really. Older boys and grown ups. There were a few kids and teenagers wearing them as well now that I think about it. It wasn't everyone, but I'd never seen anyone wearing one before you."

"That's weird. I guess it does look good. Think I started some sort of trend?" Weasley looked like he wasn't quite grasping it. "Me?"

His friend seemed a little amused at the reaction. "Seems so. You do have your own Chocolate Frog card after all." Everyone who appeared in the set got a complete set of all the cards printed in the last hundred years.

Ron looked about. "Isn't Cedric Diggory here?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. He hangs around Anna more than me. I hang around with Brian and Mark down the road most of the time. He hangs around us too, but not when she's around."

Ron seemed confused. "You think he likes her or something?" He was having trouble imagining that.

Harry gave a small sigh. "He's terrified of her."

The Weasley boy's face fell. "Huh?"

The Potter boy gave a small shrug. "...and he likes her."

Ron scratched his head. "I don't get it."

"What makes you think I do?" the Potter boy shrugged again. "Don't even go there, Ron. Do you have any idea what she'd do to me if I told anyone about something like that? Don't forget she's psychic. She doesn't have to be here to find out later on."

The redhead lost interest. "Oh. Right."

The other boy looked towards his door. "Come on. You want to see if I can get my dad to let us fly about in the yard on brooms for a bit?"

OooOOooOO

Lily Potter was somewhat stunned. She was standing in the living room with wide eyes. Kreacher was carrying a tray full of sandwiches with Dobby behind him with a tray of drinks. They both moved around her towards the children sitting about in the sitting room. They were all watching her daughter sing a song she'd never heard before.

Twenty minutes ago, she'd asked her daughter to unpack the Christmas decorations from the boxes her father had brought up from the basement and down from the attic. She'd gone into the kitchen to have herself a cup of tea and look over the paper.

Anna had her guitar and was playing a tune. "Rockin around the Christmas Tree, have a happy holiday..."

The other children were enjoying and looking about the room with cheerful grins.

The woman gave a rather dazed looking smirk as she shook her head. The entire room was decked out. The tree was set up and decorated, garland and holly lined the walls, the stair rails, and lots of small statues, wreaths, candles, electric lights, and candies were set up about the room.

Anna finished her song and her mother clapped with the other children. The woman stepped forward to catch her daughter's attention. "Anna, I didn't expect you to decorate the room."

Noriko was bouncing on the couch. "You should have seen it! All the decorations just flew out of the boxes and put themselves up! It was so cool!"

Ginny was sitting next to her and nodded with a huge grin of her own. The pair seemed to be getting on well. "It didn't take but a minute! Anna's been playing Christmas music for us."

Cedric and Marci both looked to be in a good mood as well. Lily smirked at the boy behind his back and turned towards her daughter.

"A Christmas album?" Lily had been able to hear the songs from the kitchen while the House Elves prepared lunch. She'd assumed Anna would enlist the help of her friends in unloading the boxes and decorating the room. It would keep them busy for an hour or two. The girl had started singing a few minutes after she'd left them, and she'd just come to serve lunch and make sure it wasn't too much of a disaster. "Very good dear. It looks better than I'd hoped." What she found was quite tasteful, and very warm looking.

Her husband walked in from the back yard with a grin on his face. Ron and Harry came in behind him and looked about. They were all red faced from the cold and looked very cheerful.

Ron arched his eyebrow and looked at his friend. "How long were we out there?"

Harry scratched his head. "I dunno, an hour maybe?"

James Potter walked up to his wife, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. She looked surprised and flushed. "Really, James." All of the children were looking away with a little discomfort.

Her husband chuckled and pointed over her head. There was a sprig of mistletoe hanging above her. She flushed and moved out from under it while taking a playful swat at him with her fingers.

Harry sat down next to Cedric. "We heard music."

Ron nodded. "Yeah. What's going on?"

The older boy shrugged. "Yeah. Anna put up all the decorations at once, and she's been singing Christmas songs that she wrote."

Anna shrugged. They were all well established classics in her past life. White Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, Silver Bells, I'll be Home for Christmas, Run, Run Rudolph, and just about any other you might think of. "I suppose we should do a Holiday Album next year. It's a bit late for this year I'm afraid. It'll take a bit of time just to get the band to learn them." It was still a bit strange realizing that some of the things she'd always known in her past life, never were here. Only very old traditional Christian songs were the same. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman were new to these children. It struck her as a bit odd, even though she knew she should have expected it.

Her brother hung his head. "Gee, thanks Mom." He was grinning, but said it in a sarcastic tone.

Ron shook his head and chuckled. "Hey. Where are those other boys that live here?"

Cedric looked over at him. "They've gone out with their parents. Christmas shopping I think."

The girls were already eating, and the boys took what was left on the trays for themselves.

OooOOooOO

"Harry. Your sister has challenged me." James Potter slapped his son on the shoulder.

His son looked up at him with wide eyes. "Leave me out of this."

The man looked surprised. "What? Don't tell me you're afraid of your own sister?"

Harry shook his head. "No, but I'm still training under her. It's not a good idea for me to get involved with something like this."

The man sat down next to his son. "What?"

"She's in charge of training. Maybe you can get away with freezing her shorts and reversing the gravity in her room, but I'm not in a position to antagonize her like that. It wouldn't go well for me."

The man nodded. "Well, I suppose that's a reasoning I can understand. You may have noticed that while I'm perfectly willing to put grow worm sugar in your cereal, I don't try it in your mother's. She's lacking a little in her sense of humor, very literal minded I'm afraid."

"Ah. That's where I get it from then." Harry nodded and looked straight ahead. He knew his mother had a sense of humor, but it was much more subtle and subdued than his father's. His mother liked intelligent jokes, his father liked just about any joke. "Good. I'm not helping you with this. Sorry. There's something similar going on at Hogwarts between her and the Weasley Twins. You're not dragging me into it."

His father frowned a bit. "Well, maybe when you're a bit older. The Weasley boys? Really?"

The boy looked at him and gave a serious looking nod. "Oh, definitely. Not till I'm finished training though."

James shook his shoulder. "Say, son. What do you know about that Diggory boy?"

"What do you mean?" Harry smirked at the man and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"I've noticed he's been hanging around Anna quite a bit." He leaned into his son and narrowed his eyes ans he whispered.

His son shrugged. "Yeah. She knows him better than I do. They hang about with each other in school sometimes."

The man nodded. "So, he's like her boyfriend or something?"

The boy chuckled. "Oh. I get it. Making you nervous, is he?"

His father nodded and seemed like his spirits lifted a little. "A little. What's going on?"

Harry shook his head. "Why? You've seen pictures of her tossing about rocks the size of the Knight Bus. He's seen that fireball trick of hers himself. He's not that stupid. I don't think he'd try anything. I like him, but he's not brave enough to risk it."

James Potter seemed to relax. "I see your point. Still. I'm not sure what to think of him."

The boy was confused. "I guess. I'm pretty sure he's terrified of her."

"Yes. It's not just him I'm worried about though." James was talking to himself as much as his son.

"Anna?" Harry looked confused. "Are you thinking they might sneak off and have sex or something?"

The man looked at the boy with rather wide eyes. "I uh...no! What? Um...do...do you think?"

His son shook his head. "Well, no. Not really. I'd rather not really."

"Well, yes. I'd rather not myself. Still, I am her father, and you are her brother. I'm hoping you'd, stand up for her honor." The man was trying to find the right way to phrase it.

Harry was grinning and shook his head. "Let me put it this way. The last guy at school who felt her up, got electrocuted, and then fell down three flights of stairs that were ten feet away from him."

James nodded. "Oh. Well then. Never mind."

His son grinned and nodded. "Yes. It's not something we need to worry about. Not yet anyway."

His father's head whipped around. "What do you mean? Not yet?"

The boy gave a small sigh. "You want to know the future, talk to her."

James nodded. "Come on then. You can help me then."

Harry was on his feet and walking with him towards the garage. "What are we doing?"

"I've got to load some boxes back into storage. I had to move some things out of the way to get at the decorations in the attic and the basement." He rubbed at his son's head. "There's a Quidditch match on in an hour. We can finish it up and come back down to watch it before the girls get to the mirror if we're fast enough."

The boy nodded. "Right." He stopped and let his father walk ahead of him a few paces.

His father looked back and tapped at his wrist. "Come on then. We've got to be quick. Your mother will be watching Mary Weston brew potions, and then that soap of hers starts. We'll have to settle for the small mirror in the bedroom." The small mirror he spoke of was over three hundred centimeters across. It wasn't much of a gripe, and the man seemed cheerful. "We'll have to sit on the floor, so we don't get crumbs on the bed, or spill our drinks on it."

Harry nodded. "Well, we can catch the pregame then. I've already put everything away."

James seemed surprised and amused. "Really? It was still there a few minutes ago. How did you manage to do all that work from here?"

The boy blinked in surprise. "The same way Anna put up all those decorations. See." He closed his eyes and every object in view that wasn't nailed down lifted itself into the air around them and set itself back down.

His father walked up the stairs, up into the room with the owl pens. Half of it was set up to house their birds. Carrot and Hedwig were welding some sort of machine in the middle of the room. Neither one bothered to look up at him. The other half of the room was a dark storage space next to the stairs. The boxes were piled up neat and out of the way again. He looked over his shoulder and found Harry was at the bottom of the stairs looking pleased. "The basement as well?"

The boy gave a cheerful nod. "Yeah."

"Well, that was easier than I'd thought. Come on then." He nodded and smiled as he walked down the stairs, and to the couch with his son. He rubbed on the back of the boy's head as the screen came on. Dobby brought out a bowl of chips, dip, pretzels, and cheese puffs. He set down a beer, and a bottle of soda and moved off with a smile on his face and his nose in the air.

Harry grinned at him as he moved by. "Thank you, Dobby."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter wasn't in the best of moods. He was with his mother, standing in the underground shopping mall. The boy was a bit surprised how modern the place looked. The design of the stores was similar to the upper Mall for muggles. It even had large department stores, and fast food with a slightly magical touch to it. His father had run off to hang about with Sirius and Remus, and his mother decided to spend some time with the both of them shopping. Not a bad deal, but it didn't improve his current situation any.

They were standing in a large department style store. One known for being upscale, there was red carpeting everywhere, and the entire bottom floor was nothing but racks of expensive clothes and shoes. It was the holiday season, so the shopping center was packed with people milling about.

Anna was standing with her mother, looking at clothes. There were a lot of parents with children bustling about in the store. The boy was very relaxed, and looked a bit tired. He kept pushing his glasses up his nose as he came close to nodding off on his feet. She had no idea how he managed it, but her brother could sleep on his feet. It wasn't something he was using the Force to do either. Neither of the children knew it, but it was something he'd picked up from his father.

Lily never bothered coming into the store in the past. It had a reputation for being upscale and out of her price range. She'd done a bit of browsing through the windows once or twice. "Five hundred galleons for a bathroom towel?"

Her daughter nodded. "Yes. I suppose someone might think it was a very nice bath towel though."

Harry said nothing. His head was slumped forward and his glasses stayed on his nose. They'd done a bit of shopping for themselves. Diagon Alley wasn't much larger than this place, and it served the populace of Liverpool. The only way in or out was through the use of the Flue System. A cavernous fireplace at one end of the mall acted as the entrance and exit. It was built about a thousand feet below the Muggle Mall above. The boy had been reading things posted about the walls, as it was something of a tourist attraction in the area. He'd gotten that bored.

Anna preferred darker shades of color in her clothes. The dress her mother was holding up would make her look like Little Orphan Annie with better hair. "No way." Her eyes were a bit wide and she shook her head from side to side in an almost violent manner.

The woman gave a small sigh. "I think you'd look good in it."

"I'm afraid I don't agree." The redhead turned her nose up. "Too bright. My hair is lighter than yours, it's too much glare."

The woman chuckled. "Oh. Well then."

Her daughter shrugged and pulled a rather sleek looking one piece gown off one of the racks. It was mostly green, but had red in the collar and sleeves. It was a very natural looking faded olive green, and the red was almost a fall color. She draped it across her arm. "I like this one. Margaret and Pansy seem to like this place. I think Magaret, Pansy, and Mrs. Parkinson, conned Uncle Sirius into bringing them last summer."

Her mother chuckled. "Yes. I'd heard about that. He won't come back, but she's mentioned she's brought the girls up here a couple of times since they've been back."

Harry yawned as he watched the pair haggle about clothes and chat. They'd picked up clothes for him as well while they were there. It had been a less than interesting journey of monotony. He could have gotten what he wanted, and been out almost two hours sooner. The mall had been interesting for the first hour or two, but they were approaching hour four.

Anna blinked she looked up at her mother and tugged on the side of her dress. "Um, Mom. Harry has to go now. We'll meet up with him later, so don't worry. He can handle it just fine."

Her brother's head snapped up and he whipped it towards his sister. "Huh? Huh? Wha?"

A nearby voice of a teenage girl rang out across the store. "Oh my god! It's Harry Potter!"

The store was dead quiet for a moment. There was a moment where every head turned towards the trio at once as if they were a flock of birds standing in tall grass over the racks and shelves. Then it began. They felt it first, on the floor beneath them. Then the shrieks started. "Oh. Shit." Harry noticed his sister waving at him with a grin on her face. He turned about and started running for the exit. He looked over his shoulder and almost stumbled at what he saw. It was a bee like swarm of excited preteen, and young teenage girls rushing from the racks and storefronts nearby.

His sister had warned him to prepare, and he knew what to do he kept jogging down the main mall for several hundred meters. He stopped cold, turned around and nodded once before walking into one of the stores.

Her mother was frozen with her jaw hanging. Her daughter was holding her hand and looking on. "Man. These sunglasses are awesome. Nobody recognizes me. It's great." She chuckled as she held up her palm. "Harry fell asleep and his glasses fell off." They were very fragile looking low profile glasses with very thin lenses and they were resting on her hand.

Her mother gave a heavy sigh. The woman looked torn between listening to her and looking in the direction her son had run off in. "Disguise glasses? I don't remember getting those."

The girl shrugged. "I got Dad to pick them up for us. So we can go about without being mobbed. You are aware we're pretty much the hottest ticket in the industry, right? I mean, they're calling me the Princess of Rock, and the Material Girl, and my personal favorite, One of the Two Greatest Guitar Players of all Time. The other one just ran off."

The woman frowned at her. "Yes. Don't get too big a head about it. Come on. We should go get him."

"We have time. I want to get this before we leave. Harry is fine." The girl frowned at her mother and lifted her arm up to show the dress as she found herself being pulled along.

"What? He just got chased down by a mob!" Her mother looked shocked.

The girl shook her head. "Nah. He's already gotten them to calm down. I can tell from here. He's fine, trust me."

The woman frowned down at her. "You're sure?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. He ran into the music store. I'm sure the owner is pretty pleased with him dropping by. Everything is under control, and I get the feeling he needed a little break. I think his glasses fell of because he fell asleep. Don't worry, they love him, fans and all. Remember?"

Her mother relaxed a little. Her father had lost his glasses while shopping with her before the same way. "Well, all right. Not in too much of a hurry then." She looked very tired for a moment as she looked back towards the line to check out. They were going to be standing in line for a bit.

OooOOooOO

Anna walked with her mother. The woman looked a little worried, and wanted to grab her daughter's arm to speed up the girl's pace. Her daughter was very relaxed and seemed to be enjoying her walk towards the crowd around the music store. It had taken them almost an hour to pay and leave the store. Lily was anxious, but didn't want to leave her daughter on her own. She could see the crowd down the hall, and it seemed everyone was fine. She trusted her son on his own a bit more than her.

Mrs. Potter's face flushed as she realized she could hear music from inside. Through the window she could see her son standing on a display with a guitar in his hands. Waves of excited squeals came from the crowd. A lot of parents were milling about among the young fans, having come to collect their children, but deciding to stand around and listen in for a bit anyway. Not all of the fans in the crowd were girls anymore. He now had a large mixture of both standing about him in the store. He was currently about halfway through Sammy Haggar's 'Heavy Metal'.

The woman hung her head and sighed. "What is he doing?"

The girl at her side looked up in surprise. "Rocking them. From the look of it, he's doing requests from the crowd." She grinned and looked over at him, he was having a great time of it. The manager of the store was more than happy to supply him with the use of two amplifiers, a microphone, and a display guitar that now sported his signature. "I told you he'd be fine."

Lily's lips turned up a little. "I'm supposed to worry." Harry started playing Roy Orbison's 'Pretty Woman'.

"Yes. Still, he is having fun." The redhead smirked.

Her mother shook her shoulder. "You're not going to join him?"

The girl shook her head. "Nah. He deserves to have this one to himself. He knows we're here, so I'm sure he'll be along if we wait a few minutes."

Sure enough, after two more songs the boy pushed his way through the crowd. He'd attracted most of the mall to the store. He walked up to his family with a grin on his face. He was signing things as he went, and waved as they parted. A number of younger fans were collected and almost dragged off by their parents in some cases. He walked up to his mother and paused. She seemed a little upset. The stragglers backed off him as he neared her.

His sister tugged on her hand. "Don't scold him. The last time that happened and he didn't run, they tore his clothes to shreds."

The woman looked both shocked and surprised. "What?"

Her son scratched his head and looked a little sheepish. "It happened at Hogwarts once last year. It wasn't that bad, just my robe."

"Still, you shouldn't just run off like that." Their mother gave an exasperated exhale and seemed to give up. "Fine. Just, be careful."

Harry flushed. "Sorry."

His sister put his glasses back on his face and her grin came back into focus. She chuckled. "Don't look at me like that. You can't expect me to always be there to stop you from not paying attention. Besides you had fun."

The boy nodded. "I know. Still, the principal of it doesn't sit right from my end."

Anna patted his shoulder and giggled. "You'll get over it. So, did you break that record?"

Her brother stopped and glanced at her. "Huh?"

Lily turned to look at her son. "Yes. What record?"

His sister was glad to supply the information. "How many girls he can get to pass out with 'Pretty Woman'. His record is thirteen."

The boy seemed annoyed. "I'm not the one who's been keeping track."

Their mother watched them bicker from either side of her in a lighthearted manner as they headed for the other end of the mall. Anna's bunnies were trailing behind a lot of people in the mall, so even her trio didn't look out of place anymore.

Her daughter responded with her tongue sticking out. "Well, did you?"

The boy looked away. "No."

Anna did the same and had a subdued smirk on her face. "Well?"

Harry turned his nose up. "Well what?"

Her mother put her hand on his shoulder. "How many?"

The boy gave a heavy sigh. "Seven."

His sister gave a wide grin. "Well. Impressive for a small crowd."

Lily gave a small shake of her head. "So it would seem." It sort of dawned on her at that moment just how much of a 'catch' her children would be considered. It worried her more than she'd thought it would.

Anna nodded. "We need shoes." The young teen didn't understand it, but felt compelled that her clothing have some sort of order to the color scheme. She knew no boy would really care if her shoes were the wrong color. She'd pretty much have to come out in clogs or clown shoes to get any sort of reaction from her footwear from any boy. It would still be a positive comment in most cases.

Harry hung his head and trudged behind them.

His mother nodded. "Yes. We'll pick up something nice for your brother while were there as well."

The boy envied his father a little. He was beginning to understand the negative response 'shopping' with his mother gave the man. His Dad didn't seem to care much for the idea when it came up. The only thing worse than following two girls around shopping, was becoming involved with it. He was on his way to another hour long tour of a shoe store to find something he could be in and out with in under fifteen minutes.

He was kind of glad that his glasses had fallen off. It was nice to have a break to wake himself up again.

Anna glanced back at him and smirked. "Patience." She mouthed it back to him and grinned up at her mother.

The boy shook his head and gave a small sigh. "Right. Peace." That's what had put him to sleep before, he'd overdone his meditation a little. It was a little too easy to zone out while his sister and mother went about their quest for matching colors in as many stores as possible. It almost seemed like some sort of bizarre game to him. He really had nothing to complain about and he knew it. He wasn't suffering, and his mother and sister were having a wonderful time. He didn't have to bother with carrying anything because of the bunnies. Still, why they cared about the color of a handbag was beyond his grasp.

OooOOooOO

Vernon Dursley was a stuttering mess. He was wearing a cheap looking jacket with patched arms, trying to decide if he should have his pipe in his mouth or not. Petunia and Duddley were dressed in clothes that were meant to be dress clothes.

"Mr. Benton is going to be here tonight. Now, I need everything to go perfectly! No children shall speak if not spoken too. Petinia, you'll stay right next to me, and be sure to agree with everything I say. It's important that he sees I'm the man of this home." The father of the house strolled along in front of a fold up table with a punch bowl, a plate of deformed Christmas cookies, a carving ham, crackers and cheese, olives, chocolate candies, and several types of corn chips and potato chips were spread across it in tacky bowls. "Having the office Christmas Party in our home is an honor for our family. If I can impress Mr. Benton, I could be in for a promotion in a year or two if I work hard enough." He almost fell to his knees and begged them. "Please. Please, let's everyone on their best behavior tonight? For daddums?" He pinched his grinning son's cheek.

The clock struck six o'clock, and a knock came to the door. "Right on time!" Vernon rushed over to the door and opened it while holding his family as if for a portrait. About twenty five, stuffy, balding, serious looking men poured into the room with overdressed women like Petunia. There were muttered greetings, no one looked impressed, and they moved to huddle in groups about the party. Vernon greeted them all by name, shook their hands and took their coats.

The man was trying to hand them off to his son, but was instead building a large pile of them on the floor at his side. The pudgy boy looked down at the growing pile at his feet. His boss walked into his home with his vice president at his side. He was a frowning old man with jowls and bad posture. "Ah. Victor, lovely of you to host the party this year."

Vernon was wide eyed and shaking. "Yes. Thank you sir." He took the man and his vice president's coat.

The old man smirked at him. "Just be careful with that coat. I'd prefer it if you didn't add it to the pile."

Vernon looked down at the pile at his side and turned red. His eyes shook with rage as he glared down at his grinning son. The boy was kicking at the pile with his feet and smiling up at him. His father snagged him by the back of his neck. "If you value your life, you'll take those to the closet and hang them like I told you."

The boy looked afraid for a moment. He started sniffing and wrapped his arms around the whole pile, walked over to the closet, shoved the pile into the door. He closed it with several shoves, leaving a few sleeves and corners poking through the bottom of the door..

His father did his best not to slap himself on the face as he gave his boss a fake smile and started walking with him. "If you need anything sir. Just let me know!"

"Yes. Thank you Vincent. I'm afraid I'll only be here a short time." The old man cleared his throat. His Vice President moved between his boss and the annoying obstruction.

Vernon Dursley froze, a chill ran down his spike.

"Merry Christmas! Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas Vern!"

"Oh no!" The host of the party closed his eyes and shook a bit as he turned around in a slow and fearful stumble.

Everyone in the room turned to see Anna Potter, wearing blue jeans, a gray T-shirt, and a denim hat and vest stroll through the front door. She looked at the huddled group of Dursleys, lit up in a huge smile, and waved. "Hey Vern! It's me! Anna!"

The large man shook while holding a cup of eggnog in his grip. "No! What are you doing here?" He closed his eyes and continued to smile at his boss.

The girl strolled up to the old man, his slightly younger vice president, and Vernon Dursley. "Hey! You should have told me about the party, Vern! Merry Christmas!"

The old man seemed amused. "Well, who might you be, dear?"

The girl grinned and extended her hand. "I'm Annabelle! Great to meet you!" She slapped her uncle on the shoulder and shook it. "Me an Uncle Vern go way back! Ain't that right, Vern?"

Vernon was wide eyed, turning a light shade of purple on his cheeks, and shaking eggnog all over his hand over the rim of his cup. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed it across his forehead. "Anna, dear. Can I speak with you for a moment?"

The redhead seemed pleased and gave an exuberant nod. "Sure thing, Vern!"

Her Uncle spun about and tried to grab her throat as soon as the kitchen door was closed behind them. Petunia had her hands up over her mouth in horror as she turned about and noticed the girl had appeared. Their son Dudley was milling about the party guests, being underfoot and in the way. His hands stopped six inches away from her neck and her smirk was a bit more sinister. "You can't get rid of me that easily, You've been cursed, I'll be showing up any time you plan a party. It'll be great!" Her cheerful ineptitude appeared again.

The man went pale. "What?"

"I can't not come. It's the strangest urge really." The girl shrugged and looked between the adults as she became more serious again.

The man was close to tears. "You can't be here! You'll ruin everything! I'll lose my job!"

The redhead nodded. "Well, it is a curse. I do really have to be here. You should really stop planning things like this if you don't want me around I'm afraid." She whirled about and pointed her finger in the air. "Now, my public awaits!"

Vernon and Petunia both grabbed her by the back of her shirt. She stopped and looked back at them in a relaxed way after dragging them both across the floor for a foot or so. "What the heck is the big deal anyway?"

The man was quivering before her on his knees. "Mr. Benton, the head of my company is here with the Vice President, with all the heads of my devision. You'll ruin me! Please."

The redhead grinned and nodded. "Oh yes. I remember him. You had him over for dinner, and your wife took credit for that meat loaf dinner I made. Harry and I stayed in the closet for that as I recall, being very quiet and alone." She moved over and hopped onto the dinner table on her rear. "I think I'll make Mr. Benton my new best friend for this party." She hopped down again and made for the door with a pleased looking grin on her face. "I'm sure he'll love it."

Vernon got dragged a couple of feet towards it again. "No! Please!"

Dudley Dursley walked through the kitchen door. Anna caught a glimpse of the old men standing about the room as he strolled in between the redhead and the door. He had a grin on his face. He was as fat and dumb as ever, a schoolboy cap and stretched out coat and pants over a shirt and loose bow tie. "Hey, Anna. Are you staying for the party?"

The boy's parents looked at him in horror. "No!" The both whispered in a harsh tone.

The girl looked at him and worked her jaw. There was no mistaking it, he was pleased to see her. "Huh? Sure I am."

"Great!" The boy was pleased and amused by her presence.

Anna looked a little horrified and appalled for a moment. "So, how are things Big D?"

The fat boy's parents could only watch in stunned horror.

"All the kids in the neighborhood ask about you all the time. Angus and Henry said to tell you they said hi, Peter and Steadman as well." The boy shrugged. "Harry as well."

"What are you doing boy? Don't you speak to that..." Petunia's hands clawed at the redhead from about two feet behind the girl who seemed to be ignoring her. The woman was leaning in and scratching at the air trying to get to them. The girl stepped to the side and the woman fell flat on her face, grabbing for her ankle and missing as her niece moved aside.

"Look, Dudders. You've got potential I guess. You were kind of a jerk to us while we were here though. Your parents were even worse." She stood beside him and put her hand on his shoulder. All of the children he'd mentioned had been as awful as they could have been to both of them. "You don't want to grow up to be like them. I mean, look at your dad. He's so miserable he can't even enjoy a Christmas Party for his own job. It's just stressed him out, and I'm pushing him over the edge. You don't really want to end up like them, do you?"

The boy looked a bit horrified as he looked down at his parents. The girl turned about and sat down between the two panicked adults. "I guess. Mum has been cooking since you left. It's been awful. We usually eat out now."

The girl slapped the boy on his back and looked at Vernon. "I've got a bit of leeway in this you know. How about a deal?" She was surprised at Dudley. His reasons for missing her were selfish, but he did miss her, and her brother. "You are family, and I suppose there's hope your son will turn out decent. I dunno, I guess I kind of like him a bit. He's spoiled, but it wasn't that hard to get him to leave us alone, and he was nice enough to talk to us sometimes."

Vernon got up and dusted off his pants. "I should have you arrested."

Anna shook her head. "We both know why that isn't going to happen, Vern. Are you listening, or should I go out there and make Mr. Benton my new special friend?"

Her aunt looked at her husband and nodded with a deep frown on her face.

The redhead giggled. "I want your son to come visit us for one month, in the Summer, every year. " She was holding onto her knees and grinning at them. "I still have to come to your parties, but I won't ruin them."

"So, you'll hide away, and let us go about our business?" Vernon was ignoring the horrified expression on his wife's face.

"You're not taking him!" Petunia screeched.

The redhead tossed her hat onto the tabletop and chuckled. "No. Let me put it this way. I'm Anna Potter, Party on Dudes. I can Rock any party, any time. You want a promotion? This party you're throwing will get you ignored. I can give you one that you'll always be remembered for..." She almost looked like she didn't want to say it. "...in a good way."

Vernon growled. "What?"

"Look. I suppose we're family. My mother isn't going to forgive you anytime soon. I suppose I'm not really all that mad at you myself. It took a few years, but I was able to take control and get you to pretty much leave us to our own devices after a while. You are a couple of resentful self wallowing turds though. I don't really like you, but you did keep us safe and well fed, even if I had to make you do it. I suppose I owe you a bit of gratitude, not as much as you owe me though."

Petunia stood tall and shook her head. "That's right. You owe us! We took care of you when no one else would!"

Anna shook her head and crossed her arms. "No. We took care of you. You used us as slaves. We cooked your meals, washed your clothes, cleaned your house, did the dishes, took out the garbage, did the gardening, brought in the paper and the mail, painted the house, fixed the plumbing, rewired the electrical system. You didn't lift a finger to do any of it for eight years." The girl was frowning at them both and shaking her head. "I saw that little table you've got set up out there. It's pathetic." The little redhead gave a small sigh and uncrossed her arms. "Look. I'm a rockstar. Throwing great parties is pretty much what I do. I can ruin you, or help you out. It's up to you."

Dudley had left and come back, and was now munching on a handful of chocolate candies. He was becoming covered in melted chocolate, his hands and mouth were getting sticky.

"I've got you cornered, and I've realized the only thing I can do to you that's worse than making you fail, is to make you succeed." Anna cocked her head. "The guest are starting to wonder where their hosts are. You don't really need me to fail to be honest. I'm sure Dudders is very excited to go and meet all of dadums's bosses and get his hands all over their nice suits after all."

The pudgy boy was oblivious and snorting as he laughed, reveling in the mess he was making of himself in his greed for the candies.

Petunia looked at her husband, backed away from him and gasped. "No! Don't you..."

The man looked up at her and nodded. "Fine. I'd better get..."

His wife screeched. "They'll turn him into one of them!"

The redhead shook her head. "Doesn't work that way and you know it. That's why you hate your sister so much after all. He'll be fine, we're not going to hurt him. He'll be better behaved when you get him back." She looked at Dudley and shrugged. "What's so bad about making him one of us anyway? My brother and I are rich, popular, and famous."

"You're going to jinx him! Curse him to control his mind!" The woman was wild eyed and angry.

Anna looked back at the boy and waved her hand. "Go wash your face and hands. You're a mess."

The boy pushed a stool over to the sink, hopped on top, turned on the water, used soap, wiped off the chocolate from the faucet, turned it off, dried his hands and face on a dishtowel hanging nearby, and walked back to where he'd been standing clean and neat.

Anna looked back and fourth between the two dumbstruck adults. "I don't need to get him alone for a month to do that. In fact, I could do it to you if I felt like it. I used to do it to all of you quite a bit. Now, do you want my help, or shall I go back out there and really enjoy the party? You've both got to agree on this, and if one of you doesn't... Well, we'll see now long this nice home lasts when he's got no job. Won't we?"

Petunia was shaking. She looked frightened, and was taking glances at her husband. "You're going to make him your slave, aren't you?"

The redhead shook her head negative. "No. It's Christmas, and I'm feeling generous. You can be successful because of me, or I can destroy you. The curse has to work one way or the other you know. Not much I can do about it." She was enjoying making their brains work. Her cousin had no idea what was going on, and seemed a bit confused. Petunia and Vernon were both conflicted.

The redhead grabbed Vernon by his cheeks and pulled up his lips. "Come on, let's put a smile on that face."

He slapped her hands away from his face and balled up his fist, turning very red. "Fine."

Petunia almost spoke up to protest, but a glare from Vernon silenced her.

The girl nodded. "You're aware that since we're dealing with a curse, this little chat is as good as a signed contract. You won't be able to refuse when the time to pay up comes."

Dudley seemed to catch on to the basic concept. "So, I can come visit you this summer, and Harry?" The idea seemed to please him.

Petunia looked away from the boy and nodded. "Fine."

Vernon shook his finger at her. "Don't you screw with me, little missy."

She looked up at him and crossed her arms. "Or you'll what? Stop posing, I'm the one with all the leverage here. You can't touch me if I don't let you. What are you going to do? Sue me? Ten more of your lawyer would still cost less than just one of mine."

The man worked his mouth.

Anna chuckled and slapped his shoulder. "Look. You go out there and distract them for thirty minutes. I'll take care of the rest. Keep your boss here as long as you can. You're not blaming me if he gets bored and leaves before I've finished. You'd better get out there, because he's close." The girl tied a familiar apron around her waist and pointed the two adults towards the door. They both pulled their son out of the room almost by force as they walked out into the party a pair of giant nerves with fake smiles.

Anna sighed, shook her head and looked around at her bunnies. The fridge opened as well as the cabinets as things started pulling themselves out of the cabinets and prepping themselves. The girl opened the oven, and put a small ball of orange light inside. It preheated instantly, and food started making itself on the counter and stove, and fruits and veggies were washing themselves in the sink. The door to the kitchen was sealed shut, and the muggle party on the other side was none the wiser.

Most everyone on the other side of the door was bored, and discussing work, percentages, quality, synergy, and accounting figures. It almost seemed as if they were standing about having a meeting with seasonal eggnog, and their wives, and in one case, husband, hanging from their arm.

The girl opened the back door into the yard and looked out at the thick layer of snow on the ground. "You three start setting up the sound system. I'll finish up the rest." Bunnies were so awesome. It made her promise of rocking anywhere anytime a reality. They always had a complete set of instruments and good but small amplifiers for them. As well as a large number of CD's, and a DJ table with a sound system. Her three bunnies were literally a party on legs.

She gave the trio a wistful smile as she watched them rush out the door. She missed Shemp, like any pets, they all had their own little quirks and differences. The three that remained would do for now though.

OooOOooOO

The entire room turned, Vernon froze, he was sweating bullets, and stuttering as he tried to keep talking for half an hour.

Mr. Benton looked down at his watch. "Well, Vern was it? It was a lovely party, and I'm afraid it's time for me to go." The rest of the room seemed to be used to agreeing with him. It looked like the ordeal was about to end.

Anna was hanging out of the kitchen door right next to the conversation. "What?" She stepped out and started scraping the contents of the snack table off into the trash can next to it. It looked like one or two people had even bothered with trying the rather bland selection. "You're going to miss the real party then. Sorry about this, there was a bit of a delay getting everything ready. I'm glad you were willing to wait. We just threw this together to tide you over until it was all ready."

"Yes, well I'm afraid..." Mr. Benton stopped talking as the teenager opened the door to the kitchen. There were meatballs, sandwiches, cookies, a cake, several types of pies, cupcakes, candies, fruits, and assorted other goodies. The Dursleys took an odd sort of pride in their son's girth, and kept a very well stocked kitchen.

The crowd had turned away from the door and followed the old man into the kitchen. There were candles lighting the room along the walls, giving the room a warm and welcoming light.

Anna stepped back by the rear door to let them by. "Oh, the main room is ready now as well. Sorry for the delay, but I think you'll find it was worth the wait." Anna knew she was implying a wait no one was aware of. She opened the back door.

Petunia and Vernon stumbled out first, both looking a bit shorted out. They gazed about, the music playing over the sound system was from the sixties. A disco ball hung suspended in a tiny ball room with walls of ice. There were a dozen small sets of tables and chairs set about the edges of the fence, and a carpet over the ground in the center, and a self service bar with whiskey, rum, scotch, burbon, and vodka. Electric Christmas lights were suspended overhead all over the walls giving the room a shimmering and shining quality. It was quite stunning, and looked almost like the room was made of glass.

The light from the moon shined down between the ice walls that had once been snow on the ground in the back yard. The music selection was classic favorites from the fifties, sixties, and early seventies. It was the right music for the age group in attendance. They were waving their arms about over their heads a little and looked pleased. Most of the tunes had a slower tempo, and only a few picked it up more than a little.

OooOOooOO

Anna was smiling. Mr. Benton was shaking her uncle's hand with a wide grin on his face. "Well, I'll see you in the office tomorrow, Vern."

The man waved his goodbye to his boss, the last person to leave the party. It was just after midnight. He was exhausted, disheveled, looked very spaced, and sad in an almost angry way. The electric lights took themselves down, and the power chords wrapped themselves up and placed themselves inside the house. The moon still shined down overhead through the ice walls.

He turned to look at the redhead. She was sitting and smiling at him at one of the tables. "Heh. I'm the queen of rock, that makes me one of the party gods you know. I just made you a party legend at your job. That's what's bothering you isn't it? That it was me?"

He glared at her in silence.

"That little no good, rotten, doomed to failure, miserable, useless, little brat, is a hundred times richer than you'll ever be, and she did it without magic. I'm not exactly making a living with my wand you know." She kicked her legs and giggled. "You were wrong about me. Right from the start." She shook her hair and giggled. "Oh. It's driving you mad."

He hung his head and sat down pouring himself a drink of rum and sitting opposite her, glaring with the drink in his hand. "I take it this ice will be gone in the morning?"

The girl nodded. The ice collapsed all around them, but not on top of either of them. Within a moment, there was several large piles of snow around the edge of the yard."You know. I know you don't feel a single lick of gratitude. I can tell what you feel. I can feel it, anger, embarrassment, frustration, self pity, jealousy." She buffed her nails on her shirt and stood up, walking over to his table, watching him with a smile on her face. She put her hands down and leaned over to look him in the eyes. "I'm left wondering if you'll ever really enjoy what you're going to get." She put a note down on the table in front of the man. "This is from my brother and I, for you and your wife. Merry Christmas."

Vernon snatched it out of her hand. He ripped it open, looked at it in shock, and downed his rum. It was about twenty hundred pound bank notes taped to a piece of paper. It was a letter he'd sent them for Christmas with the words 'make sure and split it' written on it. His family had taped a two pence to it.

"Merry Christmas Uncle Vernon." She patted his shoulder as the man clenched the paper in his fist. Mr. Dursley had grown very red.

"Just get out." He growled at her.

"Well, assuming you don't throw anymore parties. I'll see you this summer. We'll be by to pick up your son when we get back from touring." She held her nose up and walked through the back door of the home. When she opened it, another street appeared beyond the doorway where the inside of the house should have been. It closed, and she was gone.

OooOOooOO

It was Christmas Eve. It was still early in the afternoon, and the party hadn't yet started. The House Elves were working to get everything set up. Their home was very large, and there was a long dinner table set up just outside the kitchen. Harry had helped rearrange the furniture so there was more space for everyone to gather in the sitting room. A large log was sitting in the fireplace ready to be lit.

Anna Potter was sitting in her room, brushing her hair. She was looking at her reflection with a rather neutral and almost bored expression. Her strokes slowed as she looked at the girl in the reflection. "You're going through with this...aren't you?"

She closed her eyes and sighed. "What choice do I have now?" The corners of her lips turned up. She looked herself in the eye in the mirror. Sitting in front of that mirror was a thirteen year old girl. A hot thirteen year old girl, a wealthy thirteen year old girl, a sexually confused thirteen year old girl, and her mother's daughter.

She rolled her eyes. "Right. Relatively normal." She hit her head on her dresser. "Oh. Why does this still bother me like this? Uhg. Being a girl is so irritating sometimes."

"Also relatively normal." She groaned as she lifted her head up and looked at her reflection. She had a chest now, the space between them was visible through her shirt. She already had a great rack, and she was just thirteen. "Would it be any easier if I wasn't so...sexy?" She was expected to be some sort of Alpha Female it seemed. She wasn't quite sure how things had ended up that way.

"I hate thinking about this." Somehow, the thought of a relationship with a man terrified her. Not in the way it might have scared her in her past lives. "Also relatively normal." Even her logic side was working against her insecurities.

"Great. Seems I'm perfectly normal. Who would have thought?" Anna smiled a little at the girl in front of her.

Behind her in the reflection she noticed Moe was walking along the edge of her bed towards the window. Curly jumped up when he reached the end and looked down and nailed him dead in the face with a mallet. She gave a heavy sigh, but her grin didn't fade. "Right. Normal."

A knock sounded on her door and she smiled. "Come in."

Margaret and Pansy both walked in with grins on their faces. Both of them were dressed in very nice gowns. Pansy's was red, and Margaret went with something light blue and a little sleeker. Anna decided to wear the dress she'd picked up in the wizarding mall. She was wearing a pair of red shoes that were just the right color.

Both girls rushed over to her and helped her out of her seat in front of the mirror. They both stood back and looked her over.

The redhead smirked at the other two. "What? Did you think I'd be wearing a skirt and a T-shirt or something?"

Pansy crossed her arms. "We weren't sure. You look good."

Magraret giggled and nodded. "You do leave us both wondering sometimes."

"Thank you." Anna seemed pleased. "I stopped by that store you two told me about in that mall in Liverpool. I picked this up while I was there."

Margaret brightened up a little. "Les Marciellis?"

The redhead nodded. "Yeah. Not bad I guess. Though, even I'm not crazy enough to spend five hundred galleons on a bath towel."

"Why not? Everyone needs a towel." Pansy seemed a little surprised as she rubbed the one hanging from her neck. Most people wore them around the shoulders and neck or hanging over one shoulder or another. Girls often wore them like scarves or shawls as well.

The redhead gave a small sigh. "If it's too fancy and fashionable, it's not really a towel. It's just a really wide, expensive scarf. What good is it to you if you're not willing to get it dirty because you paid too much for it?"

Margaret nodded. "Good point." She rubbed her fingers on the one around her neck. "I don't mind getting a five hundred galleon towel a little dirty."

Anna flushed a bit as she pulled her own off a large rack of different colored towels on the wall inside her walk in closet. There was one of almost every shade. She couldn't believe what she was actually going to ask her friends. "Hey. Which one?" She held two red towels that were close in color up so her friends could compare it to her dress.

Margaret cocked her head. "The one on the left." Pansy nodded and looked just as thoughtful about it.

The Potter girl put the other one back and put it over her shoulders. She glanced over to the mirror and smoothed out her dress. "Right. We all look good."

Pansy and Margaret both looked confident and pleased. The brunette spoke up. "We're supposed to come and get you. My Mom and Uncle Sirius want to say Merry Christmas and all."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was standing by the tree. Surrounded by friends and family. The party had started, and most of the guests had arrived. The adults were engaged in conversation with each other. They had invited all their neighbors. Marci was there without her parents again. Everyone else had attended. Sirius and Lissa were the first to stop by, then Remus had shown up. A short time later the current residents of the Weasley home, along with Bill Weasley arrived. Hermione and Ron were arguing about the usefulness of towels again on either side of him. The frazzle haired girl's parents had declined attending, they had some sort of party for her father's workplace to attend. She'd showed up with Ron.

Harry grinned as Hagrid walked up to the Gryffindor trio. "Hey."

The half giant had a huge grin on his face. "I wanted ter thank yeh. Thanks to you, I got my wand back! Was real nice o' yer mum ter invite me."

"What?" James jumped out of a conversation with Sirius. "You're always welcome Hagrid. Now what's this about a wand?"

The largest of the party guest grinned at him. "I'm a full fledged wizard again. Get to kep my wand n' everthin." He pulled it out and held it up to show him.

Lily rushed up to his side with a huge smile of her own. "Hagrid! That's wonderful news!" She put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek, causing the half giant to flush.

Sirius seemed surprised and pleased, along with most of the room. The half giant had the full attention of all the guests.

The boy's face went rather blank. "Oh. Uh...you're welcome. Heh."

Remus sipped on his drink. "How did he manage that?"

Hermione and Ron looked over at him. "Yeah."

The boy flushed. "Well, um..." He didn't want to lie, and had Afina to do it for him the last time. He could also get in trouble if anyone from Hogwarts found out. He trusted Hagrid, but wasn't sure the man would remember he wasn't supposed to say anything in time.

Hagrid gave a rough snort. "Way I heard it. He was in detention with Miss Afina."

"Detention for what?" Lily's voice grew a little sharp.

"Talkin ter the Weasley boy in class I think it was?" The large man shrugged. "I ain't sure. I think thas what Dumbledore said. He didn't look to sure himself. Anyway, turns out that someone opened that Chamber o Secrets that got me insomuch trouble before. The monster came out ter get him and Miss Afina in the hall, and he saved her life and killed it."

James had a wide grin on his face. "Really? What kind of monster?"

Hagrid grinned at him. "Basilisk. Rather nasty critter. C'n kill yeh by lookin at yeh."

The Potter boy nodded. "Yeah. Something like that." He still looked a little flushed. He was hoping the whole mess would go away. He could be honest about it later, when it would cause less trouble. Like, after he graduated. He noticed his sister was smirking at him from nearby with her two girlfriends.

Ron seemed pleased. "Well, I'm just glad you got to it first. I didn't want to meet it."

Hermione gave a shiver. "I could have done without that mess with the spiders right before we came home. That was awful."

Anna butt in. "It's not time for stories like that to be told. I've got a better one, we can talk about war and traps some other time. It's Christmas." Harry looked surprised, and relieved that she'd jumped in to save him from recounting the tale.

The crowd turned their heads towards the girl. She sat back and started into Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol. The crowd was enraptured as she used the force on things in the room to add effect to her storytelling. The lighting dimmed and brightened, the walls and floors quaked, seats slid a little, and sometimes objects floated about the room.

Harry had heard the story before, and had a wistful smile on his face. When she finished, everyone clapped. Even Hermione seemed impressed. Things settled back in again as conversations started back up. He blinked in surprise and looked towards the other side of the room. Anna was standing with her two friends, and Cedric was standing near the door to the back yard with a cup of punch in his hand. Her brother gave a smirk and watched as Pansy and Margaret pushed her towards him.

OooOOooOO

"So, what do you think?" Margaret was standing by the stairwell next to Pansy. They both looked to be up to something.

"It was a nice story." The brunette girl giggled and looked over to her left. She looked at Anna. "How do you come up with this stuff?" Her eyes moved away from her friend to something behind her and her grin widened a little more.

The redhead became suspicious. "What is it? What's gotten into you two? Did somebody spike...oh. Jeeze." She looked over to what Pansy was looking at. Cedric was standing by himself and hanging back looking around at the people surrounding him. He didn't look out of place or uncomfortable. "So?" She almost turned around, but a gentle shove on her back sent her stumbling up next to him. She looked over her shoulder and frowned at them.

The boy blinked in surprise at her strange entrance. "Oh. Hi. Um, are you...?"

"I'm fine. My friends are just being pushy. I don't get. Oh. I see. Fine." The girl walked up to him a she said it, put her hands on his shoulders, and kissed him full on the lips.

Cedric froze, his eyes had grown wide, and he'd felt something push his lips apart for a moment. His hand came up and rested on her shoulder, but he didn't push her off. She broke the kiss and sighed.

The boy shook his head and looked at her. "Um, why did...?"

"If you don't want it to happen again, stand somewhere else." She walked away and pointed over his head at the same time. She gave both her friends a playful push on their shoulders as she walked up to them. "There. Are you satisfied now?"

Pansy and Margaret both looked shocked. They grabbed her arms, dragged her up the stairs and into her room, and closed the door.

The boy vacated the space under the plant with a clumsy stumble. He managed to make it to the couch and noticed Anna's Mother was watching him and smiling. He flushed and she looked away. Brian, Lee Jordan, and Mark were all around him, grabbing his arms.

Mark had his jaw hanging. "You kissed Anna Potter?"

Lee had wide eyes. "Are you crazy?"

Brian looked pleased. "See, I told you that cologne would work. Dude, excellent."

Cedric frowned at the blond boy, but decided against telling him he wasn't wearing it. It was kind of overpowering, but not so bad he couldn't ignore it. "I kissed her?"

"Yeah, and lived! Wow!" Lee Jordan was amazed.

The Diggory boy's brow furrowed. "I'm, not hurt. Well, she kissed me. I uh...I guess it is tradition."

Mark kicked his legs and frowned a little. He was happy for Cedric, but a little disappointed for himself as well. "Wow. Your first kiss was Anna Potter."

Lee Jordan slapped the boy on his shoulder. "I can't believe she didn't put your head through the window. How did you pull that off?"

The two boys who didn't attend Hogwarts looked confused.

Cedric was wondering that himself. "You should see what she did to this one boy who grabbed her rear. He got hung from a torch by his shorts."

Lee slapped his shoulder. "Remember when that guy in Ravenclaw copped a feel? He ended up hanging from a window ledge on the third floor for a half hour!"

"Dude? What?" Brian's jaw dropped.

Cedric looked a little more nervous than before. "Or what about that guy who fell down three flights of stairs he was ten feet away from?"

The Jordan boy was enjoying himself. "Yeah. I saw one guy get electrocuted just touching her rear. His hand was all red for an hour!"

Fred and George were standing behind Cedric's seat listening in and seeming pleased. "Hey! Good luck with that. Just make sure you don't upset her. You wouldn't believe some of the things she's done to the two of us." They passed the idea between them, and seemed to enjoy the fact that it made the boy less than comfortable.

"Um. Right." Cedric gave a small swallow. "Look, I didn't see the mistletoe. I think that's all it was."

Mark snorted and shook his head. "She didn't kiss any of us for standing over there."

The Diggory boy seemed to relax a little. "I guess not."

OooOOooOO

"What was it like? Did you like it? Was it gross? Did he give you the tongue? Wow! Was it your first?" Anna wasn't quite sure who was saying what as her girlfriends sat her on the bed and started asking very excited sounding questions.

The redhead cocked her head. "Yeah. It was my first time kissing a boy come to think of it."

Pansy leaned in. "Well?"

Anna just sat there and cocked her head a little more. "Wasn't as gross as I thought."

Margaret sat down next to her and leaned on her shoulder. "Did you like it?"

The redhead seemed to think on it. "Well, yeah. I guess I did."

The brunette girl sat down on her opposite side. "We want details!"

The redhead looked surprised. "You were watching the whole thing. What more can I tell you?"

Pansy and Margaret's faces fell. The brunette girl spoke up first. "Um, what did it feel like?"

"About ninety eight degrees, soft, a little moist, and he's not fumigated himself the way Brian did." The redhead shrugged and smiled at them, every time she'd gotten near the blond boy her eyes stung a little. "That's about all I can give you." She turned towards Margaret. "I know you think Brian is kind of cute. If you'd like to kiss him, it shouldn't be too hard to trick him under the mistletoe. Though, I can't promise you won't pass out before your lips reach him." The redhead pantomimed choking and fell on her back on the mattress.

The raven haired girl snorted a chuckle. "I knew you liked him."

Pansy nodded. "Yeah. We can tell."

The Potter girl gave a small sigh. "Of course I like him. That doesn't mean I intend to keep him either." She stood up and grinned at the two girls. "Come on, we'll be exchanging gifts and having dinner soon."

OooOOooOO

James Potter smiled as he stepped into the shower. It was early in the morning, about four days after Christmas. The water was piping hot, and protected from tampering with special enchantments. Something his daughter couldn't get away with. He started humming Problem Child as he grabbed a bar of soap and lathered himself up.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was standing in his back yard with a confused looking frown on his face. His sister was standing in the yard just behind the house near the eastern most corner. There was a foot and a half layer of snow on the ground, and she was standing there, facing the wall, with a bathrobe held open, and a wicked looking smile on her face.

He jogged over and scratched his head. "What are you doing?"

The redhead shrugged. "Waiting on Dad." The boy noticed a coat of black shimmering paint on the wall in front of her.

"Mum and Dad are gonna be mad that you painted the house like that." The boy looked a bit more than confused at her actions.

She shook her head. "It's temporary. It'll disappear after the connection is made." She smiled at him in a very bright and sunny way. "He's been turning off the hot water while I've been in the shower. He thinks that since he can enchant the pipes, I can't get to him that way."

Her brother gasped as the paint turned into a very large hole. A loud yelp sounded from a short distance away, a flood of water melted the snow around the wall of the home. Within a second, James Potter was on his rear, looking frightened near to death, and holding his shoulders as he sat in the snow, wet and in the nude.

Anna tilted her head. "Have you fixed that little 'problem' with the plumbing yet? You know, the one I can't fix because I don't have a wand, and can't cheat my way around?" She held his robe forward.

The man looked a bit wide eyed. "How did you manage this?" He hole he'd come out of vanished behind him as he looked back at it. He was hopping from one foot to the other looking very cold.

The girl shrugged. "I had to make a batch of pocket space paint when I made my bunnies. The odd thing about it is, once you make a can of it, it pretty much never runs out. So I have quite a supply." She waved a tiny container that looked like it might contain lip balm between her fingers. "I've discovered that if you connect two portals with say, a string that's been painted with it, you end up with a pocket space tunnel."

Her father nodded and looked rather red faced as he hopped towards the back door while shaking and shivering under his damp robe.

Harry hung his head and shook it as he moved up beside his sister. "You shouldn't have done that and you..."

His sister frowned at him. "Oh shut it. He's having just as much fun as I am. You're not the only empath you know. He's embarrassed, but he's also proud of me. Those Weasley boys are having a time of it as well. You stay out of that. I'm not going to turn into Lord Vader again playing pranks."

Her brother grinned and nodded. "Yeah. I know. Still, you do worry me sometimes."

Her lips turned up as a familiar snap and hiss sounded behind his back. "Good." She jumped at his back and he whirled around and blocked her strike.

The boy gave a chuckle. "You're getting predictable."

Her smile was without humor. "So, you think so?"

Harry's smirk left his face as he realized she had something up her sleeve today. He put up his palm to block her push and their hands locked a few inches apart while she pushed down on his weapon. She was holding her weapon in a reverse grip. She'd never done that before.

The girl gave a small almost playful sounding growl as her brother lost control. He was thrown back several feet and came down on his feet in the snow. His weapon came up right way, the redhead charged in and hacked at him as she moved around at high speed. He was staggering back under the whirling fast style. She was spinning about a lot and large numbers of light jab style strikes. His defenses held and he pushed out his palm as she moved in from straight ahead.

The girl dug about a four foot trench in the snow as she was pushed back, kicked her feet up, and held her wand out sideways. She had a snarl on her face as she started running right at him.

The boy was confused, but composed as she rushed him. "Has she gone mad?"

The girl skidded to the side, throwing a wave of snow up at him, he shifted to the side, and almost missed blocking what at first looked like another reversed handed strike. The redhead chuckled as a look of surprise crossed her brother's face. Her leg went up and nailed him right in the center of his forehead.

The boy stumbled back, but managed to keep his feet. "You've got a new lightsaber I see."

The girl spun the double bladed pole around her body. "Yes. I'm afraid I don't really excel much in this particular style."

Her brother was ready and blocked two more strikes as she rushed by him. He spun around as she went by and stayed on her, this time blocking two more strikes, together. The boy gasped as a third stabbed him right through his chest. He'd not been expecting his sister to have two lightsabers in her hand instead of the staff.

She had a satisfied looking smile on her face. "You've done well. I was expecting just surprising you with the staff to be enough to catch you." She shut down both blades and twisted the bottoms together, locking them into a single weapon again.

The boy frowned at her. "That wasn't..."

She arched her eyebrows. "What? Fair? Do you really expect everyone who might want to kill you to challenge you to a duel?"

Her student nodded and gave a small sigh. "You've been holding out again."

She gasped and looked scandalized in a joking manner. "Well, yes. You weren't ready for this one yet. You needed to start with a basic style. It's very important, though the training will be different than you're expecting."

Harry shook his head and gave a small growl. "You show me how to sword fight every morning again?"

Anna shook her head. "No. The technique is called battle meditation. It is considered one of the foundations of mastery, and it is both difficult, and powerful. It is a technique that will grow in power as you do, and it can be very dangerous if it is not used wisely." She put her hand on his shoulder and shook it. "It is time for you to begin this part of your training. It will make learning new styles easier. If you become strong enough, it can even be used to help those who fight around you focus better. If you master it, you can aid an army." She leaned in to her brother. "This is not something that is to be taken lightly. I am placing a great deal of trust in you. Both Master Yoda, and Lord Darth Vader, were considered masters of this technique. It is no small measure of power, though it might not seem so at first. You must take great care with it."

The young Jedi's eyes faded out of focus for a moment. "Aid an army?" He seemed to think on that a long time. "What is it you want me to do? I don't understand." He looked over at her with a little fear in his eyes. "I'm not so sure I can do it."

The girl smiled at him and put her hand on his shoulder. "I told you, I am training you to be a Jedi Knight."

"Yes. To defend peace and liberty, but not to start wars." He was calm and looked very serious.

His sister gave a small sigh. "Yes, but also to pass it on to others. Harry, one day you will have a padawan, more than one I'm afraid. Just, one at a time. Come on." She turned her back on him and looked over his shoulder. "Just because you don't start a war, doesn't mean you might never be involved with one. It is a dangerous time for a Jedi, not just because it puts your life in danger either."

The boy walked into the house with her. Lily had a frown on her face as she leaned over the door frame. Harry moved out of the way.

Anna was looking up at her. "Yes?"

She closed the door behind her daughter. "I told you I'd talk to him about that. You shouldn't have done that."

The girl nodded. "Yes. We're bonding I'm afraid. He's uncomfortable, but proud of me."

Her mother's face fell. "What?"

"Well, you do seem to think I'm a daddy's girl after all." Her daughter was grinning at her. "Besides, now that I've got that index, it's a breeze to stock up while I'm at Hogwarts. I'll always be able to get him back."

Lily wasn't sure what to do. "He is not proud of you! He's embarrassed out of his mind."

Anna nodded. "Yes. I know. I'm empathic remember? How he feels about it is almost as good as the look on his face to me. We're having fun, be a sport would you?"

Once again her mother was left somewhat speechless. Her features had softened a little. "Fun?"

The girl nodded. "Yes. Loads. I'm good friends with both the Weasley boys, but I don't trust either one of them as far as you could throw them."

Mrs. Potter frowned at her. "It's supposed to go 'as far as I can throw them'."

Her daughter nodded. "Yeah. I can throw them pretty far though. I don't trust them that much. They are fun though."

The woman gave a heavy sigh. "Fine. Don't come crying to me if he goes a little hard on you."

Anna nodded. "Right."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter looked around. He couldn't see anything and tried to sit up. A clang of metal sounded and he rubbed at his skull in confused pain. He couldn't see anything but darkness, and realized he was inside some sort of metal box.

"Ahsoka, sit still. They'll hear us." It was a whisper, and sounded like an older man.

The boy decided it was good advice for the moment. He was under something with at least two other people. He felt the ground shaking at his back, as a steady thump sounding like marching, mixed with the heavy rumblings of large machines. Some of the vibrations hit with more impact than others. He had no idea where he was, or what was going on.

He felt someone slap his belly. "Hey. Get your lightsaber ready. It's almost time to spring the trap." The boy grabbed it, but it felt strange in his hand. It wasn't the one he'd built.

"Um, what are we doing again?" He spoke up, hoping to let them in that they had the wrong person.

"Heh. Now!"

The boy was almost blinded by the sun in the thin looking blue sky above. It was afternoon, but he could see the stars in the sky overhead through a dull pale blue. A strange sharp sounding blast sounded as he stood to his feet and deflected a laser bolt at the skinny light brown machine pointing a firearm at him.

They were standing in the middle of a group of about fifty of them. "Whoa." Harry was indeed surprised. He was standing on the rather bland surface of an endless desert of cracked looking tan clay. He'd not gotten a good look at the man with him, and worked his weapon to deflect countless laser bolts away. The machines were dropping all around him. Somewhere along the way, he realized that a group just as large was marching towards them. These machines were much bigger, and had arm mounted cannons built onto them.

The machines started toppling without his help, and the steady hum of the other person's lightsaber was coming from behind him. Large tanks and men in white armor were pouring at them from the sides of what the boy now knew was a convoy. Some of the men held rocket launchers and heavy laser weapons, most of them had one similar to what the machines were using. They were firing at the machines and ignoring him and his companion.

"Ahsoka! Get over here!" Harry blinked in surprise as someone grabbed his arm and pulled him up beside him. The boy looked up at the man who's voice he'd heard under the metal box he'd woken up in. "Pay attention, Padawan. This isn't the Jedi Temple. Be alert and stay alive." He was a younger man, handsome, with a scar over his left eye that ran down his cheek a little. He was wearing black and gray robes like the ones his sister had made for them.

"Captain Rex." The Jedi turned his head towards one of the men in white armor with a shoulder piece that made him stand out from the others.

The man rushed up and saluted. "Yes sir?" There was still gunfire and explosions nearby, but it was dying out.

"Have a team secure a perimeter here, so we can arrange for pick up. Our job here is done, but the fight isn't over yet. I'm sure Master Obi-wan will need the help." The man he was standing beside smirked down at Harry. "You've been quiet, Snips."

Harry was looking up at him with wide eyes. He was trying to figure out how he'd ended up in the middle of the Clone Wars. "Wha? I..."

"Ahsoka? Are you all right?" The man knelt down beside her and shook her shoulder. He waved his hand in front of her face. "What's gotten into you?"

The boy blinked as he noticed his own reflection in one of the broken robot's armor. He was a red skinned girl, with very strange hair, and white markings on her face. "Huh?"

A light rap to her skull brought her out of her stupor. "Come on. We've got to hurry. Master Obi-wan is probably in trouble by now." The man pulled a small disk from his robes. An image of another man with a beard in Jedi robes appeared. "Master Obi-Wan, We've taken care of the reinforcements, and we're loading up now."

Harry noticed that the man had started walking towards the odd looking planes that were landing nearby. There were about ten of them, and all the armored men were climbing aboard. They were both moving towards them.

The hologram spoke back. "That's good to hear, Anakin. The Rosarian defenses are holding, but we are taking a heavy bombardment. Our shields won't hold much longer, and we're going to need your guns and your lightsabers on our eastern front when they fail."

Harry stopped moving with the man for a moment. He was standing with Anakin Skywalker, in the middle of a battle in the Clone Wars, and he was female. "Anna! It has to be!"

The man walked back. "Did you get hurt or something? You're acting strange, Padawan." His tone was a little chiding.

"What's going on? I'm not Ashooka or whatever. I'm Harry Potter." The boy was getting a little irate.

The man gave a small sigh. "Yes. Well, how are you supposed to know what to build, if you've never seen it for yourself?"

The boy sucked in a breath and looked at him with wide eyes. "Huh?"

"Come and learn, Padawan. Just as those before you did. As long as you're here. Your name is Ahsoka Tano." He waved for her to follow him aboard the strange plane.

The boy stuck his lip out. "It isn't. This isn't funny you brat."

"Well, after all that about how you'd try to do better if you ended up that way? You'll be fine. It's just a dream, like that one with the demon and such." The man smirked back at him. "Come on. We've got a city to defend. It's the last stronghold on this planet, and we've got to hold out long enough for the fleet to arrive. Then the real fight starts." The man looked a little tired as he said it.

The girl growled and stomped onto the craft as her cheeks went a little purple. She glared up at the chuckling Anakin Skywalker. "It's not funny."

The man nodded and rubbed at the back of her head. "Oh. I'm afraid that it is. Relax, it's not like you have to stay that way for the rest of your life like I do."

"Yes. Well." The boy looked himself over. "What exactly am I?"

"A young Togruta female. What difference does it make?" Anakin looked surprised.

"Just curious. I'm cute, it's a bit strange." He was looking at the alien girl in a reflective surface.

The Jedi nodded. "Tell me about it."

Harry looked down the front of his own shirt and arched his eyebrow. "My nipples are white?"

The troopers looked uncomfortable and the Jedi gave his Padawan a small tap on the back of her head and cleared his throat.

The Captain who had spoken to him in the battle leaned in towards them. "Are you two all right, General?"

Anakin chuckled. "We're fine. She hit her head on that box we were hiding in. I guess we kind of got carried away."

"Right, Sir." Rex nodded and looked ahead. "We'll be arriving in a moment." The vehicle shook as the sound of explosions in the air shook the craft. Doors had closed over the entrances, and the interior was lit only with red.

Anakin looked down at his Padawan and nodded. "Get ready. We're landing hot." He smirked, the girl was holding her lightsaber in a reverse grip, and didn't seem to have noticed yet. "May the Force be with you."

Harry looked like he'd calmed a great deal. He understood what was going on now. He also had a feeling, it would be a very long dream.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next time: The Dreams of a Republic.


	34. Chapter 34

A Matter of Force.

Part 34

Dreams of a Republic.

OooOOooOO

"Wait!" Ahsoka Tano called out to Anakin. The girl stood in front of a doorway. "Master, in here!"

Her master turned to face her with a smirk on his face just as the blast door for the smaller side passage closed in her face. Harry had a rather zoned out expression on his face. "Great that brat. She knew I'd get cut off here. I wonder what's up?" The Togruta girl turned on her heels and looked about. The past couple of nights had been rather interesting. He helped fight off a droid invasion of a city, and helped protect the local government officials The next evening was much more relaxing. Negotiating with a planet inhabited by sentient, neon purple floating slugs. They were civilized, and seemed pleased to greet them. A rare occasion, her, his master noted.

The whole opposite sex thing wasn't so bad. The entirely different species thing threw him off at times. It was so odd seeing himself in reflections in the dreams.

As it was, he was in the middle of a rescue operation. They were on board a Republic ship under seige. The droids were using some new type of ship to bore holes in the hulls and deploy several droids. Dead clones lined the halls, but ahead of them, Padme Amidala was leading a bold resistance on the bridge. Master Obi-Wan, seemed to think it was becoming a rather nasty trend.

She looked around, the walls were painted white and lined with painted pipes. The floor was like a black mirror, polished, but scattered with debris and burn marks from the fighting. They were in the middle of the enemy held side of the ship. Harry noticed a door open to a hall that would get them to the Senator faster and tried to call his sister over.

Now she was alone, in a quiet hallway, in an enemy held portion of the ship. She put her weapon on her belt and looked about as she walked. "Maybe I can get ahead of her and backtrack, clear up some of the mess and get us there faster?" The droids had superior numbers, but confined in the hallways in small squads, they posed no real threat.

Ahsoka froze as a chill ran down her spine. A familiar snap and hum sounded from behind her.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Skywalkers charming little pet."

The young Jedi whirled around putting her weapon up to block the strike in a reversed grip. A tall slender woman with dead white skin and a bald head frowned at him. She was wearing a sleek black robe that hung off her almost sharp looking curves. Two blades of light were pushing against her lightsaber.

Harry smirked. "I see. Ventress, how interesting. I've heard a lot about you."

She smirked at the Padawan. "All of it true."

The alien girl nodded. "I'm counting on it."

Her opponent's face twisted in anger. "I'm going to teach you that you shouldn't taunt a superior opponent. Too bad you won't live to learn anything." Ventress snarled and shoved her hand at the young Jedi's chest. Her features relaxed for a moment in surprise as the young apprentice stopped her push with her own open palm, while fighting off her other weapon. "What?"

Ahsoka gave a gentle shove of her palm and readied her weapon. "An interesting and unexpected encounter." The bald Sith woman skidded back a few feet, but remained standing with her weapons ready. The cocky little brat was grinning at her. "I don't suppose you're willing to stand and chat while we wait for my Master to show up?"

Ventress snarled. "I'll carve that cocky smirk off your face and wear it on my belt. Impudent brat." The alien girl's attitude was throwing her off and she didn't dart right in. She was calm, and unafraid, unusual for her.

"I expect a strong opponent. If we are to fight, I hope you do not disappoint. It seems I've still got much to learn." The Togruta girl relaxed her breathing and her gaze as she stared the Sith apprentice down.

"Learn? You've got to live to learn." The Sith charged her, brandishing both her blades.

Ahsoka stood her ground, blocking a flurry of strikes from both weapons without taking a single step back.

Ventress spun away flailing her weapons and cutting gashes in the wall as she pulled back. "So, it's not just an attitude. You've gotten stronger. How interesting."

The Togruta girl looked calm and waited, watching her. "Yes. So far it is."

Ventress snarled and charged to attack again. The Padawan backed off a little under the flurry of strikes, but was only forced back a little, holding her ground again. The Sith woman bounced off the walls and jumped about every side of the girl, looking for an opening, Harry kept facing her, and kept her at bay without being overpowered.

The Sith woman snarled. "What? Impossible!" She thrust her hand forward and sent arcs of electrical power at the young Togruta.

Ashoka raised her free hand and caught it in her palm. It stung and cracked up her forearm a bit, but dissipated and left her undamaged.

The older force user growled. Her rage surged up. "I think I'll go carve up the core, and blow this ship into atoms, along with everyone on board. We aren't here for prisoners." She carved the floor underneath her away with her weapons and vanished to a lower deck.

Ahsoka blinked once, sat down and crossed her legs. That's exactly how Obi-Wan and Anakin found her a short time later.

"Well, Anakin. I'm impressed." The eldest Jedi smirked at his former student. The girl was on her feet and at her master's side.

Anakin shrugged. "Well, she is doing well. As long as it doesn't go to her head."

The Padawan shrugged. "I ran into Ventress. I fought her off, and she cut a hole to the lower decks. She said she was going to carve up the core. I think she expected me to follow her. I imagine she is both surprised and annoyed."

Obi-Wan nodded and looked over at his former student. "Wow. You really lucked out. You would have gone after her at her age. It would have been an awful mess."

Anakin flushed a little. "Why didn't you?" He looked at the girl and smirked.

"Well, if she really did that, she'd die too. Not even she could make it to an escape pod fast enough if she did something like that." The red skinned girl shrugged. "It was an obvious trap, and meant to distract us from our mission and split us up. That lift is up ahead. It will take us to the bridge, right?"

The elder of the two Jedi arched his eyebrow. "You'll do well with an attitude like that, Padawan. The Sith cannot be trusted."

Anakin nodded. "That selfish hag would never take her own life like that."

Obi-Wan arched his eyebrow a little. "I've met Ventress, she's a fast and aggressive opponent."

The Togruta girl nodded, and had little in the way of cheer or pride. "I'm stronger than her, but she's quick, intelligent, and doesn't mind leaving a mess behind her. She'd have carved up half the ship if I'd followed her." She looked at Master Obi-Wan. "We already know where she's headed. The same place we are. We'll get there first. She was expecting me to follow her, and delay you. I'll bet she's here for the Senator. She's an Assassin, isn't she?"

The eldest Jedi nodded. "Wise, for a Padawan. Particularly his Padawan. He was a real handful you know."

Anakin snorted. "So's she. Just of a different sort. Good job Padawan. You've saved us a lot of trouble I guess." She was kind of looking forward to going after her again. She knew Obi-Wan would have saved his former wife, though he'd worried about it a great deal the last time. Still, he was impressed. He was quite a bit further along than Ahsoka had been at the time. He'd learned as she did, and it had gone very quickly. With little else to occupy themselves with other than housework, he'd soaked all of it up as fast as she had. He'd kept her on her toes her whole life. He was a lot more dangerous than the Dursleys realized at a very young age. Ventress was still young, and not very powerful yet. Though, that didn't make killing her easy either.

Obi-Wan leaned in with a smirk on his face. "Are you sure Master Yoda didn't send her here here to train you?"

She glanced at him and frowned a little. "Very funny. Even though, I suppose you are kind of right."

The bearded Jedi chuckled as he turned the lift on as they walked into it beside him. "You've grown wiser too, if you've realized that."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter woke up in bed in a daze. "Huh?" She looked around, not recognizing the room. There was a blue haze, the moonlight from a window the only light in the room. The walls seemed blurred somehow. "Huh?" It wasn't her bed, it was smaller, and she was naked. She curled herself up and looked about.

Anna glanced around, unable to focus on anything but the bed for some reason. She froze as she turned around to look behind her. Cedric Diggory was covered in a thin sheet that was being held up a good ways over his crotch. The worst part about it was that he was waking up.

"Huh?" The boy shook his head. "Where? Oh. Hi." His lips turned up and he seemed relaxed. "This dream again?"

He seemed surprised at the somewhat shocked expression on her face. "How many times have you had this dream anyway?" She regretted asking before he answered and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Just that once I think?" He scratched his head. "After the Christmas Party?" He nodded. "Yeah. I'd never had a dream like that before. I'd heard about them. Living down the road from the real Anna Potter probably didn't hurt either. I think she put her tongue in my mouth."

The Potter girl looked a bit frustrated and embarrassed. She had, a little, just between his lips and no further. "Look. I shouldn't have asked that." The thing bouncing about under the sheets as he moved was flustering her, and she was having difficult not staring at it. "Um. So, um..."

That confused the boy. "Huh?"

The girl squeaked. He rolled onto his side and the boy's ego had obviously done some work on his dream anatomy. "Look. I'm not interested in having sex with you this time. Please cover that up."

Cedric seemed to think on it. "What? Man, this is a weird one. Maybe mom is right and I should hang around her a little less."

"I kissed you! You prick!" Anna couldn't put her hands over her own mouth fast enough. It felt like her cheeks were burning. She stood there and fumed with her hands over her mouth as she growled a little. More at herself than him, but the boy seemed surprised and flushed.

The boy had pulled his sheets over himself and looked confused. "Huh? I'm a little confused."

"Of course, you're sleeping. Half your brain isn't working right now." She looked a little annoyed and kept the sheets tight about her chest. She'd noticed he'd put a bit more chest on her than she really had.

That got to the boy and he frowned. "What are you on about?"

"Look. I'm kind of sick of arguing, but I'm stuck with you until this dream ends." Anna fought off the urge to just give him a good scare and be done with it. She didn't want to start leaving clues that she could manipulate dreams to everyone, and had figured the mess out. The boy was having what was supposed to be a wet dream, and somehow she'd picked up on it and ended up there. She was thinking it was the fact that she kissed him at midnight New Year's Eve. Her two friends had shoved her up next to him again during the New Years Party. "Damn it. I knew I shouldn't have done that."

Cedric scratched his head. "So, um?" He looked a bit confused.

The redhead glanced at him. "No. I'm not going too. Look. I, uh..." Her brain was not working, he'd covered it up, but he'd covered it up with a thin sheet. "Look, what was your plan exactly?"

The boy shrugged. "Sex."

The Potter girl nodded and seemed to recall something. "Oh yes. I remember that now. Hmmm." She was trying to figure out how to get out of it. She liked him, and didn't want to give him a nightmare. She also wasn't keen on having 'fantasy sex' with him. She knew that... Anna gripped her sheets a little tighter. When this happened, sensation was heightened to the point that they would really feel it. Her eye twitched. "No. I...well, I guess it couldn't hurt." It was a just a dream after all. "At least I'd know then, I mean, should feel right and all. What exactly did you have in mind anyway?"

Cedric went through a list of things he'd learned from watching or reading porn he'd managed to get by his parents at some point of one type or another and wanted to try. He had no idea he was really talking with her, and didn't hold back.

"Hmm. No to most of that I'm afraid." Anna sat down on the edge of the bed. One of her limitations was that once connected, she had no real control over how long the dream lasted aside from scaring or surprising the person sharing enough to jolt them out of the dream. In some cases in the past, screaming and wide eyed awake. She could create another place to go, but that might tip him off to the nature of what was happening. She didn't want that particular ability to be common knowledge. "Look." She looked a bit like she couldn't believe what she was doing for a moment. "I'll tell you what. You can have sex with me if you want and play with these." She stood up and let the sheets fall and put her hands under her breast to shake them a bit. The boy sat upright and locked his eyes onto them. "That's all I'm afraid. I'm not putting that thing in my mouth, and you're not putting it in my rear. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to find out one way or the other. This is just a dream after all, isn't it?"

The Diggory boy looked a bit confused and a little scared. "Um, well. I mean, if you don't want too. I mean...I..."

"If you offer to let me change my mind, I will." She got an odd look in her eyes as she crawled across the mattress and kissed him. The back of his head hit the large wooden headboard and he grunted in pain and put his hand on it.

OooOOooOO

Cedric Diggory was sitting at the breakfast table with a rather zoned out look on his face. He'd woken up, and had to put on new shorts that morning. He didn't want his parents to know about it of course, but he'd just had the best dream of his life the night before. He also had a bit of a bump on the back of his head for some reason. He could still remember it, the dream had started off a little strange, but it was like he could really feel it all. His mother and father were bustling about making breakfast for themselves. He already had a bowl of cereal in front of him and was playing with it with his spoon. Cedric was rubbing against the small bump on the back of his head.

"Are you all right, son?" Mr. Diggory ruffled his paper. "You're quiet this morning."

Her son seemed to snap back to reality, but kept his grin. "I'm fine. I'm just thinking about going back to school again."

His mother patted his head and set a plate of bacon and eggs next to his bowl. "That's good dear. I'm glad to see you seem to enjoy it. It was wonderful for your father and I when we attended. You've done so well, we're very proud." The boy got a little uncomfortable as she touched his lump. The woman noticed the injury. "Oh. You've got a bump."

He winced a little and pulled her hand away from his head. "I'm fine. I must have bumped it in my sleep last night somehow."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was sitting in her room looking in her mirror. She had a rather dazed expression on her face. "I should have known better, better for girls indeed." She snorted. She had the strangest urge to call up Pansy and Margaret. She wasn't sure why. She didn't want to say anything to either one of them, but wanted to see them just to not tell them. She didn't understand it, but that didn't mean it wasn't true.

She wasn't planning on joining in on Cedric's or anyone else's wet dreams if she could help it in the future. She wasn't very keen on the idea of becoming some sort of dream slut and invading boy's dreams. The worst part about it, was that if she somehow found herself in that situation again, she'd consider it. She was trying to be clinical about it, telling herself, 'well, you know that's how you like it now'.

What was bothering her, was how much she liked it. It came in waves, and she'd gotten carried away. She didn't feel bad for the boy or anything. His emotional state had gotten her off even more. She belted her skull on the wooden tabletop under the mirror and groaned. "Great. Well, I guess my internal debate is over now at least." She lifted her head, gave a sigh, and started brushing her hair. The House Elves were finished making breakfast, and she didn't want hers to get too cold.

She looked herself in the eye and smirked. "It was fun though, wasn't it Anna? No sense being dishonest about it now." She knew she was still years away from the real thing. She was having trouble being in too bad a mood anyway though. "I wonder who the lucky guy will be?" She knew she'd be out of Hogwarts before she did it. She was pretty sure that by then, she could pick any male she wanted.

OooOOooOO

Anna and Cedric were sitting together in the fields that surrounded their neighborhood. The snow was about four inches deep that day, and both of them were bundled up and warm. They were sitting on a log with the snow cleared off of it, looking out as the other neighborhood children played on sleds a short distance away in the snow.

The boy smiled at her. "Great party last night."

Anna was glad she had a scarf around her face, she felt her cheeks flush a little. "Thank you. It was fun wasn't it?"

He grinned at her. "Yeah." The band had played music at the party. The Potter family invited their friends and the neighborhood over for the evening again. It had been quite an evening for everyone. "I never thought I'd get invited to a party like that." Cedric gave a small sigh and scratched at the bump on his head. The pain was gone, but it itched. He winced a little as he pushed down a little too hard on it.

The redhead was once again glad she was wearing her scarf as she smirked at the sight of it. "Oh. Did you hit your head or something?" It was both embarrassing and appealing in an odd way to bring it up.

Cedric flushed a little. "Uh. Yeah. I'm not sure how, I think I did it in my sleep somehow." He looked a little uncomfortable for a moment but tried to hide it. He stood up and dusted off his pants, pulling a sled of his own out from behind the log they were seated on. "Are you coming?"

Anna shrugged and grinned at him. "Have fun." There were a few good sized hills for the children to slide down. It was less than thrilling in her opinion. "I'd rather stay warm." She looked like she was enjoying just watching everyone.

The boy grinned and nodded as he started walking off. "Are you sure?"

The Potter girl smiled at him and his cheeks became warm. They were already red from the cold air. "I'm empathic, I can tell you're all having fun. It's nice just sitting here and watching. I'm a bit worn out from last night still."

The boy blinked and turned away as he waved at her. "Um, a-alright then."

Anna looked very pleased with herself. She was very aware of the play on word's she'd just given him, but he didn't have a clue. It was more fun than it she'd thought it would be.

Margaret and Pansy seemed to appear on either side of her, taking seats on the log from behind the pair. "Hi Cedric." They chimed together and waved. He glanced back and gave a weak looking wave as he joined the neighborhood boys on the hillside.

Christina Milan, who had stayed the night after the party was grinning at the redhead from Margaret's side as she sat down with them. "Hey. He's cute."

Pansy smiled at her and nodded. "Isn't he though?"

Margaret agreed. "Yes. He's Anna's boyfriend."

The redhead sighed and hung her head. "He's not my boyfriend. I'm thirteen, what am I supposed to do with a boyfriend anyway?"

Christina smirked at the redhead. "You like him though?"

Anna nodded and shrugged. "Yeah. He's cute. I suppose when we're both old enough to do something, I'll consider him. I'm a..."

Pansy squealed and shoved the redhead's shoulder. "Oh. Getting her to admit something like that is like pulling teeth."

"She's trying to play it tough, but she's got a huge crush on him." Margaret leaned into Christiana looked over at the redhead as she spoke in a stage whisper.

Anna sighed and looked at the blond. "Well, he does have the best shot so far. I like him."

Pansy and Margaret both grabbed her shoulders and started to sing the chorus to 'I hate myself for loving you' by Joan Jett. They both started laughing and leaning on their friend to tease her about it.

Christina seemed amused and giggled. "That one's about him then?"

Anna was flushed and trying to look more annoyed than she really was. "So?"

All three girls looked surprised. Margaret spoke up first. "R-really?"

The redhead gave a heavy sigh. "Look. You're right. I like him, he's cute. I suppose I've got a little crush on him." She put her elbow on her knee and held her head up as she watched him slide down the hills nearby with the boys. She looked to her left and right and sighed. Noriko, and Marci were now sitting on the ends of the group looking pleased and attentive. The redhead rolled her eyes and sighed. "Most people don't end up married to the first guy they get a crush on either. It's likely I'll change my mind and pick someone else by the time I'm old enough to worry about dating. What's the big deal?"

Christina gave a small sigh and looked at her two friends. "You're right. She's got no sense of romance. We're going to have to help her."

The redhead frowned at her. "I don't need help. He's cute, but so are babies, puppies, and kittens. That doesn't mean I want to date them too."

Marci spoke up. "You do want to though? I mean, you kissed him, twice!"

Anna's smile had faded, and she was glad it was cold so they couldn't tell how much she was blushing. "He's adorable, yes. No, I don't need help." She hung her head and gave up. "Look, no other girl at Hogwarts will go near him. I've already got him cornered. Watch this." She stood up, and stretched her arms over her head, pushing her chest out. When she sat back down, the girls with her were looking impressed and giggling at his reaction.

Cedric turned away from watching the redhead stretch as Melvin slapped him on the chest to get his attention and tell him it was his turn for a run down the hillside's steepest slope.

Anna looked about at the group. "See? I know what I'm doing."

Christina glanced at the Melvin. He noticed her looking and grinned at her before sliding down the hill, almost ending up doing it on his face rather than his belly. He stumbled away from the bottom of the hill, thinking it looked cooler than it had. "I think I get what you mean."

Anna smirked at her and nodded. "You're in for quite a wait."

The blond flushed a little. "What do you mean?"

The redhead shrugged. "I'm empathic. I can tell when you like someone too. It would be wise for two friends of mine to remember that when they're teasing me."

Christina blinked and nodded. "Oh. So, you can tell if he likes you?"

The Potter girl nodded and smirked. "Yes, he does."

"You'll help us out though?" Pansy asked as she and Margaret both leaned into Anna's shoulders and grabbed her arms.

The redhead gave them a grin and a nod. "Of course. I want you to both be happy, and I can help you catch a really nice ones for yourselves."

"What about me?" Christina gave her a fake looking pout.

"You've already got your head in the right place." Anna gave her shoulder a shove.

Margaret changed the direction she was leaning and put her arm around the girl's shoulder. "Yes. Do take care of my brother. He's a total pervert, but he seems to have some sort of obsession with you."

The blond pop star flushed a little. "Well...I..." She frowned at the trio. "I never said anything. Don't leave me alone with that guy. He's cute, but..."

The Potter girl smirked. "We can tell you like him. He needs to be trained first though before he'll be useful. You've got enough of his attention that won't be very difficult." She kicked at the snow a little. "He's not getting any before he graduates though. Not that he isn't going to try." She turned a knowing smirk towards the girl. "You know you've got him where you want him. You just didn't realize we'd noticed."

Christina sighed and shrugged. "He's cute, but he's really stupid, and I don't think I can trust him."

Anna chuckled and shook her head. "At least you know it's not because you're rich and famous. He's already got that."

Pansy giggled and nodded. "He is a bit of a pervert. I never thought I could be friends with a guy like him before." She scrunched up her nose.

Margaret looked her up and down. "Well, he does worship you. He's actually got your doll collection, the plastic house and all, and he listens to your albums all the time." She smirked at the girl. "I suppose you'll do if you're ever interested. I do get tired of dragging him back by his leash myself all the time."

The pop singer looked a little surprised. "He listens to my music?"

Anna nodded. "Openly. Don't tell me you didn't notice the way he snaps to attention at the sound of your voice. You love that. You could tell him to jump in the pond at Hogwarts and wrestle with the giant squid and he'd do it. Of course, then I'd have to rescue him. So please don't." She looked at the flushing blond girl out of the corner of her eye. "He'll never admit it, but he's attracted to your voice almost as much as the rest of you. I've caught him singing along with you more than once."

Margaret rolled her eyes and nodded. "Tell me about it. I can hear that dope in the shower from my room. I don't sing when I'm in there, so he's never figured it out."

"He really listens to my music?" The girl looked pleased.

The girls settled in, huddled together and warm on the old log, watching the boys rush up and down the nearby hillside.

OooOOooOO

Lily and James Potter both noticed the strange silence at the train station. The moment they appeared, the station came to a dead stop. People started whispering to each other, and the family was unhindered to move through the crowd.

The Weasley family waved them over, and broke the painful silence for them all. Both adults looked a bit dazed and uncomfortable by the scene. Not all of the looks they were getting were of the nicest sort. Though, many looked a bit amazed, and several hats had come off at the sight of them all.

Anna noticed the press was kept off the platform. A few with children had managed to get in, and scribbled on note pads at a good distance. There were no cameras.

They stood and said goodbye to their parents with the Weasley family. Harry frowned as they hefted their luggage. "Heads up, Anna."

"Miss Potter, anything you'd like to comment on?" A man in his early twenties was standing next to the door to the car. "You as well, Mr. Potter."

Harry shook his head and walked onto the train. Ron shrugged at the man and followed behind his friend with his hand on his sister's shoulder. Melvin trailed along just as Margaret and Pansy moved between her and the man.

Anna gave a nod and spoke up. "Sure. The House Elves have come to understand that the bunnies have their place, and the House Elves have their own. I'm delighted negotiations between myself, the Drow, the House Elves, and the Elves of the Forest ended with a peaceful resolution of coexistence between the two races. I look forward to a bright and peaceful future for all of those who were involved." She grinned at him in a cheerful manner and turned to look at one of the creatures who followed her. "Hey. Take a picture would you?"

The creature pulled the wizarding version of an instant camera, and hopped over to where he could see the crowd of parents in the station. Many were saying their goodbyes to family, but others were watching the group very close. Some worried, some in awe, all of them a little scared on some level. There had never been anything like them in wizarding history. There were a few legendary Warlocks, who had much more limited power, who accomplished many great things, and had built reputations of invincibility. They were all grown by the time that had occurred in their lives. Most of them lived a very long time, a few were destroyed. Most of the tales once thought mere Fable and Folklore of wizarding culture, were now being reexamined as possible historical accounts. It was a mixed bag, but some of them had become quite heroic. Others had become monsters that rivaled Lord Voldemort's reputation.

She was just a child. A young teen, of only thirteen years. She had brought an army to it's knees in a few months time. Everyone knew she had forced them to surrender. Every Wizard there had seen her wielding power once thought only possible with a well trained wand. What people had seen both her and her brother do before had pushed the limits. She'd just crushed them, and laid it out in the open for all to see. She'd been given little choice. "I've got to go now. See you about."

The man smirked as he nodded at her. "Thanks for the scoop."

The girl glanced over her shoulder. "Just make sure Rita Skeeter doesn't get a piece of it. I don't care for her much." She looked up towards the car's rooftop and frowned. A pair of insect wings could be seen fluttering just on top of the train car roof, just out of sight.

The man chuckled and nodded. "Right."

OooOOooOO

Anna walked into the train car and glanced into where her brother was sitting. He was talking and laughing with Ron, and Melvin. The drummer was telling them about how Christina had kissed him on the cheek at the New Years Eve party at her home.

"I'm telling you! It was awesome! She kissed me! I haven't washed it yet! Right here!" The raven haired boy pointed at his cheek.

Hermione shrieked. "Eeeew! Get away from me!"

She chuckled and kept moving, Margaret and Pansy had gone ahead of her and gotten a seat on the other end of the car. It was unusual, because it was occupied by Slytherin. She paused about half way there and looked down. "What the?" It was a light purple and yellow muppet looking thing, poking it's nose out of the door to one of the cars. It had bee like wings that fluttered as it crawled about on the ground. "What the hell is that thing?"

"It's a Purple Striped Snoot Blasting Curltailed Yellow Nurf." Anna jumped a bit at the nerdy looking skinny first year girl who poked her head out of the car. She had blond hair in two pigtails, and a large set of glasses over her eyes.

"Oh. Miss Lovegood. I should have known." The redhead's face fell and she found herself blushing.

"You can see it! You can, can't you?" The girl had wide eyes and looked very excited. "Finally! Validation! Cold hard scientific fact!"

The redhead gave a small sigh as her brain worked fast. She wasn't getting dragged into the mess Luna Lovegood's mind was. "Yes. They are real. However, you seem to be able to see into other dimensions. It's really best to ignore them. They aren't on this plane, and you can't really interact with them much. In fact, it's a bit unhealthy to pay them too much attention, and I'm pretty sure you won't be able to prove they exist. Not even with my word backing you up I'm afraid. It would just make us both look bad." Anna didn't know if that was true, but it did seem possible to her. "I suppose you might prove it one day. It wouldn't matter much since we can't really interact with them on this plane if you did. So why bother?"

The girl's face fell. "Oh. They are real though. I knew it!" She seemed pleased again a split second later. The first year gave her a cheerful grin. "You're Anna Potter? You've got really pretty light wings and tentacles. What's that big black spot in the middle? Your brother doesn't have one."

"I'm afraid that's private."Anna cocked her head back a little as something in the back of the girl's mind started turning. She ducked back into her seat with Neville Longbottom, and Dean Thomas. The girl was odd, and had managed to surprise her. Dean frowned at the redhead as she passed, and looked away from her.

Anna turned into the seat her friends had saved and froze. Cedric Diggory was sitting on the opposite side of the car, looking a little uncomfortable. Ginny, Marci, Pansy, and Margaret were all sitting about the door. "Why?" She looked at her friends.

"We invited him to sit with us." Margaret shrugged and looked away.

"Yeah. Well, I can tell you dragged him here. Sorry." She looked very tired and gave the boy a weak smile.

Marci's lips turned up and she nodded while looking guilty, but not sorry. "A little."

Cedric looked a little sheepish and more uncomfortable. "Well, I wouldn't say dragged. Strongly encouraged?"

The redhead frowned at her friends. "Just because I kissed you at Christmas. Jeeze."

Ginny nodded. "And New Years Eve."

Anna gave a sigh as both she and the boy turned a bit pink. She glanced at him. "Look. Sorry about this. They've been setting us up lately it seems."

He looked afraid to open his mouth. "I uh...well...I'm not mad or anything...er...that is..."

Anna started turning red. There was something about the look on his face that appealed to her. She felt bad for him, but it was also...adorable. It was so odd. She almost didn't want to stop him from stuttering, but decided to be merciful. She glanced at her girlfriends who were all looking on with big dumb grins on their faces. "Why? I mean really? Go find boyfriends of your own already. I'm going to get you all back for this someday." She nodded at Ginny and Marci. "You as well, I know you two had a hand in it."

"Am I? I mean? What? Can I um? I mean, am I your...boyfriend now?" Cedric was confused, and unsure of how involved in the process he was.

Anna's head fell and she gave a small sigh and turned over her hand. "Do you want to be?"

The boy froze. "I um...well, you make me a bit nervous...I mean, first that mess in that death trap, then those spiders..." He started shaking a bit. "I like you, really. You're pretty and all...I mean, I don't want to say no...or...um...maybe?"

The redhead glanced back at him and shrugged. "Okay then. That's good enough for me." She shrugged and sat back with her hands behind her head and looked rather relaxed. "I guess we're dating then."

The boy flushed and nodded. "Well, I guess. I mean, I didn't say...but..."

"I'm empathic." The girl shrugged. "I know you like me and all. I've known for a while." She looked a little zoned out. Now she really did have to plan on saving his butt. She knew by that point she was going to do it anyway.

"What's that mean again?" He scratched at his head.

"I can feel other peoples feelings." She looked at him. "There's quite a few boys with a crush on me and my friends you know. I don't like airing it about though, it's something that should remain private."

Cedric nodded. "Oh. So um, what am I supposed to do?"

Anna shrugged. "Nothing really. We just hang out like always. We're still a bit young. We'll see how you do in the future, and decide where to go from there. Right now, it just means you can tell people I'm your girlfriend if they ask." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Sometimes I'll do stuff like that to you too."

He nodded and seemed to calm a little. "Oh. Okay." He was still a bit zoned out, but didn't seem near as nervous as he had.

She frowned at her wide eyed and still silent and enraptured friends. "Are you happy now? Quit doing stuff like this to us."

Margaret, Pansy, and Ginny moved away from the door to sit around the pair. The raven haired girl spoke up first. "You'd better be good to her."

Pansy nodded. "Yeah. You'll regret it forever if you're not."

Ginny was pink and nodded. "Yeah. We'll break you in half if you're not."

Anna frowned at her a little and gave her a playful swat. "Calm down." She turned to look at the now very rigid boy. You'll be fine. No one is going to hurt you." Cedric relaxed a bit as she said it, but not all the way. "We'll talk about this later. Without so many eyes and ears about." She whispered it to him and he nodded and seemed to relax a great deal more.

OooOOooOO

The first thing that the students always did when they returned to school was a meal. That day was no different. Anna Potter walked into the Great Hall with a frown on her face with her friends surrounding her. They took their usual seats, and were greeted by total silence from every student.

The girl took her usual spot, just at the end of the rest of her class, between them and the first years. Ginny sat with them and looked about in surprise. "Wow. What's going on?"

"I just won a war. Everyone is a bit surprised with me." The redhead looked down and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. Pansy and Margaret were sitting opposite her, with Melvin closest to the first years. His sister had discovered that if she sat across from him, she could get a good shot in on his shins. He looked a little bored.

Ginny nodded and smiled. "Wow. You're really strong. Stronger than any boy."

The redhead smirked at her. "Well, that's a positive statement for a young girl to make I suppose."

Marci was quaking a bit opposite Melvin. "Yeah. Real strong." She looked pretty uncomfortable.

"Cut it out. I'm not going to hurt you already." Anna gave a small sigh and looked at the girl. "Really."

"But, you know I'm a spy, right? I mean, I kind of have too." The girl was blushing and looked uncomfortable.

Anna nodded. "Yes. That might prove useful at some point." She imagined the reports the girl was giving were very detailed and well done. She was fortunate, because neither of her parents were intelligent enough to do anything useful with it. "Besides, you're with me already, even if you don't realize it yet."

The girl crossed her arms and frowned. "Um, are you sure? I'm not sure."

Anna shrugged. "No, not really. I've got a good feeling about you though. Despite the fact that you're a bubbleheaded idiot who needs to stay out of my lab." She had a smirk on her face as he said it. "I like you anyway."

Marci was near to tears. "But...but...I'm evil. I'm one of the bad guys and you treat me like..." She sniffed. "Waaaaaahhhhh!" Her mouth shut and she went rigid. The rest of her friends tried to shush her.

Severus Snape strolled up to the scene with his cape billowing in a rather dramatic fashion. "What is the meaning of this?" He hovered over the group with a frown on his face.

Marci looked up at him, sniffed and pointed at Anna. "I'm an evil spy, and she wants to be my friend anyway! It's so beautiful! I can't help it." Tears were streaming down her face as she looked up at him with huge doe eyes.

The man recoiled as if he was a vampire faced with a cross. "Stop that! This instant!"

The girl sniffed and nodded. Pansy put her arm around the girl. "It's all right. There there." She was very confused at Anna's attitude towards the girl. She looked a little uncomfortable, but helped calm the girl anyway.

"Potter, a word." The man didn't look pleased, and waved his hand to call her aside. Once they were far enough away from the tables no one could overhear them, he leaned into her. "Thanks to your display, we've been dealing with a great deal of concerned parents."

The girl nodded and frowned up at him. "Yes. I've realized that. You're welcome by the way. I kept you out of a war. Wasn't that nice of me?"

The man knew what it meant, she was telling him to his face that he owed her. His lip curled up and he snarled at her. "Yes. You're in my house Potter. I'd better not have any difficulty dealing with it because of you. Punishment will be severe, if you start getting in my way. However powerful you think you are, you're still a student here. You will obey the rules, or you will be punished. I am still head of Slytherin."

The girl nodded. "I don't want the job."

"You're very powerful, Potter. Don't let it go to your head. You are not invincible." The man was looming over her hissing down. "There are a lot of eyes on Hogwarts because of you."

"What? Do you really think I'm going to start killing students or something? I've no interest in bullying people about with my power." She looked up at him and smirked. "The wizarding world is a little afraid of me, but respects that I hold great power. Here, I am still just a student, and I will behave as one. Just as I have in the past."

"You'd better." He growled and jabbed at her with his finger before turning away. "Don't forget to be in the lab tomorrow morning. I want all the ingredients prepped before classes begin for the day."

She gave him a nod and turned away. "As you wish, Professor." She turned away and went back to her seat, feeling everyone looking at her back as she moved by.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sleeping. He knew it because he was standing in a large hall full of statues dressed in robes like the one he wore. He looked at his arm, and found the familiar red skin of Ahsoka Tano. He looked around, the boy was alone, but felt very much at peace where he was. It wasn't like the feeling of being home, but he felt welcome. He walked a short distance looking around. "Anna? Anakin?"

"Ah. Welcome, young Padawan." The boy turned about, surprised, but not alarmed. He felt welcome in this place, but also a more distant feeling of foreboding.

"Hello." Harry found himself looking at a very small creature. It was very old, with green skin and three fingers that held a gnarled walking stick. "Who are you? Where is Anna, er, Anakin?"

The creature gave a wheezing chuckle and shook his head. Harry thought it was male anyway. "Find her here, you will not."

This caught the young female a little off guard. "Huh?"

The creature smiled at him and nodded. "Come with me, Harry Potter. I shall be your guide. You may call me Master Yoda. Something to discuss we have, Hmmm?""

"What is this place?" The young Togruta followed after the creature. "Where's Anna?"

The aged Jedi Master shook his head. "Understand yet, you do not. Soon you will. Come."

The young female nodded and looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Yoda gave a small chuckle. "A curious one you are. Tell me, know you where it is you are?"

Ahsoka blinked in surprise. "I'm not sure. I've never been here." She looked about at the lavish temple, thinking it looked like a large and expensive church.

"The place you see before you, it is the Jedi Temple on Corusant." Yoda seemed amused, and was enjoying the conversation.

The Togruta nodded. "Oh. So this place, it's a memory of my sister's then? That's how this dream..."

Yoda looked a bit surprised and the boy stopped talking because of the look. He gave a small sigh and shook his head. "A memory it is, but belong to your sister, it does not."

The boy looked a little shocked. "Huh?"

Yoda paused at the bottom of a great set of stairs. "A part of this place, your sister's memory it is. Here now, with us, she is not."

Harry frowned and bit his lip. He was very confused. "I've never been here. How can I remember it?"

"Patience young Padawan." The creature seemed pleased with him. "A memory it is, I am but a shadow, a memory myself. A memory of your sister's I am not. Long ago, I became one with the Force, just as you shall one day."

The boy's face fell. "Oh. Then you're really?"

The creature gave a small sigh as the boy seemed to begin to understand. "Just a memory I am, but not one of your sisters. Understand you do not, but begin to you shall." He started moving up the steps. "Come, there is much to discuss, and things you must see. Depend upon you, more than you imagine, the future shall."

The boy seemed to understand what was being asked of him. "Yes, Master Yoda."

The creature gave him a serious looking nod. "Train Jedi well, she does. Unfortunate it is, that she does not excel at being one herself. Come. For now, save your questions, understanding will come in time, Padawan."

Harry didn't like the way that sounded, but hung his head a little and nodded.

"Clings to something she should not, she does." The old creature cleared his throat. "Regrettable."

Harry Potter found himself glaring at the floor, but not speaking. "You were one of the Jedi Council. You're saying I'm making this up somehow?"

The cheerful little green man chuckled. "No. You are not. Opened the door she has with this new training. Given us form, context, within your mind. Who is to say whether I am Master Yoda or not? Know this, Padawan, the Force, has a strong hand here. Be mindful of this."

The boy nodded, catching the implication of that statement. "You're talking about the Dark Side. It's strong here as well."

The creature gave him a careful looking glance. "Noticed that did you? Of course." He giggled with a bit of glee. "We can never truly be free of the Dark Side of the Force, without it, our way cannot exist. You must be mindful, Padawan. Once one falls down this dark path, forever does it dominate their destiny."

The boy glared at the creature. "Anna isn't evil."

Master Yoda looked very tired for a moment. "Very young, she still is. Ambitious, intelligent, she seeks glory, power, praise, adventure. Humph. A Jedi craves not these things. It is not what she will try to build that will be important. What is important is what you must build. A strong foundation, she cannot provide."

That caught Harry off guard. "I believe in her. I will build it with her."

Yoda waved him along. "Hope you are right I do. Hmmm. Still, very dangerous she is becoming."

Harry clenched his fist. "I don't want to fight her." They were at the end of a long hallway moving towards a set of heavy doors. An entire planet of city devoured every horizon. He could see it from the large windows on both sides of the hallway. Thousands of ships and small transports buzzed about through the towering buildings.

"That is a choice, only she can make. Be aware, you would not be the first student destroyed by her." The creature didn't look weary of the conversation, but seemed grave and saddened. "You feel you will face her. Fear of loss, very dangerous it is. Created Lord Vader, it did."

The Togruta female nodded. "Yes. I have felt the conflict growing between us." She didn't want to say more than that.

The pair walked in silence towards the doors. They entered the room and the boy found himself surrounded by what he could only assume was the old Jedi council. He didn't seem very happy, but wasn't getting overwhelmed with sadness either. He looked about the room familiar with a few of their faces from his recent training. "This is battle meditation isn't it?"

The bald black human Jedi turned towards Master Yoda as he took his place in the center seat. The room was large and round, and large windows on the walls revealed the city sprawling in every direction. "He's very astute, isn't he?"

Yoda settled in and nodded. "Yes. It is but a part of this art. Teach it to you, I cannot. A master you have, and a master you must keep. Used as a tool to help with training for one's self it is. Teach it to a Padawan learner, we did not. Very advanced it is, and dangerous, for it can influence more than just dreams. An army can be controlled, tactics revealed, and crushed opponents can be. For one as young as you, this art is not for."

Ki-Adi-Mundi, a Jedi with a very tall head, glanced at the boy. "We are but shadows. Though we are not of your making, or hers. We are similar to the spirits you've met at school. Though our origins are perhaps a bit different."

The boy nodded, every seat was filled, and he tried to put a name to some of the faces. Shaak Ti, the Togruta Jedi Master caught his attention. He imagined the young alien girl who's form he was using grew into such a Jedi.

Mace Windu spoke up. "That is not the case. Her personal connection to Anakin made conflict inevitable. She survived order sixty-six, but was hunted down and eventually destroyed by her former master. She was too close to him, and he was able to use that connection to find and eliminate her. Master Obi-wan, knew to hide. She was unaware of what he had become until it was too late."

The boy gasped and held up his hand to look at it. "What?"

Master Kit Fisto, who looked like he was built more for a liquid atmosphere, sat back in his chair and grinned. "Do not mourn the past. She became one with the Force, just as we did. Not so terrible a fate."

It didn't make the boy feel much better, but he nodded. "Why am I here?"

Yoda spoke up. "Train you we cannot, for shadows of the Force are we. Offer council we can, and give you knowledge. Teach you we can, learn much you will. A great Jedi you will become. Your sister's fate, clouded it is, dark, dangerous."

"Then I must help her." He frowned at the council and clenched his fist.

Shaak Ti spoke up with a smile on her face. "You already do."

Mace Windu lifted his arm and showed a missing hand. "It may not be enough."

"Train her, you cannot." Yoda shook his head. "Who is to guide her? Hmm? She is the teacher, and the teacher she must remain."

"I can't just leave my home." The boy looked shocked. He didn't care much for the dream he was having. It was troubling. "I can't just abandon her."

"The fear of loss..." Obi-wan spoke up, but Harry cut him off.

"You're wrong about that. We cannot forget what we fight for." The boy clenched his fist. "Everyone is afraid of losing the things they care about. Even you were. Denying it, doesn't make it easier to handle, just more difficult. Anakin couldn't ask you for help, it would have destroyed his life." The boy looked about the room with a calm expression on his face. "I believe this is what truly destroyed the Jedi. You lost your connection with what you were defending, and it weakened you, made you vulnerable. What might have happened, if he'd been able to go to you for help rather than being forced to hide it in shame?"

Obi-wan gave a small shrug. "I'm afraid I'm with him. Anakin's son shared this belief, and it worked out well for him."

Yoda gave a rough snort. "Up to debate that is."

"If I'm founding an order, I'm going to include it." The Togruta girl turned her nose up. She couldn't do anything about how she looked. The people and creatures he met in dreams like this, acted as if they noticed if he was acting out of place or saying something that sounded odd to them. "What exactly is this technique?" This time, they all knew who he was.

The small green creature gave another sigh. "Battle Meditation. I do not approve of the teaching of this to a mere Padawan. I understand the reasoning behind it, I do feel he is not yet ready."

Harry spoke up without meaning too. "Was I any different? My entire training ground was the middle of the Clone Wars."

Mace smirked at Yoda's small grunt. "She has a point. Still, it a technique that requires knowledge, discipline, and skill, not power, or exuberant enthusiasm. Battle Meditation is not a technique, but rather a school of meditation. This is but one of many techniques you will learn. Traditionally, Dream Meditation is used to impart this knowledge after a Padawan has become a knight and is no longer at the side of the former master. It is in this way this school is taught. It is also used by the Council to administer the trials. It can be dangerous, more than you yet know. There are many dark places in all minds, not just your own. It is a power that can be abused easily by one not yet ready to handle it's responsibilities."

"I've got to try. If I'm going to ever have a hope of turning her, I've a feeling I'm going to need to beat her first." He nodded and looked about the room.

Yoda gave a sigh and a nod. "Train you we can not. Give you knowledge, insight, we can. Teach you about the past we can, but make your own way through it, you must. Commune with you this way, we shall. Much to learn you have, and not much time. Cost you more than you think, saving your sister might. Beware, the fear of loss you must. Regardless of your belief, understand it is very dangerous for a Jedi you must. Choose between what you care about, and what you must do, you must be able to face."

The boy nodded, and looked just as firm as ever. "I know."

When he looked down he saw that he was wearing his robes again, and that the skin on his hand had paled. He turned at the girl standing next to him and smirked. Ahsoka nodded at him once with a smile of her own and faded away from his side. "So. This is what I must build? That's going to be difficult."

A Jedi he'd not noticed before, sitting in the far left seat, almost behind him spoke up. "You've no idea." He had sandy blond hair and was dressed in all black. "Good luck. You'll need it." The man gave him a warm grin. "I'm glad you've got faith in her. Just don't let it lead you astray, and you'll do fine. May the Force be with you."

The boy couldn't figure out who the man was. He wasn't a member of the council his sister had mentioned before. He nodded at the man and noticed all of the figures fading away with the room. "May the Force be with you."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was standing on a familiar balcony. Her eyes were wide, she could see the waters of a great lake before her, and endless green in every direction. She was female, in a style of dress more like her former wife used to wear, and looking out across Naboo from a room in the palace. "Padme."

"Afraid not."

She whirled around and gasped. Sitting with his legs propped up on top of a table with a fruit in has hand was a familiar face. "You." She wasn't sure what to think.

The man grinned as he rocked in his chair and lean back on the back legs. "Hello, Master." He looked to be in his early to mid twenties, and had a shaved head under the hood of his robes. Sitting beside him, and across from her, was a woman dressed the same way, with red hair coming out of the left side of her hood.

Anna frowned a little. "Starkiller. I suppose it's good to see you." She looked at the woman and leaned in a bit closer. "Oh. Mara Jade as well."

The man was wearing Jedi robes and shrugged. "I suppose it all worked out. That boy of yours has had a real time of it. Awful mess at times. Your daughter seems to have similar issues. Married a smuggler as I recall. Still, I suppose I can't say they weren't better off without you."

The woman nodded and looked a little surprised. "His son fared better."

Anna snorted. "That's debatable, Han Solo was a good man, and as far as I recall, he never tried to kill my daughter." The young girl smiled at both of them. "I suppose I should have expected something like this at some point." She turned her smirk towards the redhead. "Don't look so surprised. Of course Lord Vader knew about you." The two converted Sith looked at each other. "I know all about my daughter in law of course, well, former daughter in law." Anna leaned across the table and looked playful as she spoke to the rather wide eyed redhead. "You weren't trained very well, but you were his emergency back up apprentice. Just in case the next part he strapped onto me didn't keep me from dying." The young redhead turned a cool gaze towards her. "He didn't want me sensing you, so he limited your training. Don't think I wasn't keeping an eye on that. You weren't a big enough threat to make the trouble of dealing with you worth it at the time."

Anna took the seat across from Starkiller and leaned onto the table. "I suppose I owe you. You did start the rebellion that put an end to me." There was no humor in her tone.

He frowned at her a little. "It was your idea."

She gave a small sigh. "Yes, but it worked a little too well. I'm glad it did. I was tired of living, if that's what you could call what I'd become. Bastard, he wouldn't let me die. Kept putting more parts on. I was pretty much a droid with a human head by the time my son..." Her eyes became a little lost.

The Jedi smirked. "Saved you?"

Anna gave a slow nod.

Starkiller put his hands behind his head. "Yeah. Someone saved me too."

Mara smirked at the girl's rather far out stare. "What a coincidence."

"I suppose I did have a good feeling about that pilot. Once again, a little too good. I should have realized the way your hormones were behaving. I didn't have them anymore." She chuckled and shook her head. "Why are you here? Just drop by to say hello?"

"Me? I'm here because I should be. I'm not really sure why." The Jedi chuckled and put his feet on the floor. The look on his face was very grim.

"You know what drew us to you." The woman turned her eyes up to look at her."You just don't want to face it."

Anna looked down at the tabletop and frowned. "What?" When she looked up again, they were gone. "What was that about?" The dream ended, and she slipped off.

OooOOooOO

Cedric Diggory was pacing about the hall, scratching his head and looking a bit worried. There was a long break between classes, and he moved to her side.

Anna Potter smirked at the scene as she walked up in a slow and calm stroll. "Hello Cedric."

The boy snapped up and looked back at her. "Um hi. So, um..."

The girl shrugged and smiled at him in a warmer manner than he was used to seeing from her. He stopped talking and straightened up a bit. "Well, to be honest. There's something about you that's gotten my attention. I'm really not quite sure what it is yet. You are cute, but it's not just that. I do like you, and that's not completely it either. You fascinate me. I've no idea why really."

The boy looked a little shocked. "Me? What?" He had no idea what to say.

Anna cocked her head and peered at him. "There's a connection between us. A string of fate, I've decided to pick it up and see where it goes. Does that explain it?"

The boy seemed to think on it a moment, he still looked confused. "A little. Um, you don't already know where it goes?"

She shrugged. "No idea. I'm not omnipotent you know." The girl seemed very relaxed and watched where his gaze was traveling. He was having trouble figuring out where he was supposed to look.

The boy nodded, still looking a bit dazed. "Oh. So, I'm your boyfriend then. What happens to me if I break up with you?" He kind of looked like he wished he hadn't asked.

The girl looked surprised and started to chuckle. "Nothing. I might not want to speak with you so often anymore. If you wait too long, I might not want to speak to you at all. Don't expect me to hang about waiting for you if you leave either." She raised her hand and pulled out a tarot card. Two people kissing, with a serpent wrapped around them, the man with a golden cup in his hand, and the red haired maiden, holding the head of the snake that wrapped around them both. "Let's just say I'm big on fate. I like the way the cards look with you. You're free to do as you like, if you're not interested just let me know." Her lip turned up, he wasn't going to do that. "I like you anyway, I'm not going to stop being friends with you if you're not interested. I understand. I guess."

The boy nodded and swallowed. "It's not that I don't like you. I mean, you're really pretty, and you're nice to me, and rich, and um, talented, and you're hot. I really think I might die."

The girl nodded and arched her eyebrow, arching her back a little bit. "It's better to die for something, than of something, isn't it?"

The boy's brow furrowed. "Damn it. I really am that stupid."

Anna seemed confused by that statement, shook her head, kissed him on the cheek as she patted his chest, and strolled down the hall leaving him standing there. "See you later Cedric dear." She waved back to him.

The boy just sort of stood there and watched her leave. "Oh man. Spiders, and deathtraps, and who knows what else? I'm going to do it anyway." His entire body seemed to relax as he shuffled away. "Stupid dream. Why did it have to be such a great...grrrr..." He stiffened up and almost marched back to his dorms. "Though, she does like me I suppose? Why me though? I mean, I'm...just a guy." He couldn't understand it. Anna knew all sorts of famous people, she'd met handsome actors, musicians, models. She was good friends with Christina Milan, and was rumored to have discovered the mega-hot new guitarist for The Scorpions. She had to know lots of much smarter and better looking boys than him.

He wasn't sure if her deciding they should date was a good thing or a bad thing. The worst part about it all, was that he knew right where that 'string' would lead her, that it just might get him killed, and he was going to do it anyway. With a heavy sigh, he relaxed and walked back to his dorm with his eyes more on the ceiling than in front of him and his head tilted back. His head was aching a little.

Half of him wanted very much to work up the nerve to tell her he wasn't interested. It was a very loud half too. The other half, was telling him that he had better not fucking screw this up. Either way, it was making him feel a bit unsettled, because 'don't screw up' was winning out. "Oh god. I really am that stupid. I don't believe this."

OooOOooOO

Anna frowned as she moved out of her new boyfriend's line of sight. She looked at the card she'd drawn and shifted her fingers, revealing death hidden behind it. She had no idea what to do with Cedric Diggory, but had come to the realization that she wasn't gay, and was never going to be. From what she'd done so far, she had no reason to believe she couldn't learn to really enjoy being on this side of her new fence. She had no clue of her future with him in reality, but she was being honest with him. There was a connection, and she felt they had some kind of future with one another. She didn't know what it was, but she glared at the skull. "I'm going to have to do something about you." She'd tried reading her own future, but it always came out cryptic and unclear. For some reason, it was much easier to read other people.

She had other work to attend first. That book needed to be dealt with, and the Sith girl who had gotten her hands on it. The girl put her deck into her pocket and looked over her shoulder. He had gotten her attention somehow, and she did find him attractive. Her body more than let her know when she got too near. She wanted to look casual kissing him on the cheek, but so far, she'd gotten flushed every time. It wasn't a bad feeling either.

Her eyes closed and she frowned. "Pay attention Anna. You've got important issues to deal with. No time for distractions. Not even one's with a cute butt." She picked up her pace and moved along the hall away from him. "What is wrong with me? Why am I doing this?" She was building on what seemed like a series of bad decisions that started with kissing him at Christmas.

Bad or not, it was more fun than she was comfortable with so far. He was cute already, but teasing him made it worse.

OooOOooOO

Anna gave a sigh, she sat down on her bed where both her friends were waiting for her. "Hi." She'd been expecting and dreading it for most of the day. Classes were over and they were back in the common areas for a few minutes before the evening meal. She'd managed to dodge their questions for most of the day, by hanging about with Cedric between classes. She was glad she did it, as it was much more entertaining than she'd anticipated. She'd also managed to dodge questions at lunch by promising to tell her girlfriends later.

"You've been gone a while." Margaret was filing her nails and faking disinterest. "We haven't seen you since lunch. Wonder who you've been hanging around? Hmmm?"

Pansy nodded. "What's it like having a boyfriend?"

The redhead blinked. "Well, he's been my boyfriend for less than two days so far." She cocked her head and thought about it. "It's pretty simple really. It's a bit like adopting a puppy."

Both girls turned to look at her in confusion. "Huh?"

Anna shrugged. "They've got to be trained. All he can do is stand nearby and shake right now really. It's kind of like teaching him to do tricks. He does something right, and I give him a kiss on the cheek or show a bit of cleavage or something. I can't give him too many treats though, or he'll just stay stupid and get fat."

Both girls seemed to think about that and nodded.

Pansy looked back at her. "Really?"

Margaret gave a serious looking nod. "That makes sense in an odd way now that I think about it."

The Potter girl shrugged and nodded. "Yes. It's more fun than I'd thought it would be at first to be honest. I pretty much get to torment him with his own hormones, and then make up for it by doing something really nice. Like kiss his cheek, or let a little more cleavage show, or make him put his arm around me, or hold my hand. Right now, I'm just hoping to keep him from wetting the carpet. He gets so nervous it makes me nervous. I'm not sure why it's cute, but it is. It doesn't seem like it will be to hard to get him well trained."

Pansy was giving her an odd look. "Did you hit your head or something?"

The redhead gave a sigh as she realized Margaret had a similar expression. "No. Look. I was kind of planning on avoiding the whole 'dating' thing for a while to be honest. I mean, I've got to destroy an evil wizard, pass my exams, find a Sith Lord, be an Apprentice, and Rock the whole fucking planet. My plate is kind of full." She got rather wide eyed and looked between them. "He managed to catch my attention anyway for some reason, and I'm not gay, so we'll see where this goes." Anna looked very calm and thoughtful about the whole subject.

Margaret grinned at her. "I knew we were right."

Pansy giggled and shook her head. "It was soooo obvious."

The redhead hung her head. "Yes, well. I suppose it was." She looked back at them. "What gave me away?"

Margaret snorted. "About half the songs on that girl rock album."

Pansy nodded. "Not to mention, you were singing some of them to him when we recorded it at your birthday party last year. Melvin was the only one who didn't notice that."

Both girls fell back on the mattress laughing. They started singing part of Paramore's 'Crushcrushcrush' at her and making kissing faces.

Anna put her hands behind her and leaned back. "All right, all right. So you discovered me. I was going to do it anyway you know. I was just thinking it would be better to wait a year or two first." Her mind said the truth, and it made her feel a bit guilty. "Or three, wait and see if he's still around." The girl's smile faded as her mind told her the reality of it. "I'd be sorry I did if he's not." Her smirk returned as her two friends laughed and chatted, teasing her a little behind her back. She'd expected more discomfort on her part, but so far, she was enjoying it. It wasn't as hard as she'd expected it to be. "That dream probably didn't hurt either."

OooOOooOO

Tbc...

Next time: Back to business.


	35. Chapter 35

Matter of force.

Part 35

The dueling club.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was sitting in her common area. Her friends were on the other side of the room, talking with each other, laughing, and having a pleasant time. It wasn't that unusual for her to be on her own. She spent a lot of time in the Potions lab above the dorms, and was often off with Professor Snape working as his apprentice, attending Quidditch practice, or band practice. It was rare for her to have more than an hour or two of free time in a day at school.

It was a Friday evening though, and everyone had a bit more time than normal on the weekends. She had a book in her lap and was looking over the room with a small frown on her face. Draco Malfoy was sitting with his two friends, laughing and boasting about himself, making fun of other children he didn't like, and being more cheerful than he had been in a while. Not a nice sort of cheer though, even his grin looked arrogant and mean spirited.

The redhead closed her book, set it aside, and stood up. She walked over to Malfoy, who was sitting between Crabbe and Goyle amongst several other students of varying age. "Malfoy."

Everyone went silent at the sound of the redhead's voice, most of the other students looked away from her, a few shifted with discomfort.

The blond boy looked up at her without fear and sneered. "What do you want, Potter?"

"I need a word with you, alone." Crabbe and Goyle had started to stand before she finished speaking. They seated themselves again as she looked over her shoulder as she said the last word and narrowed her eyes a little.

"Why should I?" Her classmate remained seated and looked uninterested.

The redhead held up a card with a hooded black skeleton with a scythe in his grip on it. "Your life might depend on it. You're not very strong yet, and we've got a mutual problem."

He scowled at her and stood up. "What the hell is it?"

"Follow. It's not for the ears of those not involved. No point in putting anyone else at risk." Her lips turned up in a very slight smile as she moved towards the stairs to the dorm.

One of the older students opened his mouth to make a quip about the pair sneaking off, but closed it as the second year boy glared at him and walked after her.

A moment later, they were alone in the stairwell. "What is it? I don't like wasting my time."

She was leaning against the wall opposite and just above him in the same pose he'd taken. "Yet you do it so often. A wonder."

He turned his head away. "So? What the hell is it?"

"There's another Sith. I've not discovered this one's identity, and I'm not talking about your master either." She had her head lowered and her eyes closed as she spoke.

"Good. Maybe I can help them kill you." He started to stand up.

"Don't be foolish. This one will kill you given the chance. Don't tell me your master didn't tell you the rules." She gave a humorless chuckle and shook her head, not opening her eyes.

It caught Malfoy off guard. "Rules?"

She nodded. "There can only be two Sith. No more, no less. A master, and an apprentice. Any Sith Lord would know how unwise it is to break this code. It's as dangerous to the master, as it is to his student. Your new boss, has a rival."

The blond boy leaned back against the wall and frowned. "Why should I care?"

"Because, eliminating you would be a top priority. Just under your master, my brother, and myself. You're in much more danger than I am. I've fought her already, and she's no match for me or my brother. You however, are still new to this power." The girl was calm, and had remained leaning against the wall with a smirk on her face.

Draco was glaring at her. "So?"

Anna gave a small sigh. "I'm a bit of an odd one. I realize that we're not friends, or allies, but right now..."

The boy nodded once. "I get it. If I figure this out first, it might work in my favor to inform you."

"Right. I don't trust you enough to work with you, but you need to be on guard for your own hide. I'm also not interested in killing you here at Hogwarts. It would cause more trouble than it's worth right now. I'm better off biding my time. This one, isn't so patient."

Malfoy gave a nod, his eyes were angry and his lips a tight frown. "What do you know?"

"A girl. Older than us, fifth or sixth year I'd say. She's got a book, a diary. It would benefit us both to see it destroyed." Anna glanced down at him with a frown of her own. It was a bit softer than his was.

"I'll destroy her if she comes after me." He clenched his fist. "I'm stronger than you think."

She nodded. "Perhaps, but you're also still rash, and foolish. Finding out the identity of her master is far more important than destroying her right now. It's that one who poses the biggest danger to both of us."

Malfoy nodded. "What's the big deal about this book?"

"It's a part of Lord Voldemort's puzzle. It needs to be destroyed, before he can be killed. He's in your way as well, isn't he?" The redhead looked towards the top of the stairs away from him.

"Nothing else to say?"

She glanced down at him and started down the stairs again. "May the Force be with you."

He looked confused as she strolled past him. "What?"

She continued down to the common area without looking back. "At this point, I prefer the devil I know, as opposed to the one I don't. Don't underestimate her. Her anger makes her strong, and she's got a lot more than you do."

He stayed against the wall and looked down at the corner of the stairs opposite him. "..."

OooOOooOO

Harry was walking through the entrance hall with Hermione and Ron. The group noticed a small knot of students standing around a parchment that had been posted there on one of the walls. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan waved them over looking cheerful and excited.

"They're starting a Dueling Club!" Seamus said as they drew near. "It starts tonight. I wouldn't mind dueling lessons. Might come in handy!"

Ron arched his eyebrow looking interested. "Maybe it will?" He was remembering what happened to him when he'd tried to curse Malfoy and seemed to cheer up a little. "I guess I might be able to use a few tips myself." He seemed to stiffen up.

"You're going then, Ron?" Parvati seemed to appear out of nowhere behind and put her hand on his shoulder. "Sounds like it might be a bit of fun."

Hermione started towards the Great Hall. "I guess. Going to cheer for your boyfriend?"

The girl smiled at her. "Of course!"

Harry smiled at them both and nodded. "I'll bet Anna will be there." He paused and looked over at Cho Chang. She was moving towards the hall for dinner with the rest of the school.

"Really? Sounds interesting. She's not very good at charms I've heard." The Asian girl looked him up and down as she moved by.

"I wouldn't really know. I know she can cast a few, we use them when we train at school sometimes." He flushed a bit under her gaze and scratched the back of his head. "We don't find them very useful."

Ron seemed surprised. "Really? I've seen you tie your shoes with..."

The boy who lived shrugged at him. "I don't need to cast a charm for that."

Hermione frowned at Cho's back and glanced at him. "You should do all right. You're pretty good at them. You've never done badly on the tests."

Harry's smile widened a little. "Well, I'm going to check it out."

OooOOooOO

The group hurried to the Great Hall at eight o'clock that evening. When they arrived, it appeared that most of the school was standing about, all with their wands and an air of excitement.

Ron tipped his hat back and rubbed at his forehead with his thumb. "Huh. More than I thought."

"I wonder who'll be teaching?" Hermione smiled at the pair. "I heard Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was younger."

Harry frowned. "Hope it isn't Professor Snape."

They edged their way through the crowd. The ceiling overhead was a velvety black, and a large golden stage was set up along one of the walls. The tables had all vanished, leaving enough standing room for the crowd. Candles were floating about the air overhead giving the room a soft warm light.

A moment later, Professor Afina strolled out onto the stage and waved everyone about. "All right then. Everyone can hear? Good, let's get started." She tapped her foot and clapped her hands silencing the crowd gathered. Her eyes looked about the room and settled on Harry and Ron's group for a moment. "Professor Dumbledore gave me permission to start our little club. I admit I was a bit surprised we didn't already have one. Professor Snape will be assisting me." She waved her hand as the taller unpleasant looking man moved up behind her.

Harry's face fell a little at the sight of him, but brightened up again as he noticed his sister stood beside him.

The woman smiled at the crowd and looked about. "You'll be paired up with students from your year. So the younger students don't need to worry. We'll be keeping an eye on things to make sure you're not injured if there's an accident or two. Professor Snape is well versed in dueling, and I am as well. So you can relax if you're worried." She noticed a few of the younger students were looking about at the older ones with a bit of worry. "We'll give a brief demonstration, and explain the rules."

Amanar and Snape walked apart from each other. Anna moved off behind her instructor just off the edge of the stage. She looked rather bored and disinterested. The two teachers gave each other a small nod. Snape turned his head and spoke up.

"Disarming charms only. We don't want to have to clean up a mess after your matches." They raised their wands like swords in front of themselves. "This is the accepted stance, we will not be aiming to kill or injure one another. Neither will you." The crowd was dead silent. Harry noticed Anna had moved back onto the stage and stood between them. "Miss Potter will count down to begin the match, on three, we will cast our charms."

Afina nodded at the girl. "When you are ready."

Anna gave a short nod and called out the countdown. "One... two... three."

Both the adult wizards raised their wands over their heads. Snape snapped his wrist forward first. "Expelliarmus!"

Afina flicked her wrist just as quickly. "Sheidarium." A ring of light appeared around the tip of her wand and the red energy impacted it and dispersed. She flicked her wrist again and spoke another charm. "Revitus Imparum." This time a golden light shot from the tip of her wand that zigzagged through the air like lightning.

Snape arced his hand upwards. "Resistimas." The woman's spell caught the tip of his wand, and arced over his head. His wrist curved down again. "Expelliarmus!"

Afina shifted to the side and was almost spun around as her wand was ripped from her hand. It almost flew into the crowd of students, but Anna raised her hand and it floated back into the instructor's hand.

The crowd clapped and cheered at the display for a moment.

Afina smiled at Snape and nodded her head. "Thank you professor." She looked back over the crowd again. "Now, you'll notice we only used spells to disarm our opponents, and defend ourselves. We'll go over casting such defensive charms in another session, but for now, we'll simply pair you up and get started. I'm sure you'd all like to try your hand. I'm aware you've all learned at least Expelliarmus, as it's a first year charm. So, you'll all be able to participate. Don't worry, you're not being scored, so even if you lose your first match, there's no need to worry. This is just practice to get you used to the basics." She walked off the stage with Anna and Snape, and started pairing up students.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other, but Professor Snape moved in front of them. Anna was working with the teachers, pairing people up.

The teacher frowned at the two boys. "Time to split up the 'Dream Team' I think." He pushed Ron up beside Seamus Finnigan. "You'll partner with him." Harry moved towards Hermione, but Snape stopped him. "I don't think so, Potter. Malfoy, let's see what you make of the famous Potter. Miss Granger, you can partner with Miss Bulstrode."

The girl's face fell a bit and she gave her square jawed and aggressive partner a weak smile that wasn't returned. Harry gave her an odd look and sighed while Draco smirked at him. He shivered a little, Millicent wasn't pretty at all in his opinion. She had a bad attitude from what he knew of her.

Anna walked up and paired Cho Chang with Padme Patil. Her sister was next to Ron, facing off against a Hufflepuff girl the boy didn't know. The Asian girl frowned as she glanced at the redhead who pushed her up next to Padme. "What? You're not joining in?"

With a small sigh Anna shook her head. "Sorry, not this time. I'm working as Professor Snape's assistant right now. I'll be watching over the matches with them unless there's an odd person out." She nodded her head towards Afina and Snape, who were both still pairing up students. Quite a bit of the room had tried to pair themselves up, and both teachers were switching them about. She gave the girl a smirk. "Maybe next time."

Harry was looking about the room. Both teachers seemed to be switching students about preventing friends and rivals from pairing off against each other.

Afina called Anna over towards the back of the hall. "Miss Potter? Could you come here?"

The redhead moved off and walked over to the woman's side. "Yes, Professor?"

Kate Delane was glaring at her, gripping her wand and standing next to the woman. "We seem to have an odd..."

Anna interrupted. "Not a chance."

The woman looked surprised. "Pardon? You're here to..."

"Anyone but her. Sorry, Professor. I'm afraid I've got to refuse." The redhead looked up at her with a serious and blank expression.

The woman frowned at her. Kate was silent, and rubbing her fingers on the wood of her wand. "I'm not really asking."

Anna shook her head. "Neither am I. It's a private matter, and I can't do as you ask."

Afina seemed surprised. "I'm afraid I'll need an explanation. She's older, but I'm sure you can handle it."

Kate kept her eyes on the second year and licked her lips in frustration. "Why not? Scared?" She looked pale, and was twitching with anticipation.

The young redhead looked the other girl dead in the face. She spoke in a whisper at the confused and irate looking woman. "I killed her mother."

The woman's face gave away no emotion and she nodded. "Very well. I understand."

Kate turned her eyes away and growled. Anna walked by her and kept her eyes on the girl as she moved by. As she walked past, she spoke two words. "I know."

Kate froze, her lip curled into a sneer as she watched her move off with Afina. She calmed visibly and turned her head away.

Anna frowned as she found herself standing in front of Michale Cretus. "Well, hello."

His former partner had been a fifth year boy from Hufflepuff. "Potter." He had a dark looking grin on his face and leveled a glare at her.

The girl smirked at him. "Behave yourself and stick to the rules."

He snorted and shook his long dark hair out of his face. "Pass up an opportunity like this? Why should I?"

"Suit yourself." She turned her head and looked over at Kate for a moment before glancing up at the stage again. She extended her wand to a short knife like length and held it ready along with the rest of the room.

Snape was standing on the stage with Afina beside him. The woman raised her hand and lowered it. "Begin!"

Michale wasted no time, he thrust his wand forward and sneered. "Wingardia Cuttrasis."

The girl smirked and lowered her wand as a curving arc of wind power shot from his wand at her face. Her hair stood upright and she raised her empty hand as it seemed to twirl above her head. Her robes fluttered as if she was standing in a whirlwind. She looked him in the eyes and waved her fingers at him as his strike became caught up in the wind surrounding her body. His hair blew back and he fluttered his eyes as a gust of wind blew by his head. The older boy's hand jerked back as her wand thrust forward and she spoke. "Expelliarmus."

He shook his head and rubbed at his eyes with his wrist as if he'd gotten sand in them and frowned as his eyes cleared up and saw his wand floating in front of his face.

She looked calm and was standing in the ready position. "Care to try again?"

On the other side of the room, Harry was facing off against Malfoy. The blond Slytherin student jabbed his own wand forward. He'd not waited for the signal and cast his spell. Harry shifted his wand and it bounced off the light blade and into the air.

Malfoy snorted as his opponent cast his spell in the same motion. "Rictusempra!" The spell was deflected in the same manner. The blond boy used the opportunity to step forward and hack with his weapon fully extended.

Harry's sword stopped it cold. They both had a smirk on their face as they slashed and blocked at each other for a moment. Both weapons hissed and popped as they clashed. Several students around them stopped their own matches to stare. A few took shots and fell on their rears as their opponents took advantage, but most everyone backed away from the pair's clash.

Malfoy was almost in Harry's face, they pushed their wands against each other for a moment, before Draco pushed off and thrust his weapon forward. "Tarantallagra!"

The Potter boy spun around the energy and kept it from moving past him with a backhanded stroke that sent it up into the air again. He pulled the blade up behind his back, blocking another slash behind his back and ducked as he used his sword to slash at his opponent's feet. Malfoy hopped over the strike and hacked down from above him. Harry was ready, and held his blade in a block over his head. The mouse haired boy thrust his empty hand towards Draco's chest, pushing him back a few feet. The pair held their weapons ready and looked at each other as they both stood upright and faced off again.

"Stop! I said disarm only!" Afina called out over the crowd.

Harry and Draco turned to face her, each shutting his weapon down. The Gryffindor student glanced over his shoulder towards his sister. She looked calm, and was standing next to one of her Quidditch teammates. The older boy was on his knees with his wand gripped in his hand. His empty hand was on his throat and he was gasping for breath with wide eyes as sweat dripped from his nose onto the floor. He was also drooling a little and gave a few weak coughs.

The female teacher gave a heavy sigh. "All right. I suppose we should go over blocking spells. Not many of you seem to know any." She looked out over the crowd, many of the students were recovering and collecting their wands. "Shieldarium. It's a weak shielding spell that will stop most simple charms. It's a simple charm that isn't difficult to learn, perfect for simple dueling matches like these." She pointed at Longbottom. "You, bring your partner with you."

Snape put a hand on her shoulder. "Longbottom is a poor choice. We'll be sending his opponent to the infirmary in a matchbox if we choose him. He's a disaster with the simplest spells. What about Potter and Malfoy? I'm to understand that they're both doing well in Professor Flitwick's class."

She frowned at him and nodded. "All right." She waved them up. "Come on up."

The pair was on the stage a moment later glaring at each other. Afina glanced at Snape, she'd paired people up with opponents they didn't know well on purpose. Snape had done the same thing with most everyone else. She didn't think matching those two up was an accident, but refrained from bringing it up.

The woman stood between them. "Potter, when Malfoy casts his spell, I would like you to do this." She noticed him nod and look right at her hand with an intent stare. She flicked her wrist and spoke the incantation.

"Like this?" The boy repeated the motion and did the same. A ring of light formed around the tip of his wand.

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, very good."

Draco snorted and turned his head away. "Nervous, Potter."

The other boy just grinned at him and took a ready position.

Afina stood between them and took a few steps back. "Now, begin." She moved her hand to signal the start.

Draco thrust his wand forward and spoke his incantation."Serpensortia!"

Harry started the defensive motion, but paused and looked at the huge black cobra that slid across the floor towards him and readied itself to strike. It hit the floor between them with a heavy thud.

Snape smirked and spoke up. "Don't move, Potter." The crowd of students shrieked and backed away from the stage at the sight of it. The head of Slytherin seemed amused at the sight of the Potter boy going a bit rigid in front of it.

The boy stepped towards the snake, looking it in the eyes as he spoke to it. "Calm down. Be at peace." He looked up at the man and smiled. "He's not dangerous. Don't worry." He stroked the creature's head, and rubbed under it's chin. The animal rubbed it's head against his palm as he did so.

Anna was the only student who hadn't backed away and now stood at the base of the stage grinning at the scene. "You should have known better, Malfoy. I'm the Heir of Slytherin after all. We're probably related to Salazar by blood. Both of us are Parselmouths."

Snape gave a sigh as he realized he misread the situation. Harry was making little hisses at the creature as it crawled onto his shoulders and seemed to revel in being pet.

The students were looking rather shocked. The Snake slid off of Harry and vanished a moment later.

Anna frowned at them. "This sort of reaction is getting old. We've been here almost two years now. Get over it would you?"

Afina looked rather tired, Snape wiped the side of his face with his hand and rolled his eyes.

Ron looked about, he didn't back away from the scene like most everyone else, but wasn't next to the stage to begin with. "She's right you know."

Pansy and Margaret both had their hair a bit messed up. They'd been partnered with others near to each other and had both lost their wands. Pansy nodded. "I hate to say it, but he's right. Nothing those two does is much of a surprise these days."

Magaret said nothing but shrugged and nodded in agreement.

Melvin was enjoying the scene with Ginny. The girl was pouting at him, she'd gotten her wand knocked out of her hand by him. No one but Anna was paired with anyone more than a year their senior.

Marcus was chuckling at the embarrassed looking Michale. "You dope. What the hell were you thinking? You're lucky she went easy on you and you know it."

He growled and looked at the floor. "Shut up."

Harry was frowning at his sister. "I wish you'd stop telling people that. They act like they're going to catch something from me if they get to close when you do." He'd learned a bit about Parselmouths since Hermione and Ron had discovered his talent thanks to the girl. It was seen as the mark of a dark wizard.

She looked away and flushed a bit. "Yeah. It's true anyway though. So what?"

Draco gave a small sigh. "Yeah. Shall we try again, Potter?"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Sure. Quit being a jerk though, this is a demonstration, remember. Throw something I can deflect so we can get back to it."

The crowd had relaxed a bit more and was shuffling back into their pairs again.

Harry noticed that he was getting an uncomfortable look from quite a few of them that he wasn't familiar with. His sister as well.

Ron looked at the pair next to him. "Come off it. He's Harry Potter remember? I mean, come on now."

Neville gave a firm nod and looked a bit pink faced. "He's right. Harry even puts up with me and Collin! He's a great guy!"

The first year boy flushed. "Hey! What's that mean? Harry's my friend!"

A few students gave Harry uncomfortable glances and shifted a bit. Parvati was frowning at them from behind them. "He's right you know. The idea that Harry is some sort of dark wizard is stupid. Anna on the other hand..."

Hermione growled at her, she'd ended up in a headlock in her duel and was a bit mussed still. "Right. Still, it's bad enough with her as it is. What's the big deal? I'm a Muggle born, and he's my friend too you know! Come off it!"

Not all of them looked convinced, but a great many relaxed as his friends came to his defense. Harry flushed and gave the crowd a weak grin as he scratched the back of his head. "Thanks."

Anna moved back with her partner as well, the crowd gave her a wide berth as she moved by and she had a dark looking grin on her face as she stood in front of Michale. He was looking at her with wide eyes and backed off as he swallowed a bit.

Flint slapped his shoulder and moved back towards his partner. "Good luck."

"Asshole." Cretus grumbled it and shifted his eyes between the boy and his partner.

Cho Chang glared at her from not far away and frowned before turning her attention back to her own partner.

Draco had calmed and threw Expelliarmus at Harry, who blocked it with no difficulty.

Afina called out over the crowd. "All right then. Alternate a few times and practice blocking. We've only got a few minutes left, so get in a few rounds before we're done! Come on now!"

Draco and Harry moved back into the crowd as well. The Potter boy nodded at Draco. "Follow instructions for now. We'll have another opportunity later I'm sure."

The blond boy growled. "Count on it."

Harry smiled at him. "We'll set up a match sometime. I do get tired of just training with my sister all the time. I think I can trust you not to be dumb enough to kill me at Hogwarts for now. Not even you could get away with it you know."

Draco frowned and growled at him, but didn't reply.

OooOOooOO

Draco moved back towards the dorms on his own. He'd gotten several slaps on the back and congratulations for his skills on the way out. His two friends Crabbe and Goyle tried to stay with him, but he told them to take off ahead of him. He walked through the hall with a frown on his face lagging and taking his time on the way back.

Anna had moved by him as he passed through the doors and spoke two words. "Kate Delane." He knew what it meant. He stopped and held his wand in his hand as he stood in the middle of the hall on the way to the dorms.

It was empty and dark, and he wasn't alone. "Hello, Kate. Did you want something?"

The girls voice came from the shadows nearby. "I want Anna Potter dead."

"Hmm. I noticed. You've been glaring and pouting at her all year. Having trouble catching her in the act are you?" He smirked and ignited his wand as he turned around to face her. "She's quite sneaky."

"I've got no problems with you." She frowned and stepped out from behind a set of armor.

"Maybe. There is something I'd like to know though." He grinned at her and kept his weapon ready.

"We could help each other, get rid of her." She looked at the ground and ignored what he was saying.

The boy shook his head. "Don't be stupid. You're no where near strong enough to be of any use, and I know better than to try and take her now. She's too strong for us, even together. Answer me this though..." He seemed amused.

She frowned and glared at him. "What?"

He looked her in the eye and curled his lips into a snarl. "Who is your master?"

The older girl's frown deepened. "What do you mean?"

He chuckled. "Don't play stupid with me." His weapon rose up as he took a ready stance.

She took a step back, and held her own lightsaber in her grip. She didn't turn it on though. "I am not your enemy. I only care about killing her."

He snorted and took a step towards her. "Don't be stupid. I can't let you live. There can be only two, you and your master must be destroyed." The boy remained still and leveled his glare on her. He looked cocky and sure of himself. "That book of yours too. The diary. Voldemort is in our way as well. I'll be needing that also."

The girl's frown turned into a smirk. "A pity. I'd hoped you'd be more useful before I had to kill you. No matter." She raised her hand. "You're weak. Your anger is pitiful, your hatred pathetic. You're nothing to me." Bolts of power shot from her hand.

The blond Sith held his weapon in front of him, the energy crackled across his blade and dissipated. "Heh. You're nothing compared to her. Even her wuss of a brother could beat you."

Kate screamed in rage and charged forward. "That book. You should know. I got it..." Her weapon ignited behind her back as she held it in a reverse grip. "...from your father."

The boy snorted and brushed his hair off his face. "I don't care. That worm means nothing to me. He's a spineless coward and a dog, cowering before that dead Wizard like a House Elf. Besides, if it belongs in my family, I want it back."

"Come and get it." The older girl glared at him with a rage in her eyes. The pair rushed towards each other. Their weapons clashed crackling in anger as they met.

Draco snarled as he put his face up to hers just behind where the weapons clashed. "Scum. My master will destroy you, and your pathetic teacher."

Kate spun around, hacking at him as she spun and slashed. He blocked and struggled against her as she pushed at him. She was trying to overpower him with her weight. "This world is ours!"

"World? How quaint. I want the Galaxy!" He spun around and slashed at her, forcing the larger girl to hop back. She jumped at him, coming down and bringing down her full weight on top of him from above. He blocked and held her off without straining.

Draco chuckled as he thrust his hand forward. She was tossed against the wall and bounced off, keeping her feet and sliding across the polished floor in a low crouch with one hand keeping her stable with her blade held up behind her back. "Stupid girl. You think you can use your size and weight to overpower me? Your understanding of the Force is pathetic. Now, you'll just die."

The girl's eyes went wide. "How did you know about me?" Her eyes went wide. "No!" She rushed towards him.

He frowned and readied himself, but was almost caught by surprise as she jumped onto the wall beside him and bounced off behind him. Just before she landed, she felt her leg pull back as she slammed onto the ground face first. Kate rolled and held her weapon up, blocking a slash from behind her. "Back off!" She thrust her palm at him and he was thrown back into the air.

The boy looked confused as he shut down his weapon as she started running for the Slytherin dorms away from him.

He growled and moved after her in a jog. "Coward."

OooOOooOO

Kate was gasping for breath as she rushed into the common area with a wild eyed glare on her face. She burst through the entrance and froze as everyone turned to look back at her in surprise. Her eyes locked onto the middle of the room in front of the fireplace.

Anna was looking at her with a grin on her face just in front of the fireplace with a book in her hands. "Heh."

The Delane girl looked at her with wide eyes. "No!"

The redhead tossed it onto the raging fire in the fireplace and smirked. Kate dove towards it screaming in rage. Everyone in the room was watching the scene with wide eyes and looking stunned.

Anna held her palm up as she tossed a powder into the fire with her other hand. The fire became dark red as the Delane girl was pushed against the wall by the entrance. She looked at the fire with wide eyes and screamed in rage. "Noooo! What have you done!?" She struggled to push herself off the wall and clawed at the air towards the flames.

One of the sixth year girls almost spoke up as two more rushed towards the exit to fetch Snape. All of them froze as a shadowy ghost like figure appeared in front of the fire. It looked like a young boy, but he was screaming in agony and horror as flames burned around his body. The fire on the spirit didn't burn the carpet he was standing on as the pitch and intensity of his screams heightened. The spirit fell to his knees as the cries of pain weakened, and then onto his face as they died out.

Draco had appeared beside Kate from the entrance and looked on in confusion at the ghost as it burned. "What the hell?"

Anna had a malevolent snarling grin on her face as she looked into the rage of Kate's eyes.

"You bitch! I'll destroy you!" The older girl fell to her knees as she fell off the wall and pounded her fist onto the carpet with her head hung in her sobs.

Anna snorted as she turned to face her and took a few steps towards her. "Shut up. I did you a favor. I destroyed the evidence that you were the one who opened that chamber and released that monster onto the school. You were controlling it. Now it's destroyed, and it would have just gotten you into trouble when someone else found you with it. Without the serpent, it was useless, nothing more than a way for that weakling Voldemort to take over your body. He was using you, and intended to possess you. Fool." She glared down at the back of the crying girl's head. "You were blinded by your lust for revenge. Your impatience was your own undoing."

The girl was gripping the carpet and sobbing on her hands and knees. "I hate you." She turned her eyes up to glare at the redhead as she said it.

Anna nodded. "I know. I'll be dealing with you and your master soon enough. For now, just enjoy the fact that you won't be expelled and lose your own body to nothing but a pathetic wizard. Now, quit your pathetic sobbing and get out of my sight."

Kate was on her feet, a mad rage in her eyes. Her hand twitched, reaching for the side of her robes, but Anna had her own wand in her grip already, waiting to ignite it and destroy her. Several girls looked like they wanted to approach Kate, but backed away and lowered their eyes as she looked those around her off in a rage. She was controlling herself, but was on the edge of her rage. Michale stepped towards her and tried to put his arm around her shoulder. She shoved him onto his rear and glared at him. He cowered away putting his arm up, but she just rushed by his side and into the dorms.

Anna was left standing in the middle of the room, looking down at the spot where Tom Riddle's spirit had burned. "Heh. Only three left." Her face was blank, and her gaze seemed to fade a little as she stared at the empty carpet patch.

Draco was frowning at her, but didn't look very angry. "So, while I distracted her...you."

She glanced up at him. "Too bad, I was hoping one of you would kill the other."

He chuckled. "Heh. I see." He put his hands into his pockets and walked towards the dorms himself. He paused in the middle of the room and glanced around. "What the hell are you all looking at? You'll mind your own business and pretend this didn't happen if you know what's good for you." Everyone else found something else to be looking at. Before he walked out of the room he looked at Anna. "I'll get you for this, Potter."

Ginny looked afraid, but Pansy and Magaret walked up to Anna and pulled her over next to the rather frozen looking Marci. The little blond first year shifted away while Ginny put her arm around her shoulder.

Pansy looked about the room, everyone was looking away from the Potter girl. "Anna? What the hell was that? You brought that book down from the dorms and..."

Margaret was rubbing at the back of Anna's neck with a worried frown on her face. The redhead was shaking, her eyes were dry, but she was looking down at her own quivering hands.

"I-it was another Horicrux. There are only three left." The redhead looked like she was trying to smile, but it wasn't working out. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so...I had to though. It had to be destroyed." She nodded, and seemed to be talking to herself almost as much as them.

A sixth year boy entered the room. "Potter. Professor Snape wants to see you."

The redhead stood up and gave him a firm frown as she stepped out of her friend's arms. He backed away and almost fell into the wall behind him as she moved past him.

Melvin was sitting beside Ginny and Marci, they both looked nervous. "Hey. Relax. She won't hurt us."

The young redhead nodded. "I've never seen her like that. What happened?"

The boy gave her a gentle smile. "You're better off not knowing. Don't worry. She'll be fine."

The girl didn't look all that convinced, but nodded and squeezed Marci a little tighter. The blond girl was quivering in her grip. She leaned in and shushed her. "Don't worry. We're all friends. Right?"

The blond girl gave a slow nod and clenched her a little tighter. "She was so...scary."

Ginny agreed, but didn't say anything. "We'll be fine." She gave her a cheerful smile that she'd forced on her face. Marci was right, she'd never seen Anna look so frightening before. It worried her a bit. She knew the girl was strong though, she believed she'd come through. It made her feel a little better to think that way, but it still worried her a bit.

OooOOooOO

Severus Snape was sitting in the lab in the dungeon behind his desk. He had his hands folded in front of his face. "What happened? I heard about this...disturbance."

She looked him dead in the eyes. "I found another Horicrux, and destroyed it. It was a book, Tom Riddle's diary. I'm afraid it gave the rest of the dorm a bit of a scare. It couldn't be helped though."

The man closed his eyes and growled. "I see."

She spoke up before he continued. "Don't expect me to bring them to you, or anyone else. If I find them, I destroy them, right then and there. I've got no room for games concerning this."

He looked a bit upset, but her gaze was firm, and her frown serious.

She shook her head. "It's not negotiable, there are three left. A ring, a serpent, and a circlet of some sort. I can't say more than that right now. It's a bit vague."

He looked up at her and didn't move. "Here? In Hogwarts?"

The corners of her lips turned up a tiny bit. "Only one, I'm not sure where yet. I'll destroy it the moment I find it. As I said, it's not negotiable." She'd been buying up property in the Wizarding world, and the Gaunt Manor was already her personal property, along with everything in it. Another one would be gone by the end of Summer if she could manage it. If not, it would be safe until she reached it. That left the Diadem, and Voldemort's Serpent Nagini. She knew where the Diadem was, but hadn't had an opportunity to get to it yet. It wasn't something she needed to rush.

The one in her brother would take more time, and careful planning to deal with. Finding the serpent would prove difficult as well, she knew that they might have to wait until it revealed itself first. Still, she had plenty of time, and it was still on her side so far.

Snape narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm warning you, Potter."

She went quiet and frowned as she looked at the floor. "He'll be dealt with before our seventh year at Hogwarts."

The man closed his eyes and said nothing for a long moment. "Keep this up, and you won't have a seventh year."

She nodded. "I am prepared to deal with that if I need too. Regardless, our fate has been foretold. I don't plan on losing."

The man remained silent as he sat behind his desk and kept his eyes closed. "Go back to the common area. I'll be there shortly. Not a word of this event leaves these dorms."

The girl gave a nod. "As you wish."

Snape waited until she was gone and opened his eyes. "Shit. I wasn't expecting this to start so soon." His eyes turned towards the entrance to the dorms. He knew about the prophecy, but she was still a second year. With a heavy sigh, he stood up and jerked his cloak into place. "I'd better get this over with." He turned towards the entrance to the dorms and went to have a talk with the witnesses. "Damn brat." For now, silence was his best option. He had a bit of thinking to do before he said anything to Dumbledore, if he mentioned it at all.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was looking up at the ceiling in his bunk with his hands behind his head. He had a frown on his face and closed his eyes. "I sense a disturbance in the Force." He wasn't sure why, but at that moment he felt very alone.

Ron slapped his shoulder and tugged on his sleeve. "Hey. You all right? Want to play a game of chess or something?"

He turned his head and smiled at his friend. "Yeah. Sure."

The Weasley boy looked a bit put off. "You all right? You look a bit down. Something's wrong?"

Harry glanced at him and grinned. "It's nothing. Just being too serious for my own good again."

Ron grinned in the hope of cheering him up a bit. "Come on then. Maybe we can get a game in before Creevy tries to record the whole thing with that camera of his?"

"He's not that bad, Ron." Harry rolled his eyes and sighed. He felt better already, the feeling had grown more distant.

The redhead snorted in amusement. "Are you kidding? We'll be able to relive the whole year by the time he gets it all developed. It's a wonder his parents can afford to send him with all the film he goes through."

Hermione met them in the stairwell. "Oh! There you are! Come on! We've got to study! There's a transfiguration test tomorrow remember?"

The Weasley boy hung his head. "Aw man. I almost forgot, I was so happy."

Parvati tugged on his shoulder. "Come on then! We can study together!" She wrapped her arm around him and hung off his side.

Hermione flushed. "All right then, but try to focus. If you tease him too much, he won't learn anything."

The Patil girl giggled. "Oh, all right. It's fun though."

Harry shook his head and smiled at Ron in a sort of cheerful pity. "Guess that game can wait until later then?"

His friend didn't look too pleased. "Right. Oh well."

OooOOooOO

Anna was in the lab when Snape came and spoke to the students who had witnessed the event. Kate was closed up in the dorms, she'd not come out since. The redhead glanced down as a cauldron bubbled on the table behind her. Her lip curled up a little, but she did kind of feel sorry for her. There wasn't anything she could do though, except destroy her master, and hope it would keep her from getting any stronger. There wasn't much chance of that. Sooner or later, she would have to be destroyed. The longer she waited, the more dangerous and pressing it became. She had to bide her time though, just killing her in the middle of Hogwarts wasn't an option at that point.

As it was, she was watching a small printer spit out pages. It spit out several as she sat in silence, and then stopped. She added the last few to a hefty stack of several hundred. "It's done." She tapped the stack of pages in front of her with her wand and muttered a few words. The redhead grinned as a hard leather bound cover appeared around it. "Heh." She handed it to the bunny who was working his fingers in anticipation and hopping up and down at her side.

It swallowed the book whole and saluted her as she leaned in to look it in the face. "You know what to do with that. Get going, I'll see you tomorrow."

Her two puppets appeared on her shoulders. "Anna! You've finished! You're the Greatest!"

The other cheered into her other ear. "You're the best! The Greatest in the Universe!"

Anna closed her eyes and clenched her fist in front of her face. "Heh. You got that right! Finally, I'm the Greatest Potion's Genius in the Universe!"

"Yeeeeaaaahhhh! Annna!" Both puppets cheered with joy and tossed about confetti.

She looked at the cauldron brewing on the table and stirred it a few more times with a wooden spoon from the counter top. "Heh." She lifted it up, revealing nothing more than a burned looking stub. "Right." She put a wooden lid over the brew and placed a slip of paper with a few symbols written on it across the top. "Won't need this just yet. It's almost time though. Ha. I'm such a genius."

She cackled with a mad look in her eyes as she hefted the cauldron to Moe, who was waiting where Curly had been a moment ago. "Here. You hold this, be careful, it's dangerous even to you. I'll let you know when I need it back. Don't spill it, and don't lose it."

He screamed in excitement, and twitched as she handed it off. He gulped it down, cauldron and all and the fell flat on his back as he passed out snoring. She chuckled and scratched at his belly, causing his leg to twitch in his sleep. "Good boy."

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next time: One step closer...


	36. Chapter 36

A Matter of force.

Part 36

Rolling on...

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter smiled as she looked into a video camera with the rest of her band. They were smiling and waving as they held up a small statue between them. It was the middle of February, and it was the second time they'd been called together to do what they were doing that year. They were standing in front of a wall with a sheet hung for background in a small room at Hogwarts. A video crew was filming them as they thanked their fans, producers, and crews again.

Earlier that month they'd won quite a few Grammy Awards. The Musicares award, Record of the year, Album of the year, Best New Artist, Best Alternative Album, Best Pop Album, Best Vocal Arrangement for two or more voices, Best Short Form Video, Best Long Form Video, Best Performance Video, Video of the Year, Best Pop album, they'd completely swept every rock category, and Anna and Harry had won several individual awards for vocal performance. Anna had a few of her own for songwriter and composer, and they'd gotten several more for technical things related to their albums. To put it in simple terms, they'd broken several records after winning a grand total of 42 awards as a group in their first year of nominations at the Grammy awards. Every single thing they'd been nominated for they'd won.

Now, they were doing it again for the Brits. Once again they were sweeping the categories they'd been nominated in, international, and British acts.

The children were all looking at a table full of awards again. They'd just finished up, and were all looking quite dazed as they looked at them all as the video crew started to pack up. They'd all signed a few autographs for some of the crew involved, and were about to return to their classes again.

Pansy turned towards the redhead. "You're the best friend I've ever had, Anna! I never even dreamed! We're not even fourteen yet!"

Margaret was running her finger down the side of one of the statues. "I'm not dreaming am I?"

"It's something, isn't it, Harry?" Melvin was grinning at his friend.

The Boy Who Lived nodded. "Yeah. I'll say." He turned towards his still dazed and silent sister. She was staring at the ones she'd won for vocals and songwriting. "Can we not make ten albums this year? It won't take so long next time. We've been here for at least two hours now."

The girl gave a small grunt. "I suppose not. Wyld Stallyns are going to kick our asses every year once they show up. So we'd best get them now."

The group around her hung their heads as she gave them a sidelong glance and smirked.

"Slave driver." Melvin's tone was light, and he was only joking.

Pansy gave a small sigh. "It's too bad we can't go."

Margaret chuckled. "We'll get the chance. We won't be attending Hogwarts forever you know."

Anna nodded and smiled at the raven haired girl. "Lots of time to pick out what to wear I guess. Still, I didn't even know there were this many categories for music awards."

Harry nodded in silence as he looked at his own award for vocals. "I can't believe this. It's so weird just looking at them all. I figured we might get one or two, maybe."

Melvin had a huge grin. "Well, if we were up for one, we won it it seems. The awards aren't until tonight though."

"We'll be able to watch it in the dorms. Classes will be over by then." Harry seemed pleased as he looked at his friends.

Melvin seemed pleased and nodded. "Yeah. Like we did with the Grammy awards."

Dumbledore moved past the video crew as they left. It was a wizarding crew, and he gave them all a friendly smile as they walked away. Rufus was standing in the back of the room talking on a cell phone. The Headmaster moved up to the children and smiled down at them. "Actually, I was planning on opening up the Great Hall for the show this evening so the students can attend if they wish." He seemed very cheerful and warm. "I'm sure you'd all like to see it together?"

Pansy and Margaret squealed together. "Thank you, Professor!"

Melvin was pleased as well. "Excellent!"

Anna nodded in agreement and grinned at her brother. The Grammy Awards were a very big deal, but the Brits were a bigger deal on their side of the pond. The group had already won several World Music Awards and had delivered a similar acceptance in November the year before.

Harry was also pleased. "That would be great, Professor!"

Anna gave a small sigh. "Where are we going to put all these? We've got no more room on the walls."

Rufus moved up to the group and smiled. "Well. I suppose we'll be needing bigger walls at the office as well. Congratulations on your success my young friends. Excellent work." He looked quite pleased with them all. "I'm afraid I'll have to be going. I've got to meet with the crew to accept some of your awards with them later this evening. You've made me quite busy these days, and I'm very grateful."

Anna was looking very pleased. "Thanks. We're looking forward to giving you more work. I've almost finished composing a couple of symphonies, and I'm thinking of hiring an orchestra or something this summer after we've finished touring." She was referring to music that had been composed by John Williams, Danny Elfman, Hanz Zimmer, Nobuo Uematsu, and Klause Beldt, and a few other modern notable composers in her last life.

The man blinked and looked a bit surprised. He gave a serious nod and his lips turned up. "I'll look into that for you if you'd like."

The girl nodded and seemed pleased. She'd spent the time to learn to write music for that sort of composition over the past few years as well. Her friends all looked shocked, but didn't say anything to her as they all gave the man a polite but brief parting.

After he'd left, they went back to their respective dorms. Pansy rushed up to her side. "An orchestra?"

The redhead nodded. "Yes. There's a bit of piano work involved. I was going to ask you about it later this year. No hurry though."

Margaret reached her hand around Anna's neck while she was distracted. "What's this? You never wear jewelry unless wardrobe makes you." She pulled a thin golden chain up around her neck.

Pansy blinked and looked at the golden half heart that the black haired girl had pulled from her friend's shirt. "Hey. She's right."

Anna gave a small sigh. "Cedric gave it to me yesterday. I had a box of candies delivered to him. I wasn't expecting him to get me anything." She was flushed, but seemed cheerful. It was a simple and cheap charm, not even real gold from the look of it.

Margaret frowned. "Ugh. I wouldn't wear it."

Pansy squealed and seemed to get excited. "It's so cute!"

Anna frowned at the dark haired girl's reaction. "If I wanted something expensive, I'd have bought it myself. He's not in an award winning band you know. You're not marrying some rich guy."

The dark haired girl blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

The redhead tossed her ponytail. "You heard me. One day, you'll treasure something that's even cheaper than this. I promise."

Margaret worked her jaw. "Are you joking? You are, aren't you?"

Pansy was snickering. Melvin was behind them, and had decided it was best to hang back and not say anything.

Melvin rolled his eyes and put his hands behind his head. He was quite pleased with his day. Now he was a multiple award winning musician, he had been before, but no one really paid attention to the World Music Awards. Now, he really had something to brag about.

OooOOooOO

"Wow! You won so many!" Hermione was jumping about Harry as they moved back to the dorms again. They had just come back from watching the Brits on a large screen set up in the great hall.

Even most of Slytherin had shown up, just as many students as the first meeting of the Dueling Club. Attendance for the club had dropped since the first meeting, now a little under half the school showed up. It was a little less with each meeting, but it seemed to be leveling off. Most everyone came back now.

Harry was a bit pink. Ron seemed pleased with him as well, and his dorm mates were hooting and hollering cheers as he went back to the dorms among them.

The Weasley brothers moved by, ruffling his hair and slapping his back, Percy had congratulated him, Oliver wood and the Quidditch team had made a point of praising him as well. Collin Creevy took lots of pictures as usual, more than normal that night. The whole school was alive with chatter and cheer over the affair. Even Slytherin seemed a bit more upbeat than normal, but it showed as little more than a few weak smiles.

He found himself sitting with Ron, Hermione, Neville, Parvati, and Collin in the dorms. They sat about chatting and being cheerful in general.

Hermione gave him a wide grin. "It's really something."

Neville was pleased to be sitting anywhere near them, much less among them. "I'll say. I never imagined I'd be hanging around someone like you."

Collin nodded his head in an almost violent manner. "None of my friends from home really believe it. I've sent them all photos and everything. My dad told me to thank you for sending those autographs. He's a big fan."

Harry seemed rather quiet and reserved about the whole mess. "I've got to admit, it's a bit odd. I'm still not used to it. I got mobbed when we went shopping over the holiday."

Parvati giggled as she leaned on Ron. He didn't seem as uncomfortable as he'd been before. He was getting used to having her on his arm. "It must be nice."

The boy nodded. "I guess. It has it's downside though."

Hermione frowned a bit. "Like what? You're rich, everyone loves you, and you've met all sorts of famous people."

Harry gave a small sigh. "I've got to wear disguise glasses to go grocery shopping. I'm on all sorts of magazine covers and rags. Did you know I saw one in the grocery story that says I have orgy parties with alcohol and drugs after every concert? I saw another one that said I'm some sort of devil worshiper. Another one said I'm dating Brittney, and that my sister is in some sort of war with her because of it."

Ron gave a rough snort. "No one takes those things seriously. There was one that said I dropped out of school to become some sort of monster hunter. I'm supposed to be in America hunting sasquatch right now. It's silly."

Parvati nodded. "He's right. Still, I guess that could be a bit irritating."

Harry gave a small shrug. "You're right. Still. It's bad enough with those silly teen beat articles, and that 'boy who lived' stuff already. There's always people sulking about the neighborhood with cameras where we live now."

Hermione flushed. "You've got it pretty good as far as paparazzi goes. The whole band is pretty notorious for being hard to photograph."

The Potter boy nodded. "Yes. Well, it only makes them try harder. You wouldn't believe some of the stunts they've pulled while we were touring." He flushed a bit. "People will pick up my trash and keep it. Once, someone stole some of my shorts from my dressing room. It's a bit strange."

Percy moved up to the group. "Sorry to break it up. It's almost lights out. Time for bed." He ushered the group towards the dorms with a half smile on his face.

OooOOooOO

Lily Potter was looking at the book she'd just pulled from a box that had been delivered to her home. It was nearing the end of the month, and there were four large boxes, each containing four large books. They were stacked in front of her on the table in the living room.

James walked by and noticed her looking at the collection of books. "What's this?" He noticed the rather blank expression on her face and sat down beside her with a cup of tea in his hand. Her husband put his arm across her shoulder and smiled.

She didn't look up, and flipped through a few pages of the one in her lap. "Hmmm?" It was hard to pull her eyes away from what she was reading.

He shook her shoulder and rolled his eyes. "What is all this? Some sort of encyclopedia?"

The woman didn't look up from her reading. "No. Just Anna doing the impossible again."

He seemed confused and peered down at the pages. "Anna? Did she send you these? Looks like some sort of Potions book."

The woman nodded. "She's better at Potions than I am." She flipped the page and continued to stare at what she was looking at.

James chuckled. "Don't be silly."

His wife shook her head. "No. Really. I'm holding the proof right here."

The man set down his teacup and lifted one of the books off the table. "The Complete Potions Index, by Anna Potter." It was heavy, with small print, and there looked to be about sixteen volumes worth on the table next to the unpacked boxes. "Potion's Index?"

The woman nodded without taking her eyes off the pages. "Hmmm. Yes."

The mirror flashed. James stood up and waved his hand. A familiar and pudgy man became visible as the reflection vanished. He seemed to cheer up. "Professor Slughorn! Hello."

The man's jowls were quivering, his eyes were wide, and he was holding one of the books in his shaking hands. "Lily!"

The woman looked up and smiled at him. "Hello, Professor. It's good to see you! You've been well?"

The man was red faced and wide eyed. "Y-yes. Lily...Oh! I see you've gotten..."

The redhead nodded and gave him a cheerful smile. "Yes. She told me she was working on it a while ago." She closed it and smiled at him. "It's still a bit strange seeing it now. I can barely believe it."

His jaw dropped. "Barely believe it?" He was almost hopping up and down in excitement. "I must meet her! This is the most incredible thing I've ever seen!"

James was confused. "Really? What is it? It's just a potion's book. Impressive for her age, but..."

The man looked shocked. "You slacker! You always did poorly in my class!" He chuckled as James's face fell. "This isn't just a collection of Potions books. It's the impossible! With these books, any potion it's possible to make can be...Oh! It's wonderful! You must be so proud, Lily dear!"

Mrs. Potter was smiling and gave him a nod. "Yes. I don't know what to say. It's amazing! I didn't think it was really possible!"

Slughorn was beaming. "No one really did. We'd given up on the real thing centuries ago. It was considered nothing more than something to keep skills sharp to even make an attempt! The wizarding world at large considered the Index as nothing more than a mental exercise!" There were several cauldrons going behind him at once.

James was confused. "So, this is some sort of big deal?" He peered down at the book he'd picked up.

Lily kissed him on the cheek. "The biggest one in the history of alchemy and potions."

He seemed even more confused. "R-really?"

Slughorn was laughing at the man's reaction in a good natured way. "I'm afraid so my boy. This is the second most important discovery in wizarding in our lifetimes. Certainly the largest in Alchemy and Potions. If Miss Granger hadn't discovered the Ultimate Question it would be the greatest of all discoveries in wizarding thus far!"

James gave a sort of dazed nod. "Well, I guess. You know, I'm not as surprised to hear that as I should be."

Lily seemed to agree and put her hand on her belly. She was showing, and had a dazed look in her eyes. "Yes. It's a bit much. I hate to say it, but I hope this one isn't such a genius. The two we've got now are almost more than I can take. It still feels like some sort of odd dream sometimes."

Her husband chuckled. "We'll be fine."

OooOOooOO

Snape was looking out the window of Dumbledore's office. He had a frown on his face and a rather far off stare.

The old man had let him enter, but he'd yet to say anything to him. The Headmaster had sixteen very large books on his desk. Snape had come to his office and interrupted his reading, walked up to the window, and just started staring out over the grounds with his arms crossed. "I take it she sent you a copy as well?"

Snape gave a silent nod and didn't turn to face him.

Dumbledore took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. "I see." He'd spent the past few hours reading, and imagined the Potions Master had done the same before showing up.

Severus was at a loss for words. He couldn't think of anything to say, and didn't want to face the Headmaster.

The old man gave a small chuckle. "I suppose I'll be having a talk with her."

Snape looked over his shoulder. "She's not my apprentice anymore."

Dumbledore gave a nod. "I suppose she couldn't be."

The man leaned over the window, putting his hand on the wall next to it to hold his weight. "I've been teaching her for a year and a half...and..."

"She's already surpassed the both of us in matters of Potions and Alchemy." The Headmaster gave another nod.

The Head of Slytherin was still looking out on the world with dazed eyes. "This is impossible. She's better than me. She's..."

Dumbledore stood up and walked around his desk, putting his rear on the front end and crossed his arms. "The Greatest Potions Genius in the Universe?"

Snape turned his head around and gave him a glare for a moment. His eyes lowered a little, and he gave a nod. "I'm afraid she is. I've got nothing left to teach her. She's more qualified to teach my class than I am if she even wrote half of..." He turned his eyes back towards the grounds outside the window again, unable to finish.

"So, what do we do with her then?" The old man gave a heavy sigh. "It's a bit unprecedented."

"She'll be given her license. She's an accredited Potion's Master, no one will be able to contest it with...those...books." His voice was almost angry, but there was something else in it as well. "I don't believe this. Am I dreaming?"

Dumbledore had a reserved smile on his face. "I wondered that for a moment myself. I'm afraid that isn't the case." He ran his fingers across one of the bindings. "It will need to be tested and verified."

Snape shook his head. "I know enough to realize it's real. It's impossible, but it's real. I've spent most of the day searching for an error, some mistake, some miscalculation, some sort of..." Classes had ended, and the students were getting ready for the evening meal. It had already started, but Dumbledore and Snape weren't very concerned with missing a meal at that point.

The Headmaster shook his head and gave a sigh. "Impossible?"

"I can't keep her as my apprentice. We'll be using these books to teach the course next year. I'm sure of it. There's just no way..." Snape seated himself on one of the chairs nearby and hung his head. "I can't get my head around this. She's better than I am. I don't believe this...this is real...I could be her apprentice. It's...that much of a difference."

Dumbledore gave a serious nod. "Yes. A very odd girl. Still, she's not excelling like this in any of her other courses. She's struggling a little in Charms and Transfiguration. Divination, well, she excels there as well. That's a different matter though. She won't be graduating Hogwarts any time soon at any rate. I expect she'll attend for the full seven years. Still, I suppose there's no point in trying to deny her license as a Potions Master."

Snape frowned a little. "She'll be able to use magic outside of Hogwarts."

The old man nodded. "Yes. Not with her wand though. It still won't grant her a basic wizarding license. It's not completely unprecedented, she'll be able to brew potions, and market them if she wishes. I'm afraid there is little more we can do to aside from perhaps delay it until the Department of Alchemy grants it to her. I'm sure I'll be receiving a letter from them soon regarding this. I'm afraid there's no denying it to her at this point. I see no reason why we should anyway." Dumbledore went back to his seat and opened the first volume again. "I'll be speaking with her when it arrives. I'm certain it will contain her license. It's been granted for far less than this before. Very rare, but..."

Severus gave a short nod. "Yes. I understand." He turned and left the room.

Dumbledore hid a smile behind his hand as the door to his office closed. The very first page of the book thanked several people. Severus Snape's name was just below her mother's, and above Slughorn's, and his own. He was thanked as a teacher, and for taking her as an apprentice. His Potions Master had just become a part of a very big moment in Wizarding history. The mention of his name in the book in his hand alone guaranteed him a teaching post at any school he might ever wish to teach at for the rest of his life.

Albus knew Snape would realize it, but wondered if it had sunk in quite yet. "Greatest Potions Genius in the Universe indeed." He chuckled and closed the book for the time being. He had plenty of time to read over it, and wondered just how long it would take for the letter to arrive from the Department of Alchemy.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter sat in Dumbledore's office a week later. It was evening, and she looked up at the man with a calm and cheerless expression on her face. "Yes, Professor?"

The man smiled at her and handed her a rolled up parchment and a letter. "I have been asked to deliver this to you."

She accepted it and looked confused for a moment. "This is..." She stopped speaking and opened the scroll to look it over. "A license for Potions?"

The Headmaster nodded. "Yes. You're no longer required to take instruction at Hogwarts for Potions or Alchemy. You are also free to brew Potions outside of school. I'm afraid I must stress, that your use of your wand and magic is strictly limited to Potions and Alchemy. You're not seventeen yet I'm afraid." He seemed pleased with her. "Congratulations Miss Potter. It is an honor that few before you have received. You've also been nominated for another Award for Outstanding Contribution to Potions. I've little doubt you'll be awarded again. What you've done will be near impossible to top."

"License? I'm a Potions Master?" Her eyes grew a little wide. She knew she'd be praised for her work, but it was a bit more than she'd been expecting.

The old man nodded. "Yes. Your apprenticeship with Professor Snape has been completed."

The young redhead looked a bit dazed. "I...heh." She got a somewhat evil looking smirk on her face. "Bwahahahahahahaaa! I told you! I'm the Greatest Potions Genius in the Universe!" Her two puppets appeared on her shoulders, praising her as she pointed her finger in the air. "Ha! Now I can prove it!"

Dumbledore shook his head and gave a small sigh. "I suppose I'm in no position to argue."

The girl gave him a grin and nodded. "Heh."

The old man stood up. "Well, that's all I have for you tonight. You may return to your common area for the evening."

The little redhead smiled and nodded. "Thank you Professor."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter frowned as he looked at yet another headline involving his sister. "Great. She's gone and done it again."

Hermione was reading the article in her own copy of the Prophet. "It's insane. Really, though. This one isn't bad. I guess." She cleared her throat. "Anna Potter's Potion's Index has been repeatedly tested by the Ministry of Magic, and the Department of Alchemy, and there appears to be no instances of error contained within them. Once again, the young Potter girl has proven that the impossible is possible..."

Harry felt like he was getting a headache. "Oh. Look at them. Sitting over at that table. Everyone looks at her like..." He paused and looked at the table.

Anna was sitting surrounded by people he considered friends. Ginny was a nice girl, he knew Marci from home, and then there was the band. There was something else about the table as well. It seemed different than it had seemed, even after the start of their second year.

Marcus Flint was grinning and chatting with Melvin, as well as most of the Quidditch Team. Draco was sitting with his two lackeys, he was ignoring her and sitting as far away as he could. There was a definite split in the table that hadn't been so prominent before. Almost as if it held two houses, and one of them was smaller than the other.

"What is it?" Ron seemed to notice he'd not finished his thought first. Hermione was engrossed in her reading and looked over at him.

"Yeah. What are you staring at Slytherin for?" Parvati giggled as she noticed his gaze.

"Rotten, the lot of them." Neville gave a nod and frowned.

Harry looked over at him with an odd look on his face. "Not really. It's nothing like what I've heard. Look."

The children around him did. Collin Creevy shrugged. "What is it?"

Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan both looked confused as they leaned in. Dean seemed a little annoyed. "Yeah? Looks like the same ruddy jerks as always."

Harry looked at his friends. "That's not it at all. All the other houses, people in the same year all sit together. Slytherin is different now. Look. It's like there's two houses sitting at that table. My sister's side is...bigger."

Ron blinked. "Hey. He's right. I guess there's no rules about where you sit aside from the first years in the sorting. I wonder what's up?"

Dean leaned in. "She's the Heir of Slytherin."

Hermione frowned. "That again? Really."

Seamus shook his head. "No, that's what it's about." He lowered his voice. "Look, I heard a few of them arguing in the halls. Ask around, it's true."

Harry scrunched his eyebrows together. "Yes. I know about that, but..."

Neville was a bit pale. "Harry. It's not really true, right?"

The boy nodded. "Yes. She opened that secret chamber or whatever. I know it's true."

Everyone around him got a bit wide eyed.

"What's the big deal? It's not like she's really evil or anything. That guy Salazar might have been a bit of a jerk, but from what I've heard, he wasn't really an evil person." Harry looked a little confused.

Percy was standing behind the group. "That's a matter of opinion."

Ron looked up at him. "Hey. What's up?"

The older boy looked at his brother. "Nothing. I just heard you talking. Harry, are you sure about that?"

He nodded and shrugged. "Yeah. I'm positive. It's true, she really is this Heir or whatever. Even Dumbledore and Snape know."

Percy looked over at her. "He was a powerful and dangerous man. I've heard rumors about as well, there's almost been a few fights among Slytherin students. All of the Prefects have been asked to keep a close eye on them."

Hermione glanced over her shoulder. "What for?"

The prefect gave a small sigh and squeezed in between Harry and Ron. "I guess I can say something. It won't hurt I suppose." He looked about with a very serious manner about him. "The word is, that 'You Know Who' claims he was Salazar's heir. A lot of Slytherin has family who were former Death Eaters."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. She said something like that. She's the real thing though. I saw that Chamber for myself."

Percy looked over at him. "Are you sure it was real?"

The mouse haired boy nodded. "Yes. It's not just Slytherin you know, Ravenclaw has a few former Death Eaters children as well. Even our house and Hufflepuff has a few you know. Just not as many."

Percy nodded. "Yes. You've got to understand something though. That claim, is how he formed the Death Eaters. It was his claim to power, a lot of the people who became Death Eaters did it because they though it was true. They believed he really was the Heir."

Ron nodded. "I get it. If he was lying, and she's telling the truth..."

Percy looked over at him. "Yes. They'll start trying to get her favor now."

Harry didn't seem worried. "That's bad how? She's a better person than him. None of that Mudblood crap."

The Prefect gave a small sigh. "The ones who don't believe her are dangerous. They'll do anything they can to prove her wrong. You shouldn't get involved."

The Boy Who Lived nodded. "I don't plan on it. Besides, you saw what she did to the House Elves. What have I got to worry about?"

The older boy got a blank look on his face. "I suppose you're right. Still, she's in a more dangerous position than she realizes."

Harry shook his head. "No, she knows exactly what she's doing. That's what worries me." He looked over at the table. "She's doing it on purpose. She wants everyone to know that she's Salazar's Heir. She wants to take that Voldemort head on." He hung his head. "I don't like it either, but...I've come to realize that she probably can. I can't really do anything to stop her either. She's stirring up trouble, and taking control of Slytherin a bit at a time. The one's who aren't with her, are afraid of her. With good reason."

Percy gave a nod and stood up. "Well, I'm glad to hear you've at least got something of a head about it. Careful, Harry." He glanced down at the boy as he passed.

Ron shook his head. "What's with him?"

Harry glanced at him. "He's worried about you."

The boy tipped his hat and looked annoyed. "I can take care of myself."

Hermione rolled her eyes as Parvati squeezed herself against his arm. "I don't want to get dragged into that mess myself."

Harry gave a nod. "Neither do I. Still, she's my sister."

Ron looked over at Slytherin, and Ginny. "Yeah. I get what you mean."

The Potter boy glanced at his friend. "He's worried about her too."

The redhead didn't say anything and started eating.

OooOOooOO

Anna frowned as she looked over her shoulder. There was a round fuzzy looking blue mouse like creature that resembled a chinchilla with a ball of fuzz on it's tail. "Lovegood."

She'd been running into the girl in the halls quite a bit that year. She could tell when she was near, because strange creatures became visible. Wandering about in the bushes, moving through the legs of students in the halls, sitting in corners and shadows.

"It's a puff tailed marzel turf." The blond girl was grinning at her as she noticed what she was looking at.

The redhead gave a small smirk. It had been a little annoying, but she was a nice girl, and it was hard to get mad at her. "Yes. I suppose..."

Luna gave a small sigh. "I tried to catch that Narfel, the sloth toed one. If I can just catch one I can progress my research. It kept evaporating through my net though."

Anna nodded. "Yes. I keep telling you they don't exist in this dimension. You're pretty much wasting your time doing things that way." She fumbled about in her pocket for a moment and produced a small red plastic rectangle with a camera lens on the outside. She knew it was a little mean, but she couldn't help herself. "I've decided to help you with your research. I mean, it's kind of hard watching you chasing these things about."

Luna brightened up. "Really?" She pulled a notebook from her robes. "Look! This is all the data I've collected so far!"

Anna's face fell as she took the notebook and flipped through it. It was full of crude, but somehow cute drawings. Each drawing had a long winded name, and a brief description. "Eh? You've been categorizing them?"

The blond girl nodded. "Of course! I've created a detailed log!" She hopped up and down, the radishes in her earrings bounced against her cheeks.

Anna frowned, reconsidering what she was doing for a moment. "Hmmm. Well..." She looked at the girl and her face fell again. "I suppose."

"What did you have in mind? Will you help me publish this?"

The redhead grinned. It was still too much to pass up. "No. I think you're mistaken. Here, I want you to take this!" She shoved the red plastic rectangle into her arms. She'd had Carrot rig something up to help her with this. It would keep her out of her hair for sure. She showed up at irritating times and started talking about whatever was wandering about. It got odd looks from the students who were around at the times, and people were talking about it behind her back. It didn't bother her that much, but it was a bit irritating when it happened. It happened a lot that year in the halls between classes.

Luna looked at it. "What is it?"

Anna took a belt from one of her Bunnies and put it on the girl's arm. "Well, I'm afraid there's been other work on these species before you. Still, capturing specimens is difficult to do because of their interdimensional nature. So, I've rigged up a few things with the help of a friend of mine." The last thing she took from her bunny was a red hat with a white front, and a small green symbol on the front of it. She put it onto the girl's skull.

Luna looked confused. "Huh?" She flipped open the red plastic thing. "What is this? It looks like something a muggle might use, one of those compactors or something."

Anna nodded. "Yes. It's called a 'Pokedex'. These creatures are called 'Pokemon'." She pulled one of the red and white balls off the belt and held it up for the blond girl to inspect. "This is called a 'Pokeball'. You can use it to capture them. However, you need to weaken the stronger ones by weakening them first by using the one's you've collected to battle them and wear them out. Whenever you see a new one, you use the camera on the Pokedex to categorize it, and collect a specimen with the Pokeball." The redhead put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Your goal is to catch em all! You should do your best to use the Pokedex to categorize every different type you can find."

Luna flushed and her grin became huge. "Really? Great!"

Anna's smile faded a little. She was feeling a bit bad about it again. "Well, yes. I'm not entirely sure it will work yet. It's not been tes..."

Luna shoved her aside, turned her hat around, and threw one of the balls into the hall. "Pokeball! Go!"

Anna looked on with wide eyes as the ball opened up, and a beam of light zapped something behind a nearby bench and it became sucked inside.

Everyone in the hall was looking on with wide eyes as this happened. It was obvious that the other students had been able to see what had happened. That confused Anna.

"What the hell was that?!" cried one of the nearby students.

Luna was grinning as she looked into the screen on the inside of the now talking 'Pokedex'. "Pikachu, an electric type Pokemon."

The redhead was a little pale. "Y-you're kidding me..." She looked over the blond girl's shoulder at the image of a fat foot long yellow mouse like creature with brown stripes and a zig-zagging tail.

Luna was hopping up and down with excitement. "It works! Thank you! This is so wonderful! I've never caught one before! It's amazing! Thank you, you're my new research partner! I'll share the credit for all my work! You're the best!" She grabbed the wide eyed and rather shocked looking redhead in a hug and jumped while kicking her feet and squealing.

Anna nodded. "Um, yes. There's lots of information about how Pokemon can be used. If you find someone else who collects them, you can challenge them to a battle. You can train them, and after a while we'll form special gyms to help with that." She looked very dazed and was talking almost on auto pilot.

Luna frowned. "This is a yellow zag tailed milurk though."

The redhead looked annoyed. "No. It's a Pikachu. It's a Pokemon. There are several different types and classes. Some are elemental, others are based on other types, like Fighting, or Plant types. If you train with them enough, they'll evolve into new types. I um...I...are you sure that...worked? I mean, I never tested..."

Luna was beaming. "Look!" She held up the ball she'd used and pointed it at the floor. "Wow! I had no idea your research was so advanced! This is great! We should have collaborated sooner!"

There was a crowd of students watching the scene in confusion and standing about as the blond sent a beam of light onto the open floor. There was a collection of gasps and screams as a Pikachu appeared in the middle of the hall.

"Chuuuu!"

Anna screamed and jumped back in shock, disgust, and horror. The crowd of students around them seemed just as surprised and jumped away from the creature.

"What the hell is that thing?!" screamed one of the girls.

"No way!" cried another boy.

A fourth year leaned in to stare at the thing and looked at the blond girl. "Y-you mean...Lovegood isn't crazy?"

Luna seemed to think she was just excited. "I know! This is great! I knew I wasn't crazy! No one ever believed me! This is so great! Thank you!" She burst into tears and grabbed the surprised redhead in joy.

Anna was frozen and a bit pale as she looked on as the blond girl collected the animal in the ball again. "N...no way! Wh-what have I done?"

Lovegood turned her hat back around and pointed at the sky. "Progress at last! Bwahahahahahaaa!"

The redhead just stared as she skipped away down the hall. "Oh god. I..." She hung her head and walked away. After a moment she belted the side of her head with her palm. "Did I just really see that? This is crazy! No way!"

She looked over her shoulder. The stuff she had her owl build was supposed to be 'almost' functional. It was intended as a way to keep her distracted. This was, totally unexpected. She was a little afraid of what she might have just done.

OooOOooOO

Ashoka Tano grinned as she looked at what was in front of her. "What?"

Anakin Skywalker gave a small chuckle. "Yes. That's right."

The red skinned Padawan was staring at a wedge shaped starfighter that was sitting in a dock in front of her. "I get...to fly this?"

The Jedi nodded. "That's right."

Ashoka cocked her head. "Well, I'm not complaining, but...what good will knowing how to do this do me?"

"Well, you've been on a speeder bike before." Anakin shrugged. "Tactically speaking, his is actually a bit closer to riding a broom than that is. You've got altitude limitations on a speeder."

The red skinned girl had her jaw hanging. "I can't even drive."

Anakin chuckled at the reaction. "Yeah. Well, this is a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away."

Harry nodded. "Awesome."

The Jedi grinned at him. "Don't get cocky. I'm the best Starfighter pilot in the Galaxy you know. That's why I kicked your butt in that Quidditch match." He poked his finger between her breasts. "You're just lucky our brooms don't have laser blasters, mines, or missiles on them."

Ashoka narrowed his eyes a bit. "You know, for a Jedi, you sure brag a lot."

Obi-Wan walked up to the scene with a grin on his face. "Yes. That's a very astute observation, Padawan. However, he does have room to brag. Even Master Yoda will admit he's the best pilot in the fleet."

Anakin blushed a bit. "Well, she'll do all right. She's piloted a freighter and a couple of shuttles in the past. This will be her first time in a fighter."

The older Jedi smiled and nodded. "Personally, I'd rather have a droid fly for me. I hate it."

Ashoka grinned. "I'm looking forward to it."

OooOOooOO

Harry had a grin on his face as he sat at breakfast the next day. Flying a space fighter was definitely one of the top ten dreams he'd ever had. They hadn't gotten into a battle yet with it, but Anna had promised as such. He would be seeing combat in the Jedi Fighter during his nights in the future.

Hermione grinned at him. "You seem to be in a good mood today."

Ron nodded. "Right. You routed Hufflepuff yesterday."

The boy pushed his glasses up his nose. "It wasn't just me. I'm on a team you know."

Fred slapped him on the shoulder. "No need to be modest."

George grinned as he shook his other shoulder. "Right. It's almost too easy winning with you. We don't really have to worry about keeping the Bludgers off you at all."

Oliver leaned in between them. "Don't get to cocky. You've still got to work for us to win even with him."

George smirked at him. "Barely."

Harry looked up at them. "Well, don't forget what might happen if I get injured and miss another match if you're not practicing. Even if it is true, we won't win if you're being too lazy now then."

Fred frowned, but not in a serious way. "Spoilsport."

Angelina walked by behind them with a smirk on her face. "Yes, well. You've still got to keep them away from us you know. If you're being lazy, I'll kick both your butts."

Oliver grinned at her and nodded. "Yes. That's the spirit. Good show, Harry. Keep it up."

The second year nodded and smiled. "Yeah." He tended to use the Bludgers to his advantage when they were after him. He could fly rings around them, and used them to keep the opposing Seeker off balance.

Hermione gave a small sigh. "Well, everyone knows you're the best player on the team, Harry."

He glanced at her and shook his team. "Well, it won't matter how good I am if everyone else isn't trying. Not even I can win a game on my own. I wish people would quit talking like I'm doing everything. The whole team is great, not just me."

Parvati sat down next to Ron. "Hey." Oliver and the twins wandered off.

Hermione looked up at her. "Hey. What's up?"

The girl grinned at her. "It's the weirdest thing. Luna Lovegood has some kind of electric rat! It's so cute! She's showing it off and feeding it fruits at the Ravenclaw table."

Collin Creevy walked up with Neville Longbottom next to him. The first year was grinning and fiddling with his camera. "Yeah. It's true. I've never seen anything like it."

Longbottom was a little pink and holding his hand. "It shocked me. Strangest thing I've ever seen."

Harry cocked his eyebrow. "An electric rat?"

Collin smiled. "Yeah. Seems your sister had something to do with it."

The mouse haired boy gave a small sigh. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

Neville was shaking his hand. It was a little red, but not injured. "I've never seen anything like that. It's like some sort of summoning spell or something. She keeps it in a little red and white ball."

Ron seemed a little confused. "What happened to your hand?"

The pudgy boy shrugged. "She tried to let me pet it, but it shocked me. Doesn't look like a rat to me. It's yellow, about a foot long, and it's fat."

Collin nodded and tried to hide his chuckles. "Yeah. She said something about trying to catch a couple more later. Something called a Butterfree, and a Charmander or something. She said she saw something called a Squirtle by the lake, but it got away."

Parvati leaned against Ron. "I thought she was crazy. It's a little weird, but it seems she's really not."

Harry nodded. "Well, I hope it's not dangerous or anything. Oh well. Anna had something to do with it?"

Collin nodded. "Yeah. That's what she says. Something about her being a research partner or something."

The mouse haired boy glanced at him. "My sister is weird. I give up."

Ron looked at him. "I heard a rumor she's got her Potion's license, and she can do magic outside of school now."

Hermione frowned at him. "Don't be silly. She's just a second year like us."

Harry glanced at her. "No. That's true. She can only brew potions though. She can't use her wand or anything."

The frazzle haired girl looked at him with wide eyes. "What?"

The Potter boy shrugged. "It's true. Trelawney got her a fortune teller's license as well. She says she might start doing a Horoscope column in the Prophet. They've offered her a space next to Madam Trovina's in the Wizarding Life section."

Hermione's face twisted. "Oh. That girl bugs me."

Harry smiled. "You think she's annoying? She's my sister, it's even worse for me."

Ron shook his head. "It must be a little hard putting up with that. I used to have it hearing about how great Percy is all the time." He seemed to think on it. "It's not so bad anymore."

Parvati smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "Well, you are Ron Weasley."

Harry arched his eyebrow. "Not really. I get plenty of attention. I'm not jealous or anything. I don't think I could take being in the spotlight like her all the time. It would drive me nuts."

Hermione frowned. "She seems to enjoy it."

The mouse haired boy grinned at her. "Not as much as you think. It annoys her sometimes. Though, she does like it more than I would."

Neville glanced back at Slytherin's table. "She's an odd bird. She's nice though."

The frazzle haired girl glowered at him. "Anna Potter is nice?"

Collin looked at her in confusion. "Sure. She's a bit strange, but I don't think she's mean."

Neville nodded. "She's never made fun of me. Everyone makes fun of Luna all the time, but she's friends with her too. She was talking about her while we were over there. They're research partners or something."

Harry looked over at him in confusion. "Research partners?"

Collin smiled at him. "Yeah. Something about Pokemon or something. That's what she called that electric rat of hers. She says it's a Pikachu. Anna gave her something so she could catch them. Seems to have worked."

Ron nodded. "Yeah. She made that whip of mine. She's good at that sort of stuff I guess."

Harry seemed to think on it and nodded. "Yeah. She built our first wands. I built one of my own since then, but she made the first one I had." It made a little sense to him. He recalled something about her building that droid Padme had following her around in his dreams. "I do get a bit sick of hearing about her causing all sorts of trouble though."

Ron chuckled. "It's not all bad. She turned Fred and George's hands and feet into putty last week."

The Boy Who Lived grinned and nodded. "That was because they gave her those horns the week before. I almost think she liked them. She seemed a little disappointed when she had to get rid of them. I think she got a copy of the spell from them. Something about using it for a concert one of these days or some such."

Collin nodded and grinned. "You guys are having a show next week?"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Yeah. We're doing another open practice at the end of the month. Anna isn't Professor Snape's apprentice anymore. She's got more free time now it seems."

Hermione looked at him with wide eyes. "What? Why not?"

The boy looked at her and shrugged. "Huh? She's a licensed Potions Master now. She could teach the class if she wasn't a student here."

Ron looked up from a half eaten sandwich and grunted before swallowing and speaking. "What?"

Harry leaned in to the group. "We're going to have to pick up those books she wrote. They're the course books for Potions classes for the rest of our time in Hogwarts." He sat back and shoved a fried potato wedge in his mouth and dusted off his hands. "We don't have to get them all at once or anything, but we won't be using the same course books as this year anymore."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "How do you put up with it?"

The boy grinned at her. "I rock too you know."

Ron smiled. "He's right. It's not been as bad this year as last year. Things have been pretty quiet so far."

Harry gave a snort but didn't speak out loud. "Yeah, for you maybe." He'd fought a giant snake. Still, it was peaceful since. He knew Anna was getting into trouble. Kate Delane was trying to kill her, but she'd not bothered him at all. That didn't mean he could let his guard down, he needed to keep an eye on the girl and watch his back. Draco Malfoy was still about as well, and that wasn't any better.

"Maybe we can get in a couple matches of Chess later? There are no tests to study for, we're done with that for the week." Ron looked at his friend and smiled.

"Yeah. Good idea." Harry agreed and seemed to cheer up a little more.

Hermione glowered at them both. They did have another week before their next test. She could bug them both about studying later. She looked at Ron and her features softened a bit. "I guess. Don't slack off too much."

Harry put his hand on her shoulder and shook it. "Like you would let us." He gave her a wink and went back to his food. He didn't notice how red her cheeks became.

"R-right..." She blushed a little more as Parvati smirked at her and found her plate very interesting.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next Time: Wrapping things up...


	37. Chapter 37

A Matter of force.

Part 37

The confrontation.

OooOOooOO

It was early evening on a Monday. Quidditch was over for the year, and the school was preparing for the end of the year.

Anna Potter was on the seventh floor of Hogwarts. She was looking at a portrait of a wizard trying to teach Trolls ballet with a frown on her face. She had walked past it three times. "Show me the room with the diadem."

The door in the wall opposite the portrait opened a crack. She turned and frowned at it, gripping her wand in her hand. She turned to face the open door.

"Potter."

The redhead froze up and turned with a forced smile on her face. "Professor." Snape walked up and frowned at her as he moved up to her side and loomed over her.

"What are you doing here?"

The young redhead looked up at him. "Just noticing this interesting painting." She nodded towards the Trolls as they attempted to dance, moving in clumsy half pirouettes. "I was on my way from the Astronomy tower when I noticed it. I suppose I've been here for a few moments. It's...amusing, but odd."

The man narrowed his eyes at her, not noticing the door close in silence behind his back. "The astronomy tower?"

The girl nodded. "Yes. I needed to check on the alignment of Sirius Minor to Orion and Virgo. I've got a paper to write for Divination on Astrological alignment and pregnancy predictions."

The man gave a small growl. It was obvious he didn't believe a word of it. "I see. I take it your business here is finished then?"

Anna gave a nod and turned away. "Yes. I have what I need. I was on my way back to the dorms when this portrait caught my attention." She walked off, leaving the man standing there.

Snape glanced at the door opposite the portrait and frowned a little more. He turned and moved off on his own business. He was returning to his office, but didn't feel like walking with the young redhead. He decided to take another route and turned down a different hall after waiting for her to move from his line of sight.

As soon as the hallway cleared, another figure moved out from the shadows nearby. Her head was covered in a hood and she had a deep frown on her face. "A hidden room?"

She looked at the portrait and narrowed her eyes as she pulled her hood off. It was Kate Delane and she glowered for a moment in the direction the girl and the Head of her House had gone. "What were you up to I wonder?"

She turned towards the portrait, walked past it three times, and turned towards the door. "Show me the room with the diadem."

The door cracked open and she strolled inside. She found herself standing in a room full of shelves, with broken objects, shimmering bottles of evil looking potions, and assorted things of a magical nature. "What did you want with this place I wonder?"

She could feel something, a presence within the room. The force amplified it, and it called to her. "I sense something."

Kate strolled into the shelves, ignoring all the strange objects that lined them. She stepped over a few broken brooms, and what looked like a spiked Bludger. The box it was in shook for a moment as she stepped over it and towards the back of the room.

She glared down at a bust, and an old dusty tiara. Her eyes focused on the jeweled headband. She could feel a power within it. The jewelry seemed to call out to her, she could almost hear her name. "What is this?"

Hidden almost in a wind that was not there was a voice. She could feel fear, anger, hatred. The object was afraid, it knew it was in danger. "Take me! Take my power! Destroy her!"

Kate reached out her arm, but did not touch it. The tiara floated off the bust, dust falling away from it as it floated in the air. She knew the voice, it was familiar to her. "You! I know you."

Her eyes narrowed with a dark pleasure as the metal of the tiara twisted and curled as it moved towards her arm. She cupped her hand, but not to grasp it. "Come to me. Together, we shall have our revenge." The metal passed over her hand, and wrapped around her left wrist like a bracelet. It glowed orange as it twisted and wrapped itself tightly around her forearm just above her wrist.

Kate growled as it sizzled against her skin, steam and smoke rose from her arm as she fell to her knees, gripping her forearm just above where the tiara, now bracelet became fused into her very skin, permanently grafting itself to her arm.

The girl gasped as she remained on her knees before the bust. She growled and glared at it as she staggered to her feet after a moment. "I see. Welcome back...Master."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter yawned and stretched his arms. He was sitting on the edge of his bed and had just put his shoes on again after dressing for classes.

Ron was standing next to him, pulling his robe onto his shoulders. "Did you finish that Transfiguration paper?"

His friend nodded and pushed his glasses up his nose a little more as he pulled on his own robe. "Yeah. I managed to finish it up last night. I had to stay up a bit later than normal to get it in. I'm a bit tired, but it's done."

The redhead nodded and grinned. "I've still got a few more lines to go. I'm mostly done."

The pair walked into the stairwell and down into the common area. Hermione was waiting for them by the entrance to the dorms. She pushed off the wall and seemed cheerful. "Good morning."

Both boys greeted her with "Good morning" in return.

"You're in a good mood today." Harry smiled at her.

The girl nodded and her smile faded a bit. There was something off about his grin. "What's wrong?"

He arched his eyebrow at her and shrugged. "Nothing. Just a bit tired."

The frazzle haired girl gave a half nod, but didn't seem convinced. "You finished that paper then?"

"Almost." Ron cringed at the look on her face.

"Yeah. I was up a bit late doing it. I'm fine." Harry stretched his arms and cracked his neck.

"All right then." Hermione continued to glare at Ron. "What do you mean almost?"

He put his hands up between them. "Calm down. I've only got a few more lines to go. I'll finish it before breakfast is over." He turned his head as he felt something warm and wet on his cheek.

Parvati was smiling at him as she pecked him on the cheek in greeting. "Good morning! How are you this morning Ron darling?"

"On the verge of failing Transfiguration." Hermione pushed on his arm. "Come on then. We'd best get to the dining hall so you can finish that paper."

Harry shook his head as both girls pulled the redhead towards the exit. Parvati seemed a bit annoyed as Hermione pulled them both along as she hung off of Ron's arm. The unfortunate boy looked a bit uncomfortable, but didn't resist either way.

The Boy Who Lived almost ran into Collin as he turned away. "Oh. Good morning."

Neville was next to him, with Dean holding him in a friendly looking headlock while rubbing at his skull. The large boy shoved him away lightly. "Knock it off."

Harry chuckled at the scene. "What are you three up to?"

Seamus stood up from a nearby chair and poked at Neville's belly. "Longbottom has a crush on your sister."

The hefty boy flushed. "I do not! I was just looking at her new Chocolate Frog Card." He handed it to Harry.

Collin nodded. "You've got a new one as well." He shoved it into his hand. "They have you in your Quidditch uniforms, and they have new stats."

The mouse haired boy looked at the back of both of them. "New stats?" The front sides had them both in their uniforms holding broomsticks on their shoulders.

The first year was looking quite impressed and almost shaking. "Yes. Now it says that you killed that Basilisk. They just came out this week."

Neville nodded. "Gran sent me a box yesterday."

Harry's face fell as he looked at the back of his sister's card. "The Greatest Potions Genius in the Universe? Are you kidding?" He gave a small sigh and shook his head. "I guess I can't argue with that, but still. Really."

Neville took both cards back. "Well, it says she's the youngest to ever become a Potions Master. Beat the old record by two years."

Dean frowned a bit as Seamus grinned at him. "And she's a total babe."

"So is he!" Sasha, one of the girls in his class, kissed his image as she waved another of the cards about. She was with a group of giggling girls that waved at him as they moved by while giving him dreamy eyed stares. "Good morning, Harry!" they chimed as a group.

Harry flushed a little and gave a rather weak wave back. He turned around and found the boys giving him a half annoyed, but more amused looks.

"Disgusting," commented Dean.

"Lucky bastard," agreed Seamus as he watched the scene.

"Neville is right though, Anna is cute." Collin grinned at the flustered boy.

"I never said that!" He shoved the card into his pocket. "Besides, she's got a boyfriend."

Seamus nodded. "Right. That lucky jerk, Cedric in Hufflepuff."

"I don't know about that." Dean grumbled. "I don't think she's cute."

Finnigan frowned at him. "What's wrong with you? She's a total babe! Right, Harry?"

The boy in question shook his head. "Gross." He turned away. "I'll see you later. I'm going to breakfast." He waved over his shoulder and moved towards the exit.

His smile faded a little as he walked out into the hall. Something felt off that day. There was a disturbance in the force. He had a bad feeling, and couldn't shake it.

OooOOooOO

Anna was sitting at her house table with her friends. "What? Are you joking?" She looked at Pansy with wide eyes and a half cocked grin on her face.

The brunette scrunched up her nose and shook her head as she giggled. "Well, what did you expect? It's a hot seller this year because of you."

"Everyone is wearing them I've heard." Margaret nodded and kept her nose up.

"I only wore that thing once. I don't get it." The redhead gave a sigh.

Melvin was chewing on a mouthful of eggs and swallowed. "You always say that. When are you going to figure out that girls look to you for that sort of thing?"

"I think it's cool!" Ginny seemed pleased.

"Do you think I should get one?" Marci cocked her head and seemed to think on it, putting her finger against her chin.

"I think it would look good on you." Ginny nodded and smiled at her. She'd spent her entire year hanging around the blond girl, and the two were now close friends.

"It's was just a newsboy cap." Anna seemed to regard it as nothing important. "I remember the one you're talking about. I don't even own it. It was just something they gave me to wear for the promo shots of the last album."

Melvin looked up at her. "I've still got mine. Haven't worn it since though." He diverted his attention away from looking at the older girls sitting nearby while he ate.

Ginny looked at her. "Really? There was an article about you in Sorceress Teen Beat a few months ago where they used a picture of you wearing it. It was so cute."

The older redhead rolled her eyes. "It figures. I am not a fashion icon. I'm a tomboy, I don't care about that stuff."

"Yes, you are." Pansy shoved her shoulder a little. "Whether you like it or not."

Margaret nodded. "She's right you know. I liked the pictures of me in the derby hat more. Remember? With the blouse, tie, jacket, and those cute skirts?"

Pansy lit up. "Oh! Yes! I remember those outfits."

Anna looked away, she remembered as well, but didn't want to admit it.

Melvin gave a heavy sigh. "Nothing tops that time we got those pictures with those..."

"Girls in the leather bikinis." Pansy and Margaret both sounded annoyed as they finished for him.

"Yeah. It was awesome." He either didn't notice, or didn't care.

Anna gave a rough snort. "You know, you two shouldn't talk. You were both staring at those two body builders in speedos pretty hard."

"Like you weren't." Margaret leaned over the table and narrowed her eyes.

Anna munched on a piece of dry toast. "Not my style really. I don't like that much muscle. It's a bit much."

Pansy rolled her eyes. "They were cute."

Their ringleader nodded. "I never said they weren't." She paused and looked over her shoulder. "Hello, Harry."

He nodded at the group. "Hey." They all waved back, Ginny and Marci both flushed and sank into their seats a little more. Along with a few of the other girls sitting nearby.

Anna stood up and gave a small sigh. "Not here to visit?"

"No. I just wanted to talk with you for a moment." They started walking away towards the end of the table to the corner.

Ginny gave a heavy sigh as she watched them go. "He is such a hunk."

Melvin chuckled. "What? I'm not rich and handsome too?"

Marci nodded. "Well, yes. You're also a depraved pervert though."

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes. We both heard about you getting caught using a wind charmed fan to blow up girl's skirts in the hall."

The boy nodded. "Yeah. I should have been more careful with it. Filch took it from me after he caught me. I think I saw him using it to blow leaves off the walkways last week."

OooOOooOO

Anna leaned against the wall and looked very casual as she looked at her brother with her arms crossed over her chest. "What's up?"

He looked around over his shoulders, but didn't seem nervous about it. "I'm not sure. I've just gotten a bad feeling today, I sense a disturbance."

The redhead nodded. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about it. I've not sensed anything." She didn't seem to be disregarding him either.

He nodded and looked thoughtful. "Just be careful. I'm not sure what's going on, but I am sure that something is up."

She frowned and looked towards her house table. "Strange, that I've not felt anything."

He looked a bit annoyed. "I'm sure."

She gave him a smirk and looked amused for a moment. "I know. The Dark Side can be difficult to see. Perhaps it is not so strange that I've not sensed anything."

Her brother seemed a little surprised at her reaction. "What do you mean?"

"I have much experience with such matters. The Sith can remain hidden, even right under our noses. My former master remained undetected for many years before the Jedi discovered him. He was among us, waiting and watching for his opportunity to strike." She pushed off the wall. "Remain on guard at all times, Harry. I believe you, but you should remember that. Just because you do not sense something, does not mean that there is no threat."

He nodded and frowned a little. "Well, I can't spend the rest of my life being paranoid either can I?"

She gave him a dark look as she walked by towards her seat at the table again. "It's not paranoia, if someone is really out to get you."

He scratched the back of his head and gave a small sigh as he turned towards his own table. "Right."

OooOOooOO

It was early evening at Hogwarts. The classes were winding down for the end of the year, and things at the school had taken an almost lazy air for the younger students as their older schoolmates struggled through the exams.

There was a bit of free time between dinner and the need to be in the common area. As it was, Anna Potter was standing on the seventh floor of Hogwarts yet again, peering into a cracked doorway that had opened up for her.

The painting of trolls attempting to dance moved on the wall behind her. The creatures stumbling in a clumsy gait. She didn't bother looking back at it as she gripped her wand and pushed the door open.

She found herself standing in a darkened room filled with dusty shelves, full of broken furniture, odd items, and dusty looking bottles of shimmering potions with an evil shimmer about them.

The young redhead ignored all of this and walked into the room in a bold stroll. Her eyes scanned the surroundings, and fell on an empty bust.

She cocked her head and walked up to it, gripping her wand with a frown on her face. "What? Where?"

"Looking for something, Potter?"

Anna froze, she turned her head to look over her shoulder with a scowl on her face.

A figure seemed to melt out of the shadows, female, but with a hood covering her head. She was taller than her, and gave a small chuckle as the hood seemed to tip up a little to regard her face.

The young redhead looked at the bust again. "You seem a bit pale. Are you feeling well?"

"Very well. I've been waiting for you. Waiting for this moment." The hooded figure hissed in a whisper.

"Where is..."

"Why should I tell you? You intend to destroy it. I can't allow that."

Anna growled. "Why not? What difference does it make to you?"

Kate chuckled again in a mocking tone. "Why indeed. You've still not figured that out have you?"

The younger girl turned to face her, the wand in her hand gripped in a white knuckled fist. "What do you mean?" Her eyes were a cold glare as she frowned at the hooded figure still standing back in the shadows of the shelves between her and the doorway.

Kate gave a rough snort. "You'll just have to figure it out for yourself. The diadem is out of your reach, forever."

The young redhead growled and furrowed her brow in irritation. "I'll find it. You can be sure of that."

"Don't be foolish. I've no intention of letting you go." A red blade extended from the taller girl's hand.

Anna pulled her own up in front of her. "You don't intend to let me go?" She sounded amused.

Kate glared at her from the shadows of her hood. "No. I don't."

"What makes you think you're the one who..." Anna's confident smile turned into a small frown as the older girl stepped forward. The light of her blade revealing her face.

Kate had visible veins in her cheeks, her eyes were dark and cold, and her lips black. "I didn't come here just to gloat about stealing that from under your nose, Potter. This is a trap. You will die here and now. Nothing will stop me this time."

The redhead had gone silent and kept her blade up in defense. She shifted her leg back and kept her eyes on the older Sith.

Delane shifted her blade from left to right, but did not move forward.

Anna jumped and ducked as objects from the shelves flew off and threw themselves at her. Her attacker waved her hand, and the shelf next to her toppled, attempting to crush her. The young redhead kicked off the top shelf as it fell, and landed in the next row of shelves, only to hop as a broken wardrobe tried to slide into her knees. She hacked at the air with her wand, and two drawers fell in halves away from her.

Kate chuckled as she looked on and walked towards her in a calm manner. "My, we are nimble, aren't we?"

Anna frowned as she glared at the girl as she waved her hand towards the door. It flew off it's hinges and she made a dash for it. "I sense something...a presence I've not felt since..."

Kate tried to hack at her with her weapon, but the young redhead flipped over the strike as she passed, hacking at a small case that shook as she passed over it. The older girl growled as two spiked bludgers flew out of it as their restraints were cut and made straight for her. A moment later, both of the modified Quidditch balls were in halves on the floor, quivering with the magic energy within them, but unable to levitate any more. "You'll not escape!" She followed her prey into the hall with her weapon held high.

Anna spun around and blocked the hack in the middle of the hallway. Her eyes were hard and serious. "You've gotten stronger." She thrust her palm out into the older girl's face.

Kate snarled as her hood was blown off, but wasn't thrown back by the maneuver. "Your anger is pathetic." Her skin was a pale white, and dark purple veins could be seen on her face and neck.

Anna pushed back against the girl's blade. It was much more difficult than it had been before. She was far stronger than she had been the last time she'd faced her. "You know you can't get away with this here, don't you, Katie?"

The older sith snarled as she pushed off and spun around. "I told you before, my name..." She rushed forward as she screamed and hacked at her with her lightsaber. "...is Rage!"

Anna blocked the flurry of blows, taking steps back under the girl's fury as she parried and shifted to avoid the strikes. Her heart raced as she locked blades with her, pushing against her as the blades hissed and popped as they made contact. The redhead thrust her weight forward and shoved up and back, tossing the older girl back. "How did she get so strong? What's going on here?"

Rage rushed forward again, this time Anna met her head on, going on the attack. She could not waste the opportunity to destroy the Sith girl.

Kate snarled at her. "Pathetic." She spun around blocking a few jabs and slashes with her own blade, and countered with her own.

Anna's blade cut a gash in he wall beside them charring the wallpaper and sending small sparks as the scar burned as she steadied herself and regained her balance. Her lips turned up as she seemed to calm with a dark glare in her eyes as she looked at her opponent. "It was foolish of you to give me such an opportunity. Now you'll just be destroyed."

The older girl stood tall and relaxed her stance, holding her weapon beside her. The hallway seemed to shake, the lights flickered as Anna remained still and simply stared at her. "You underestimate my power."

The redhead cocked her head. "Do I?"

Kate gasped as the helmet on a nearby suit of armor flew at her. She hacked it out of the air and crouched a little. "What?"

The younger girl chuckled in a dark tone. "Now young Sith, you will learn the true power of the Dark Side of the Force." She raised her hand and bolts of energy shot from her fingers.

The sixth year repeated the gesture, and the energy met in mid air, crackling and stopping halfway between them in a ball of energy as the beams struggled to push one way or the other. A sharp blow struck her shoulder as a nearby vase flew off an end table and slammed into her back. She grunted, but kept her energy steady and held back the onslaught of power.

Anna seemed relaxed and closed her eyes. The chest of the armor launched itself at her opponent, along with two small tables, and a bust of an old wizard.

Kate ducked aside, allowing the energy to pass over her as she stopped fighting. She rolled across the ground, hacking the table in two, as the remaining projectiles slammed into the walls and floor, sending splinters of stone and wood onto the polished floor.

Anna was on top of her and hacked down almost before she could react. The older girl's blade blocked a strike that drove her to her knees. Her head was hung low as she fought against the young redhead's forceful push.

The young redhead gasped as the older girl looked up at her with a fire in the back of her eyes. The irises had turned orange and her lips had turned up. "Your anger is pathetic. I can taste your fear." She shoved up and the second year was tossed onto her back.

Anna rolled over her shoulders as soon as her back hit the ground and flipped, landing on her feet and putting her weapon up to counter the downward slash that almost cut her in half. The weapons met just over her nose and she grunted in effort. "What?" The younger girl's eyes went a little wide as she noticed the jeweled metal bracelet that had been grafted into the older girl's forearm. "What have you done?"

"Now, young, Potter. You will die." Rage thrust her hand forward and Anna was thrown back ten feet, tumbling across the ground. Her weapon clattered away behind her.

Kate screamed in triumph as she descended from above with her weapon pointed down in a stab.

Anna snarled and pushed her palm up. The Sith's fall was slowed, and she rolled aside. The younger girl managed to roll out of the way and her weapon returned to her hand, just in time to block another strike. The windows next to the pair blew out, and air rushed out of the hall over the grounds in a heavy and loud roar that made both combatant's ears pop.

Both of them spun apart and whipped their blades to the side as they steadied and faced off again.

"What is the meaning of this!? Stop this at once!" A loud feminine voice called out in a forceful manner from behind the pair.

"Professor, No!" Anna's eyes went wide as she turned to look over her shoulder to see Afina with her wand held over her head preparing to cast a spell.

Kate just frowned at her as the woman cast a stunning spell. Anna rolled aside and the older girl just hacked at the energy, sending it right back at the teacher.

Afina rolled aside and gasped. "What? Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you're in young lady?" The spell bounced off the wall and careened down the empty hallway behind her.

Kate put her palm up and the woman was thrown fifteen feet back on her rear. "Shut the hell up. Stay out of this."

Anna growled as she charged and hacked at her side. The older girl blocked the strike and elbowed her in the face.

The younger girl grunted as she was thrown off balance and sucked in her gut to dodge a slash as she regained herself and parried yet again. The second year pushed off and kicked the girl dead in her face.

Rage tossed her weapon and it spun by Anna's head forcing her to bend her neck to dodge it, and then hop over it as it returned to the older girl's grip. The pair collided again.

"Potter..." Afina had managed to stagger to her feet again and was pushing herself up on the edge of a table.

"Are you crazy? She's trying to kill me! Get out of here!" The redhead growled over her shoulder.

Afina narrowed her eyes and gripped her wand. "I can't do that."

Kate punched the younger girl in the face and rushed forward aiming the blade of her weapon at her opponent's neck.

"Expellimarius!" Afina tried to disarm the older girl. Rage abandoned her attack and hacked at the spell, this time knocking the teacher's wand out of her hand.

Afina growled in frustration and looked over her shoulder at where it had gone. As she turned back, she saw the tall dark haired girl right in front of her. A burning pain became apparent in her belly, and she fell into the girl's shoulder.

"I warned you." Kate hissed as she shoved her back onto the ground as she pulled her blade out of her belly.

Anna screamed in alarm. "No! Professor!" Her face contorted as she rushed forwards.

Rage turned and blocked the strikes that followed. Anna was hacking at her with fury in her eyes and a snarl on her lips. The older girl was forced to step back, but held her ground and spun around to hack at the younger girl as she raised her weapon over her head.

The older girl raised her palm and Anna was thrown back into the wall, knocking the wind out of her as she struck right next to one of the windows and slumped down a little. Her eyes turned down the hall.

Dumbledore was rushing towards the scene with McGonagall and a second year boy at his side. The older Sith snarled and raised her hand towards the scene, pulling down in a quick and violent motion. A ten foot section of the hallway collapsed leaving debris and chunks of wall and ceiling blocking the path. "We won't be interrupted again before this is finished."

Anna looked a bit winded, she was covered in dust and her hair was matted down with sweat. She growled as her weapon reignited in her hand. "Good."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter jumped to his feet with wide eyes. The game of chess he'd been playing with Ron clattered to the ground between them. The red head blinked in surprise as his friend turned and just started running towards the exit. "Harry?"

He was on his feet and moving after him as McGonagall was almost bowled over at the entrance to the common area. Harry didn't even slow down.

The woman turned red and got an enraged look in her eyes as she called out after him. "Harry Potter! Stop this instant!" She turned and moved after him in a rush.

Ron staggered to a stop and looked on with wide eyes.

"What? What happened?" Hermione rushed over to his side, the rest of the students in the room looked both shocked and amazed. Everyone was looking towards Ron.

"I don't know. He just jumped up and started running." He moved towards the exit and walked out into the hall. "Harry! Harry!" He stood there looking at the now empty hallway and scratched his head.

Hermione and Neville staggered out behind him, with others following. Oliver Wood managed to mutter. "What happened?"

"I don't know, I'm..."

"Staying right here. Everyone back into the common area, now." Percy moved in front of the group and crossed his arms as he glared at them all.

Ron frowned at him. "Something is going on."

His older brother frowned at him. "It's got nothing to do with you. He's in serious trouble. You saw what just happened, Professor McGonagall will deal with it. Back in the common area."

Hermione looked pensive. "Oh no! He'll be expelled!"

Fred was behind her. "I hope not."

George nodded. "Yeah. That wasn't like him at all. What happened, Ron?"

Their younger brother looked a bit shocked. "He just ran off. I don't know."

Percy pointed towards the open portrait. "He'll be lucky if he's not expelled after that. You're not joining him. Back in the common area. I'll stun you if I have to." He gripped his wand and looked quite forceful.

The students shuffled back. Ron frowned at his older brother for a moment and turned away. Hermione shuffled back into the dorms just after him looking worried.

OooOOooOO

On the sixth floor of Hogwarts, Harry Potter was running as fast as his legs would go. His heart was racing as he pushed himself as hard as he could to move through the corridors.

He skidded to a stop as a pair of double doors closed right in front of his face. He almost ran face first into them, but managed to halt himself with his nose less than a centimeter away from the wood.

"Harry Potter, you are in serious trouble young man." McGonagall walked out of one of the adjoining rooms with a scowl on her face and made a grab for him.

He ducked aside and started moving away. "No time! I've got to hurry! I can't stop to explain right now!"

He ran into a long familiar robe. Dumbledore was frowning down at him and looking quite stern. "I'm afraid you've got no choice." His arm was in the man's grip.

The boy looked up at him with wide eyes and almost tried to rip his arm free. He seemed to calm and relaxed a little more. "Someone is trying to kill my sister! I...No!" His eyes went wide and he did rip himself free. He could feel something terrible at that moment.

Both faculty looked on in shock as he thrust his palm out and both doors that had barred his way flew open as he rushed away from them. "Anna! I've got to stop her!"

The two adults were running after him as he rushed away.

"Harry Potter! You are in serious trouble!" McGonagall called after him.

He slid to make a turn and looked towards him. "No time! Punish me later!" He rushed up the stairs to the seventh floor.

"Harry! Wait!" Dumbledore was not looking any more pleased.

The boy froze in place a short distance down the hall after the stairs. "No! Someone's been..."

McGonagall tried to make a grab for him, and drew her wand. She was about to try to stun him when a familiar hissing and popping came from further down the hall.

"What? That's..." She rushed along with Harry as he rounded the corner.

Dumbledore was at her side keeping pace easily despite his age. "Merlin!" His eyes went wide.

Afina was on her back on the ground before the trio. Two students, an older girl, and a familiar redhead were in the hall. Each with a sword of red light in her hand.

The older girl seemed to notice them. She raised her hand and Harry slid to a stop. He reached his hand out and pulled back, just in time to pull the woman on the ground out of the way as the hallway collapsed in front of them.

Afina slid in front of Dumbledore and McGonagall. Harry didn't stop to regard the scene, and turned down another hallway.

McGonagall was at the woman's side. "Miss Amanar! What? Who did this?"

The woman was pale and cold in her arms. She was covered in sweat and gasping for breath. There was a circular wound on her belly that was surrounded by a wet red stain. Her pale hand gripped the Gryffindor Head's shoulder. Her eyes were wide and she was only gasping with a shocked look about her.

Dumbledore peered at the wound. "I can guess what did this."

Minerva gave a serious nod. "I'll take her to the infirmary. You deal with this."

The old man gave a serious nod and moved off in the same direction Harry had gone.

OooOOooOO

Anna and Kate were locked in battle. Their weapons popped and hissed as they clashed in the hallway and pushed back and fourth.

The redhead swiped and hooked a kick across the older girl's cheek, spinning her around.

Kate managed to lock blades with her again before the redhead could take advantage and kneed her in the gut.

The younger girl staggered back.

"Enough!" Rage screamed as she hacked at the girl's weapon over and over, slamming the weapon into it as her prey was forced to her knees.

Anna tried to stand up and stab at her, but Kate spun the weapon around, tossed the strike off to the side, and slashed up in a quick and precise motion.

The second year girl screamed as she fell to her knees in pain. Her weapon, still gripped in her left hand, was sent clattering across the ground behind them.

"Now, you die." Kate sneered at her as she put her weapon under the redhead's chin. She reared her arm back and slashed at her neck.

Anna's eyes were squeezed shut, but instead of a sharp pain, another familiar popping noise filled the hall.

Harry Potter was standing with a blade of blue light preventing the slash from cutting her head clean off. "That's enough."

Kate glared at him. "Stay out of this."

The boy pushed his hand forward. "Keep your hands off my sister."

Rage was tossed back and slid on her feet away from him. She growled and charged again.

Harry stood his ground, blocking and parrying the girl's attacks.

The Sith was enraged. "She's mine! You'll die! You'll both die!"

The second year boy remained defensive, but pushed her back, further away from the redhead.

The enraged Sith glared at him and thrust her palm out. Crackling energy shot from her hand and impacted his blade. He remained calm and cool as the energy remained on the energy blade and dissipated.

Kate seemed to calm and frowned at him. She pulled her weapon upright beside her and took up a stance to attack him.

Dumbledore rounded the corner and his voice boomed across the hall. "That's enough! Stop this at once!"

Kate glanced at him and grinned. "Pathetic Wizard. This is beyond your power. Stay out of it, or you'll end up like that old hag."

The man narrowed his eyes at her. "I see. Then it was you. You are in serious trouble young lady. I'm afraid I cannot allow..."

Kate turned to look at Harry again. "Stupid old man."

Dumbledore was forced to duck back around the corner as four large hunks of the debris from the collapse of the hall slammed into the area he'd once occupied, two holes were put into the walls. "It seems we'll have to teach these pathetic Wizards that their time is finished. Now, is the beginning of our time."

"No. You're wrong." Harry frowned at her.

"Am I?" Kate seemed less than amused. "It doesn't matter. You won't live to see it!" She rushed forward and slashed at the boy.

Her intensity had grown. This time Harry struggled as he was beaten back by her fury. He grunted under the force of her blows and struggled to keep his weapon between them. She spun, he moved to block a stab, but her empty hand was thrown out instead.

The boy flew off his feet and hit the wall hard. His weapon fell from his hand and Kate rushed at him meaning to impale his chest.

A flash of red light knocked her strike away and Anna's foot was planted in her belly.

The older girl staggered back and wheeled her arms about for a moment. As soon as she hit the wall, she slashed her blade again, sending a stunning spell that Dumbledore had cast at her into the ceiling.

Anna was standing in front of her brother with her severed arm tucked into her side, and her weapon in her right hand. "You get away from him you, Bitch."

Harry had his weapon again, and Kate waved her arm to toss another hunk of stone towards Dumbledore. This time, the boy raised his hand and stopped it in mid air. The older girl snarled as she held back a burst of electrical energy from the old man's wand.

With a final snarl of frustrated rage, she looked at each of the three. "Another time then." With that, she jumped through the shattered window behind her.

Harry rushed up to it and looked down just in time to see her land on the grass below. She looked up at him, and rushed away towards the tree line.

His sister collapsed against the wall with an expression of pain on her face. He whirled around and called to her in alarm. "Anna!"

She was pale and covered in sweat, her hair matted down against her face, and dust covering her body. She gave a small whimper as she looked at the stump on her arm and managed to say, "Not again," before passing out cold.

OooOOooOO

Anna sat up and gasped. She looked about and put her hand up to her forehead. "I'm getting sick of waking up like this."

She looked about, and found she wasn't alone. Beside her, Afina was resting in the bed at her side. She was pale, and breathing in shallow breaths.

Her left arm was wrapped up and she peered at it for a moment. Her fingers were poking out of the end of a thick wrap of bandages that covered her entire forearm. She wiggled them a little and gave a small wince as the area above her wrist was filled with a stabbing pain. They had moved though.

She didn't know what time it was, and slumped back into the pillow a with care. She didn't want to jar her arm, and moving her fingers had hurt quite a bit.

Her attention turned to the table beside her bed. A vase with an arrangement of flowers was next to her with a card in it. It floated over to her hand, and she opened it. Her power made it easy, even without the use of her left hand. 'Get well soon, Cedric Diggory'.

She found herself with a small grin on her face as she looked at it.

"Oh. Awake are we?" Madam Pomphrey walked over with a smile on her face. "I hear we had quite a scare."

The redhead looked up at her and worked her mouth for a moment. She wasn't sure what to say. "I..." After a moment, she frowned. "You know, you could just ask me what happened. No need to hide. This isn't the first time the Ministry has tried this with me."

The woman paused and looked at her. A moment later, a woman in her mid twenties with long black hair and a slender body was standing in front of her. She was wearing a long black dress with a rather tight top. Her chest wasn't very large, and a silver medallion was hanging between the slight bulges. She took a pair of glasses out of a small black handbag and put them on her nose.

"Kate Delane tried to murder me, and nearly killed Professor Amanar." She looked over at the woman's bed. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore has already told you that."

The woman said nothing and narrowed her eyes a bit.

Anna settled into her pillow. "Nothing to say? You're not upset I wasn't fooled are you?"

The woman's voice was stern and tense. "It's a bit irritating, yes."

"Well, I could say the same thing about being questioned by people in disguise. I'm the victim here, it's irritating that the Ministry keeps acting like I'm the one who has done something wrong." The girl frowned at the woman. The medallion hanging from her neck was the Ministry seal. The wizarding equivalent of a badge.

She nodded. "I suppose, then again, you're not supposed to notice."

The girl relaxed her eyes a little more. "I suppose I can't expect Scrimgour to show up every time something like this happens."

The woman tensed up a little and frowned a little more. "He's a busy man. Anything you'd like to say?"

"I hope you don't catch her. You've got no idea what Azkaban would do to someone like her. It would make her more powerful than you could possibly imagine." The redhead looked over at her and seemed very relaxed.

The woman cocked her eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"Who are you? Aren't you supposed to introduce yourself? I'm sure you know who I am." Anna settled herself a little more with a sense of purpose.

"I'm Inspector Manchester. Do you intend to cooperate, or are you just trying to toy with me?" She didn't seem pleased.

Anna smiled. "A little of both. What is it you want to know, Lara?"

The woman's eyes went hard. "That's Inspector. How do you know my name?"

The redhead cocked her eyebrow. "It's engraved on your bracelet. You're married, no children, left handed, you chew on your thumb, but only your right thumb, when you're thinking." The redhead put her good arm behind her head. "You don't need those glasses for anything but reading, but you like the way they look. You ride a motorbike, had Italian the last time you ate, and you're Scottish, despite living in London. Your hair is dyed, and you usually keep your hair shorter than it is now."

"How do you know that?" The Inspector growled.

"Your right shoe is scuffed on the inside from starting the bike. Your thumbnail is ragged while the rest of your fingers are carefully manicured, you've got a small spot of marinara on your dress, you're wearing a wedding ring, you're trying to fake a London accent, but your R's give you away, your roots are showing a bit, your wand is holstered on your right side, only the bottom half of your glasses are prescription, the top half is just unfocused glass."

The woman sat down on the end of the bed. "You're very observant."

The girl nodded. "Yes. What is it you wanted to know exactly? I've given you what you need to know already haven't I?"

"What were you doing on that floor?"

"Getting drawn into a trap apparently." Anna looked a bit annoyed as she thought about it. "She was waiting for me."

The woman nodded. "That's not really an answer."

"I came across an interesting painting of an attempt to teach trolls how to dance. I read about it in the library, and decided to have a look while I had a bit of free time. It was a less amusing experience than I'd anticipated." She lifted her arm up to show the bandages.

The woman stood up and frowned at her. "Well, I suppose that's all I need to know for now. We'll be talking with Miss Amanar once she wakes up."

Madam Pomphrey walked up to the scene with a scowl on her face. "Are you finished? She needs rest, there's plenty of time for questions later."

The younger woman nodded and walked away. "Interesting girl." She ignored the portly woman and went on her way. "Trouble though."

Anna frowned at her back and watched her leave. She settled back in as Pomphrey peered at her arm and lifted it up in a ginger manner. The redhead winced a little.

The woman gave a satisfied sounding grunt. "You'll be good as new in two days. Don't try and move your hand."

"I figured that out." The girl grimaced as the nurse put her arm down. "How long have I been out? Did I miss anything interesting?"

The woman shook her head. "No, nothing important. It's only been a day and a half. You should be careful. I don't want you spending the end of the year in here every year."

Anna's eyes drooped a little. "Neither do I. Not as a patient at any rate. Maybe next time it will be my brother instead?"

The woman chuckled despite herself. "I don't want to see either one of you spending the end of the year in here again." She shuffled off again towards her desk.

"Potter."

Anna turned her head and smiled at Afina. "Awake are we?"

"Wish I wasn't." She frowned and looked down at her belly. "It stings a bit. I'd rather have slept through it."

Anna lifted her arm. "I could say the same."

Afina arched her eyebrow. "What happened to you?"

The girl's brow furrowed. "Bitch cut off my arm."

The woman nodded. "Sorry to hear that. I should have done..."

"You almost died. You did what you could. You know, the job really is cursed."

Afina chuckled, but stopped and put her hand on her belly. "I suppose I should retire then."

"The Ministry will want to speak with you." The girl settled in her pillow again.

"I noticed. I've been up for a bit already. I'm in no mood to talk with them right now." She closed her eyes. "Potter."

"Yes?" The girl turned her head towards her.

"Do be careful."

The girl nodded. "You too. I like you. Retiring is a better idea than you imagine. That job, really is cursed. You might not be so lucky next time. Voldemort wanted it, and since he couldn't have it, he made sure no one else could keep it, if you catch my drift."

The woman nodded. "It was him then? Heh. I figured I was used to that sort of thing. Oh well." She settled into her pillow a little more. "I won't be teaching here again next year. However, I do think I'll be speaking with you again. Once it doesn't hurt so much."

The girl nodded. "I look forward to it."

The teacher nodded. "Glad to hear it. I'm getting some rest."

OooOOooOO

Harry gave a small sigh as he looked out the window of the train. The year at Hogwarts had ended.

He'd not gotten in trouble for what happened at the end of the year. He'd been questioned by the Aurors, and there had been a bit of a hassle about the school over the mess. Everyone knew what had happened now.

Gryffindor had won the House Cup, Slytherin had won the Quidditch Cup. The last few days had been uneventful and lazy once the Aurors had left.

Kate Delane was missing, and was now a wanted criminal. She'd vanished and no one had heard from her since the incident in the hall.

Afina had recovered, but would not be returning next year to teach Dark Arts. It was a shame, he'd enjoyed her class. She'd been a competent teacher.

Hermione was sitting beside him, with Ron across from her. Melvin was rapping on the seat with his hands and girl watching through the window.

"What are you doing this summer?" The frazzle haired girl tugged on his shoulder.

Harry seemed to snap back into the world. "Huh? Oh. I'm going to Romania for a week, and then we're touring in the US for a month in the North East with the band."

Melvin nodded. "Yeah. Should be awesome. How about you, Ron?"

The redhead shrugged. "I'm going to visit my brother Bill in Egypt. The whole family is going."

Harry felt something for a moment, but it passed. He glanced the redhead and almost said something, but shrugged it off. "How about you, Hermione?"

The girl gave a small sigh. "I'm not sure. I don't think we have anything planned. I've not heard yet."

Ron nodded. "I'm sure we'll see you sometime before we go back. I won't be gone all summer."

The mouse haired boy nodded. "Right. You know you're invited to our Birthday and all. I'll get you tickets to the show when we get back. We always finish up the tour with a show in London."

"I guess it's a tradition now." Melvin seemed to think on it. "What about you Longbottom?"

Neville was sitting quietly in the corner by the door. "Huh? I'm spending summer at home with my Gran."

Harry grinned at him. "That sounds nice. I'll get you tickets for the show too if you'd like. You can come to the Birthday party too. I'd like to see that Greenhouse of yours. If it's more impressive than the one at Hogwarts, it must be something."

The boy looked at him with wide eyes. "R-really?"

The Boy Who Lived cocked his head in surprise at his reaction. "Of course, we're friends aren't we?"

Neville nodded. "Sure! That would be great!"

Harry looked out the window with a grin on his face. Melvin and Ron had started talking, and were annoying Hermione. His mind wandered a bit as he watched the people go by outside the window.

Things had ended better than they should have. His sister had almost been killed again. Kate Delane had given her a nasty thrashing, and that bothered him. The girl was powerful, more than he expected. He wasn't so sure he could have beaten her on his own. That worried him a great deal.

Then, there was the matter of Anna. He'd felt things. Things he couldn't ignore. She'd been fighting for her life, but that didn't change what those things were. He wasn't sure there was anything he could do. Harry didn't like it one bit, but he felt helpless, and unable to do anything.

As far as he knew, he was the only Jedi. He was surrounded by danger. He had once found comfort in having his sister with him, but that feeling was fading.

He also knew, he could not turn away. Something inside him told him that he could not, or everything he loved, everything he fought for, would be destroyed. The problem was, he wasn't so sure he could stop it, even if he did his best.

"Harry? Harry? Hello?"

The boy blinked as he noticed Melvin waving his hand in front of his face. "Huh? Sorry."

The dark haired boy frowned a little. "You all right man? You looked a bit out of it."

Harry nodded. "I'm fine. Just...thinking too much again."

Melvin grinned. "Hey. Relax man. It's summer. It'll be awesome."

Despite everything, The Boy Who Lived had a feeling he was right. It brought a grin to his face. "You're right."

Ron nodded. "Yeah. I'm looking forward to relaxing while I visit my brother this summer. It should be nice."

Harry glanced at him and opened his mouth to say something. He cocked his head, slapped Ron on his shoulder, and grinned. "Bring your whip."

The boy looked at him in confusion. "Huh? What for? There aren't any stupid Vampires in Egypt are there?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure. Just thought I should tell you that."

Hermione gave him a light elbow in his ribs. "Stop teasing him. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Ron just gave a small sigh and shook his head.

The Potter boy grinned at her and pushed his glasses up his nose. "You're right. He'll be fine."

Parvati walked into the car and sat down next to the redhead. "There you are." She grabbed his shoulder and kissed his cheek.

He gave her a small grin. "You're not sitting with your sister?"

She adjusted his collar. "I changed my mind. You're going to write me over the summer, aren't you dear?" It didn't sound much like a question.

He nodded. "Sure. Of course." He didn't sound much like he'd thought about it before she said it.

She gave his collar a quick tug and narrowed her eyes. "You'd better."

Harry chuckled and Melvin made silent whipping motions with his hand with a huge grin on his face behind her back. Ron narrowed his eyes at the dark haired boy a little, but didn't say anything.

Hermione rolled her eyes a bit and settled in as the train started moving.

OooOOooOO

Anna pulled Cedric behind a brick wall near the back of the train station. The boy stumbled behind her and looked a bit wide eyed as she pushed him into the wall and kissed him full on the lips.

He blinked as she pulled back and smiled at him. "Wh-what was that for?"

She poked his chest and kissed his cheek. "You sent me flowers."

He blushed and nodded. "Oh. How is your arm? That must have hurt."

She held up her hand and wiggled her fingers. "Fine. See. Good as new." It was almost true. There was now a scar that ran all the way around her forearm just above her wrist. She kissed him on the lips with a quick peck again. "You're sweet. Come on, you're sitting with us again?"

He scratched his head as she pulled him along. "I guess so."

A few moments later they were on the train, and sat down in the car with Pansy, Margaret, Marci, and Ginny.

Margaret was filing her nails. "Oh. There you are."

Pansy gave a sly smirk to the redhead as she settled in and put Cedric's arm over her shoulder. The boy didn't look all that comfortable, but didn't resist either. "Where did you two run off too?"

Anna leaned into the boy and shifted his hand away from her chest and higher up on her shoulder. "Nowhere. Why?"

"You'll tell us about it later then?" Margaret blew a bit of dust off and inspected her work.

Pansy giggled. "She'd better."

Cedric remained quiet and seemed to relax a bit more.

Ginny was talking with Marci about writing her over the summer and meeting up with her. The pair had become good friends over the course of the year.

Anna seemed content and rested her head on Cedric's shoulder as the train shook as it started to move off away from Hogwarts.

Thus, another year came to a close.

OooOOooOO

Next Time: The start of the second Summer.

TBC...

Seeing as a lot of reviewers haven't seemed to notice. I feel compelled to spell it out, it's been a while since I updated this so I guess people forgot, or weren't paying attention.

Kate had Tom Riddle's Diary, and mysteriously gained Force powers and training during that time. She calls the diadem 'Master' and recognizes it's voice.

Notice a connection there?

Voldemort is revealed as a Sith Lord in this chapter. Kate has a Horcrux grafted to her arm now, that's how she got so strong all of a sudden. She now has access to Voldemort's knowledge of the Force.

How Voldemort became Sith is not explained yet. Book three's chapters will deal with it.

No, he's not the one who trained Draco either. Book three will reveal that mystery as well.

You're just going to have to wait for more information than that.


	38. Chapter 38

A matter of force.

Part 38

School's out for summer.

OooOOooOO

Anna was sitting on her brother's bed. A suitcase was opened on his sheets, and he was packing it with clothes and assorted toiletries with a smirk on his face. It was the only luggage he would be taking with him. Thanks to his sister, he could load as much as he wanted into a single suitcase with no trouble. He looked up at her and his smile faded. "What's with you? What are you looking at me like that for?" He rubbed on the scar on his forehead.

The girl was looking right at it and had a slight frown on her features. She didn't look angry or upset. "Voldemort is a Sith."

He nodded and gave a small sigh. "Is he?" He didn't look all that surprised. "How do you know that?"

She was leaning against the post to his bed and looked towards the ground as she wrapped her arms around it. "Kate Delane. She possessed one of his horcruxes for a short time this year, the diary of Tom Riddle, and mysteriously gained training in the ways of the Sith."

The boy continued packing and slowed a little. Folding the pile on his bed next to his suitcase as he placed it inside. "Oh? I see. That makes sense."

The girl gave a nod. "In a manner of speaking. He didn't seem it when we faced him in that mess with the stone. This has surprised me. There's no other explanation I can think of."

Harry glanced at her. "Well, it's good to know that. I don't think there's much to be done at the moment."

She looked up at him and bit her bottom lip. "There's more. Kate Delane is very dangerous."

Her brother just nodded. "I noticed."

"What you didn't notice, was what she grafted onto her arm. Somehow, she found the Horcrux I'd discovered and managed to get her hands on it before I could destroy it. A diadem that she's welded into her left forearm. It needs to be destroyed. It was not her power that I faced in that hall. Not hers alone at any rate."

He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her. "I'll remember that."

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes a little. "See that you do. Cho Mai should be your primary focus if you face her again."

The boy cocked his head and grinned. "Well, that's a change. Normally you'd just tell me that we should destroy her."

She rolled her eyes and looked annoyed, but didn't chide him. "That thing on her arm is a more potent weapon than her lightsaber. Destroying or removing it is more important than eliminating her. Get that thing off her arm and destroy it immediately, even if it means letting her escape with her life. It may weaken her considerably."

"Then again, it might not." Harry glanced at her.

Anna pushed off the post and nodded. "The longer she has it, the more she will learn, and the less good simply removing it will do."

"What about Draco? There's more than one Sith running about, the rule of two..."

The girl nodded. "This concerns me as well. I do not know who Voldemort's master was. The simple matter is, he could have learned any number of ways. A holocron, a Sith in this world's past we are unaware of, or..." She looked at him again, focusing her eyes on his scar.

He scratched at it and looked interested. "Or what?"

She shook her head and looked at the ground. "I'm not sure. It doesn't matter now. My point is, it may not have been one of those who followed the path of Darth Revan, and Darth Bane. Revan said that 'Any master who instructs more than one apprentice in the ways of the dark side is a fool. In time, the apprentices will unite their strengths and overthrow the master. It is inevitable; axiomatic. That is why each master must have only one student.' Darth Bane was the one who truly took it to heart. Then again, my former master didn't exactly stick to that rule himself. I'm to understand Darth Plagueis was still living when he trained Darth Maul, one of my predecessors, and he knew Dooku had an apprentice. You know of Ventress. Even I had a secret apprentice. Acolytes and Dark Jedi weren't Sith, but trained force users who could use the Dark Side of the Force. They are not meant to become apprentices, though, if the apprentice is destroyed, they were often used as...backups."

Harry frowned at that, but nodded. "Draco, maybe?"

Anna shrugged. "I'm not sure. It's not something I can vouch for either way, we may be dealing with more than one Sith. Draco doesn't seem to have any love of Voldemort, and wishes him destroyed as well. However, that isn't unusual for an apprentice. He might be just an acolyte or Dark Jedi, and likely wouldn't be aware of it if he was. You didn't tell someone that sort of thing. I knew of my Master's Acolytes, one named Mara Jade stood out in particular. I tried to have her killed a few times, but she always managed to slip away." The redhead had a strange grin on her face as she said it. "She ended up marrying my son as I recall. I don't know that much about what happened after I died I'm afraid. I stayed for a time, watching, but it's different when you're dead. You float in and out, and time means little. It's kind of hard to describe really, but it's difficult to pay much attention to the world of the living, even a bit dangerous to get too involved." She rubbed on her chin with her arms crossed over her chest as she seemed to get a little lost in thought over the matter.

Harry had a rather blank stare on his face. "Oh. I..."

She glanced at him. "Sorry. I guess I got a little carried away." She sat down beside him again and grabbed his shoulder. "I've been meaning to ask you. Where did you learn form three?"

The boy looked at her and flushed as he scratched his head. "Huh?"

The girl poked his chest and narrowed her eyes at him. "I've only trained you in form five as a base form. I've taught you a little of form four and three, but..."

He looked away. "But what?"

"You've been using form three in lightsaber practice lately. In fact, it's all you've been using for the past week." She shook him by his shoulder and grinned at him. "You're starting to remind me of someone."

He glared at her. "You're the one who taught me how to do it. You should know."

Her features fell. "You've been training with Master Obiwan?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about it with you." He stood up and started packing again.

The girl's features fell a little. "No?"

He looked up at her, with a small frown on his face. He looked embarrassed. "They don't trust you."

The girl took a step back. "Who is 'they'?" She cocked her head and kept her emotions in check.

"You introduced me. Don't look so surprised." He didn't look up at her and closed the luggage. "I've been having dreams of my own."

The girl nodded. "Do you trust me, Harry?"

He gave her a warm and honest grin. "Yes. Don't think that doesn't mean I'm not keeping an eye on you either."

The redhead cocked her head a little. "I see. Don't let them make you paranoid. They're excitable old men, the lot of them."

He rolled his eyes and chuckled as he slapped her shoulder. "No, no. You do far more of that than they ever could."

She worked her mouth for a moment and growled. "Right."

His bag floated off his bed and he walked by her taking it down to set it by the door. "Come on. We've got to go and catch our plane soon. You're packed right?"

The girl followed him out and crossed her arms. She was a little annoyed at his comments, but let it pass.

OooOOooOO

Anna was wearing an expensive gown, her hair was pinned up, and she was sitting in a crowded concert hall. Pinned to her chest was an Order of the Romanian Star cross. Melvin, Margaret, Harry, and her parents were sitting next to her.

The crowd was on it's feet, cheering as the show ended. A chorus and orchestra had just finished a show. A famous Romanian conductor had just finished performing some of her orchestrations. It had started with the 'Raider's March' which she had renamed 'The Weasley March' and then moved into music from 'Van Helsing' and after that, a large suite of 'Star Wars' music spanning all six films. The show had ended with the theme to 'Halo' and a piano performance by Pansy of 'Celes' Opera' from Final Fantasy VI.

Naturally, there were recordings and video being made of the event. Pansy was bowing to the crowd along with the other performers and blowing kisses at them as flowers rained down on the stage.

Anna had a bouquet of flowers shoved into her arm and was led to the stage from her seat. The Romanian Royal Family greeted her at the base of the stage and shook her hand as she walked up to bow next to Pansy and the conductor.

Pansy grabbed her in a hug and kissed her cheek. "This was so cool! I was so nervous though!"

She smiled at her friend. "You did great. Thanks for helping out with this."

The brunette nodded. "I wish Mom and Dad could have been here. Sirius as well."

Anna wrinkled her nose and nodded. "Yeah. They'll get a copy of the video and recording." Pansy's mother was pregnant, and was due in the winter. Lissa would be marrying Sirius at the end of the summer, and plans for the wedding were underway for just after the tour ended.

Her mother and father were both cheering with the crowd as they bowed again to the standing ovation. James was holding Lily up, and she had quite a bulge of her own. Both of them would be returning to England from Romania, while the children went on tour.

Rufus was smiling back stage as the curtain fell and they moved towards the dressing rooms. "Well done. A most excellent performance."

Pansy looked a little exasperated, and was still pumped up on adrenaline as she wiped her forehead. "Thanks." The man was responsible for them while they went on tour in the US. They were all taking a private jet with a bit of a Wizarding touch about it and would be leaving Romania that evening for New York.

Lily and James walked up to the scene with smiles on their faces. Her father tried to rub on her hair, but her mother grabbed his arm. "That was impressive."

"Don't mess up her hair. She looks nice, it's so rare to see her like this. So don't ruin it." The woman poked her husband in the chest and smiled at her. "It was very nice dear. Much better than I expected."

Anna smiled at her. "Right."

Harry had a camera in his hands and took a couple of pictures of his sister. "I wonder what Cedric will say when he sees this?" He chuckled and seemed amused with his comment.

Melvin nodded and grinned, his tie was undone already and his collar was unbuttoned. "I bet he'll...'Jizz, in his pants'."

He and Harry both said the last part together in the same fashion as one of the songs on their newest album. It was a joke song hidden about a minute after the last track. The same one made famous by the SNL group 'Lonely Island'.

Anna frowned at him. "Don't send him one of those. Here take another." She posed a bit, smiling and looking a little more sultry.

Lily and James both got a little wide eyed. Her father started to open his mouth, but their mother spoke up first. "Cedric?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. He's like her boyfriend or something. She didn't tell you?"

Anna frowned at him, but didn't deny it. "I miss him more than I thought I would. It's weird, I didn't think I would." She got a bit wide eyed as her mother took her arm and almost dragged her off.

Pansy grinned at the scene, but looked up at James. "Yeah. They started going out at the beginning of the year."

He was looking at the pair move off with wide eyes. "Wait. Boyfriend?"

Harry looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah. He's a nice guy. They get along really well together."

Pansy seemed pleased. "They're so cute together."

Margaret gave a small snort. "It's kind of disgusting, but it's true. They are cute together."

Melvin nodded. "Speaking of that, when does our flight leave?"

His sister frowned at him. "Look, you're not drooling all over Christina. Hands off."

Rufus seemed amused and reached into his coat pocket. "Oh. Here are your tickets. I'll be meeting you at the airport later, we're on the same flight."

James scratched the back of his head. "Thanks for taking care of this. Lily wanted to go. I had a hard time convincing her. I'm afraid I'm going to have to hold her back at the airport."

The man nodded. "Don't worry. They're in good hands, there's lots of security, I'll be with them the whole time, and they'll be calling home every night." He pulled his glasses down and looked at the children.

None of them argued and grinned in a way that made James a little nervous as they nodded. Harry looked up at his father. "We'll be fine. If you're worried about us, just get that old newspaper out, and have a look at those pictures of Anna tossing boulders and shooting lightning about."

The man looked towards Lily and Anna and swallowed. "Yes. I'm not so sure that will help." He took his son by the shoulder. "Boyfriend? That Diggory boy? Are you sure?"

Harry grinned and nodded. "Yeah. Anna likes him."

OooOOooOO

Lily had a frown on her face as she pulled her daughter aside. "What's this about a boyfriend?"

The young redhead blushed and looked at her with her head hung a little. "You can't pretend you're not happy to hear that you know. I can tell you're happier about it than you're letting on."

Her mother gave a smirk. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. It is." The girl nodded. "I like him. I guess."

The woman gave a small chuckle. "He is cute." She was surprised, her daughter was a huge tomboy.

Anna cocked her head. "Isn't he though? I miss him a little. I'm kind of surprised. I mean, we were friends last year, but I didn't think much of it."

Lily blinked and shook her head. Her daughter said the strangest things at times. "Well, I'm sure he'll miss you too. Don't worry."

The girl had a somewhat evil looking smirk. "Worry? I've got him wrapped around my finger. Did you think it was cute when dad was a pathetic bumbling idiot too? He doesn't know what to do with me. It's more appealing than I'd anticipated."

Her mother blushed a bit. "Well, yes. I don't know if I'd compare him to your father. You're only thirteen."

"Yes. I know. I'm close enough to fourteen to argue with that, not that it's much different." Her daughter shrugged.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "I'm surprised you've admitted it so easily."

Anna turned her head away. "What do you mean? I'm a girl after all. I suppose I couldn't just ignore it forever. He's cute, we like each other. I can trust him, and he's got a good temperament, and a cute butt."

Her mother had her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles with limited success. "Really, dear."

Anna was looking halfway between confident and embarrassed. "What? It's true."

"He seems like a nice boy." Lily put her arm across her shoulders and pinched at her nose. "I suppose I should have expected. After what happened at the Christmas party last year."

Anna narrowed her eyes a little. "What is it? I can tell you're a little uncomfortable."

The woman gave a small sigh. "You're growing up. I'm not so sure I like the idea of you getting too involved. He's a thirteen year old boy, they aren't the most trustworthy at that age."

The girl shrugged. "I'm psychic. I can tell that he likes me. Really likes me."

The woman's face became blank. "Oh. Can you now?"

Her daughter chuckled. "Yeah. It's not really fair to him. Oh well. I don't need to be fair." She was a little flushed as she said it. "Trust me, I've got him right where I want him."

The woman shook her shoulder and kissed her cheek. "That's my girl." She didn't want to discourage her, but what she'd said worried her a little.

Anna gave a small sigh. "Relax would you? I'll be fine. I'm not going to do anything stupid."

Her mother narrowed her eyes a little. "I didn't say anything."

Her daughter nodded. "I know. Still, I can tell that you're a little worried. It's not like I'm going too..." The girl's eyes became a little glazed and she stopped talking.

Lily frowned. "It's not like you're going to what?"

Anna shook her head. "Huh?"

"It's not like you're going to what?" repeated the woman with her eyebrows arching.

"I...well, he's my boyfriend. I'm not going to...it's not like we'll ever...He's not going to be my...um, it's not like we'll ever get...I won't..." Anna frowned. She couldn't get the phrase out no matter how she tried. "I'm going to sleep with him someday." She slapped her hand over her mouth and growled. "Wait, that's exactly what I meant. Damn it. I..." Her eyes grew very wide and she stared at the floor. "...No way."

Lily's eyes drooped a bit. "What?"

Anna was beet red. "Well, not until...I mean...oh man. Really? Him?" She cocked her head. "I...didn't expect that." She seemed to think on it.

"Anna! What are you saying? You're most certainly not...I'd better not hear..." The woman had a rather firm grip on her arm.

"Well, not till I'm older." The redhead shied away from her a little.

"Most certainly not!" Her mother was going red and didn't look pleased.

The redhead flinched away. "Remember when I told you about asking me about stuff you don't really want to know?"

Lily dropped her arm and went a little pale. "What?"

"I didn't know about that either you know. Sometimes I can't lie if I want too. It's annoying." The girl was doing her best not to look at her mother and bit her lip. Technically speaking, she kind of sort of already had. It was just in a dream though. She thought about it inwardly. "Maybe that's it? Another of those dreams? I suppose I wouldn't mind that."

Her mother's eye twitched a little. "You'd better be married first."

The girl shrugged. "I'm not sure. Look, I'm not stupid you know. I'm certainly not going to make it easy on him. He's not getting me...pregnant or anything..." She did her best to stop talking. "...before we get married."

Lily growled a bit. "Young lady..."

"Hey. I'm not going to be thirteen forever you know. Don't think I don't know that you and Dad were doing things you shouldn't have when you were only fifteen." The girl narrowed her eyes and put her nose up to her mother's face.

Lily gasped. "What?"

Anna turned away. "Don't go being hypocritical. I'm psychic. I know stuff about the two of you I'd rather not know to be honest. He's got a long way to go, and I'm not going to make it easy on him."

Her mother looked over her shoulder and pulled her away a little more. "Are you going to marry him?"

The redhead shrugged. She was very thankful her mouth kept shut. She wasn't all that comfortable with the turn the conversation had taken. She wasn't so sure she wanted to know that herself at that point. In fact, she was pretty uncomfortable with what she had just discovered.

The woman smoothed out her dress. "I'll be watching you like a hawk."

The girl growled and glowered at her. "Look. I didn't know about this until you brought it up. I'm not entirely comfortable with it myself. Don't go getting upset with me just because I can see the future."

The woman leaned in. "You brought it up."

Anna flushed. "Yes, well I was trying to say something reassuring, but it didn't come out like I expected. He's trustworthy."

Her mother narrowed her eyes. "You're so sure?"

Anna seemed to relax and nodded. "Yes. I am."

"How?" Lily had straightened herself up a little and still didn't look very pleased.

"I'm empathic. I can tell how he feels, and how honest he's being." Anna wiped her eyes a little. "He can't lie to me if he wants too."

Lily's face softened. "I'm sorry. You're my little girl, I'm worried about you. I didn't mean too..."

The girl had a small smile on her face. "I'm not as upset as I should be."

Her mother arched her eyebrow a little. "This is supposed to be a good day for you. I shouldn't have pressed."

The girl shook her head. "No. It's not that I'm upset. I just realized something I should have noticed before."

Her mother put her hand on her shoulder again. She almost asked, but didn't.

The girl gave a half laugh. "I just noticed it, but...that's kind of what I miss. I can tell how he feels. It's sweet, and I've been near to it all year."

The woman gave a small nod. Her lips were tight. "You love him?"

The girl shook her head. "No. I don't think there's anything I can do to stop it from happening. I'm not sure I want too." She wiped her eyes again. "He doesn't love me either you know, we're good friends...but...he will."

The woman looked over her shoulder. The boys were keeping themselves busy talking with Rufus and her daughters two girlfriends. "Anna, being with him...physically...won't make that happen."

The girl smiled at her mother. "I know. I'm kind of glad I got away and took this trip. I've got a lot to think about now. Don't worry, Mum. I'm not as foolish as most girls my age about that sort of thing."

The woman smirked and arched her eyebrow. "Oh?" She had her doubts.

Her daughter looked up at her. "I'm an empath. I can tell the difference between love and lust." She took her hand. "I also told you that I had a past life. That person, knew what real love was. I only remember parts of it, but I do have some idea what it's like to be in a relationship like that. I'm patient, and I'll wait until the time is right. I'm not in a rush, and I'm not going to be fooled or pressured into rushing it by him either. You've got nothing to worry about. Really. I'm no fool." She closed her eyes and shuddered a little. She also knew what it meant to lose it, and destroy it herself.

Lily gave a small sigh and cupped her daughters cheek. She didn't say anything, but she felt better. "I'm sorry I got upset. Still, I'm glad we had this little talk."

The younger redhead nodded. "Yes. I'm not mad or anything. I don't have a complete memory about it all, but I do know more about what I'm doing in that regard than someone my age normally would. I'll be fine. Besides, I'm psychic and empathic. I've got an unfair advantage over him."

Her mother gave a small sigh and nodded. It made her a little uncomfortable to be reminded of that. Still, it didn't make her any less her daughter in her mind. Only as if someone else was imposing themselves on her, though, she couldn't really blame that person either. It was confusing, but something she could accept. She rubbed on Anna's hand as she held it. "What about your brother? Is there anyone he likes."

"Harry?" Anna cocked her head. "Hmmm. Well, he's not gotten himself a girlfriend, but he can pretty much pick any girl he wants. Even half of Slytherin would say yes if he asked one of them out. A lot of older girls too."

The woman arched her eyebrows. "Any girl?" She turned her head and seemed to freeze up a little. A large group of girls were standing around her son. He was smiling at them with his friend Melvin, signing autographs and chatting. James was standing back looking proud. Her daughter's two friends were signing and talking with some of them as well, but the girls were mostly focused on her son. There were older girls, boys, and grown fans as well. However, the girls around Harry and Mevlin's age group were almost exclusively focused on the two of them, her son in particular.

"Huh. Didn't know there were backstage passes for this." Anna chuckled and looked pleased.

The two redheads walked back over. Anna started signing autographs with her friends and chatting with some of the fans. James kissed Lily on the cheek as she moved up to his side. "What did you learn?"

She glanced at him. "Nothing important. Just girl talk. He's a cute boy, be nice to him." She also noticed that her daughter was getting the attention of the boys in the crowd, as well as her two friends.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was laid out across a hotel bed. He was flipping through the channels with a smirk on his face. They'd been in the US for a little more than a week, playing shows in New York, Boston, Washington, and had just finished up in Detroit and were in their hotels in Chicago for the next four nights. It was a large room, one of the more expensive suites. The screen they were watching was fifty inches, and a large sitting area was to their right with a couple of recliners, a couch, and a table as well as another television.

Melvin was in the other bed next to him with a magazine on his chest looking at the screen. "Man. I still can't believe that crowd." There was a shot on the screen with their arrival at the airport. An ocean of screaming fans with posters and banners had greeted them. The newscaster had a subtitle of 'British Invasion' below him and was doing a piece on the sell out crowds they had played for. They did two shows a night for two nights before moving on.

Harry flipped the channel again. They were taking four days in Chicago, with two nights off before playing two shows there before moving on to Milwaukee and then Indianapolis. "Yeah. It was something else. It'll be nice to have a couple of days off."

Melvin arched his eyebrow. "What is this?"

Harry pressed a button on the remote. "Huh? Just some public access show." The boy looked over his shoulder and frowned. "Uh oh."

His drummer noticed and rolled his eyes. "What's she up too now?"

The Potter boy scratched his head with the remote. "I'm not sure. She's worked up about something."

"What is with that girl?" The black haired boy shook his head and lifted up his magazine.

Harry rolled over and flopped himself out. "Who knows. Maybe we won't be involved."

Melvin glanced over at him. "What are the chances of that?"

His friend gave a small chuckle. "Little to none."

OooOOooOO

The woman who had just answered the door to her home smiled as she wiped her hands off on a dishtowel. "Hello?" She was an attractive woman in her mid forties and gave the group a warm smile.

The young redheaded girl smiled at the woman. "Mrs. Campbell? We're here to see your son."

The woman cocked her head a little. "I'm afraid he's busy at the moment." She seemed confused about why a group of young teens was standing on her doorstep so late at night.

The man with them smiled and held out a business card. He lowered his shades and smiled. "Yes. We're aware, that's why we're here. I'm pretty sure they'll want to see us."

The woman took it and peered at it for a moment. "What's this about?"

Harry Potter spoke up. "We're Tenacious D. They've got tickets to come see our show on Sunday night."

Melvin nodded. "Um, yeah. She saw them last night and dragged us here."

Anna elbowed him in the gut and nodded. "Yes. Something like that."

The woman blinked and peered at the teens, she craned her neck and noticed a very long limo was parked next to her yard. "Oh. Oh my." She flushed a little and stepped aside. "Please, come in."

OooOOooOO

"What is it Mom? We're in the middle of the show! Can't this wait..."

Anna felt a chill run down her spine as she walked down the stairs behind the woman and looked around.

Everyone in the room had gone silent. There was a couch sitting in front of a washer and dryer, several metal heads operating camera equipment, and two men sitting on the couch. One of them with teased blond hair, thick glasses, and a pair of drumsticks in his grip. The other had long black hair under a ball cap with the words 'Wayne's World' written on it.

"No way." Both of them said in unison. The blond dropped his drumsticks and they clattered across the ground.

"Hey. Party on Wane! Party on Garth!" Anna was smiling as she waved at them.

The dark haired man pinched his blond friend on the arm.

The nerdy looking man seemed surprised and rubbed at it. "Ow."

"Garth. Is it just me...or is Tenacious D in our basement?"

The blond man looked around. He looked dazed and confused as he stared at the other men who were scratching their heads and looking confused.

Pansy and Margaret were grinning. Harry and Melvin both seem cheerful, but uncertain of what they were doing there.

The raven haired bass player spoke up first. "We saw your show the other night."

The brunette nodded. "Yeah. We totally laughed our asses off!"

Harry smiled. "I don't know why, but I love doing this to people."

Melvin cocked his head. "I think the blond one passed out on his feet."

Wayne grabbed his companion by his shoulders. "Garth! Tenacious D is in our basement! Whoooaaaaa!"

The blond man started screaming as well. "Whoooaaaaa!"

The dark haired man took a few deep breaths. "Garth! Garth! Calm down! Relax! Chill!" He crossed his arms and bit his lips. "Tenacious D is in our basement! Whoooaaaaa!" He grabbed the front of the camera and pointed at them. Garth was pointing at them and screaming with him.

Harry leaned in to his sister. "What are we doing here again?" The pair was amusing, but he was uncertain. He recalled seeing them talking about having tickets and backstage passes to the concert but hadn't stayed with the channel.

"Dudes. Chill." Anna walked up to the couch. "We saw you on TV last night, and wanted to come check it out. Promo for the tour and all. Hang out and chill with you guys for a bit."

Various mutterings of 'excellent' came from the pair. The both looked like they had to pee and were near to tears as they walked in place and fidgeted in excitement.

Wayne looked at the redhead with his jaw hanging. "No way!"

Anna nodded. "Way."

The man lifted his hands and let them fall. "No way!"

"Way." Replied the girl again.

Wayne nodded. "Excellent."

"Garth! Tenacious D has come to hang out with us!"

"Excellent! Oooh! Oh! I think I'm gonna hurl!"

The band looked on as the two men fell on their knees before them. "We're not worthy! We're not worthy! We're scum! We suck!"

Anna put out her hand as if to offer her ring and turned her head away.

Harry smirked at the memory of the last time that had happened to them. "Relax. You're worthy."

After a moment the pair calmed and the kids settled down to sit with them.

Garth leaned in. "Um, what do we do, Wayne?"

Anna spoke up. "Ask us questions and stuff. You know, the usual."

Wayne nodded. "Excellent. Party on." He had a stack of index cards in his hand. "Wow. You're the first guest we ever had that didn't suck."

Garth was twitching and rubbing his hands on his chest while making small whimpering noises.

Pansy and Margaret were leaning against the back of the couch stifling chuckles. Harry and Melvin were both amused but a little bewildered. Anna took point on speaking with the pair. "So, what would you like to know?"

Wayne nodded. "All right, party. How are you guys enjoying America?"

"It's pretty cool." Harry answered and nodded. The rest of the band muttered in agreement.

The man seemed pleased. "What's your favorite part of visiting America so far?"

Melvin cocked his head. "We get flashed a lot more in concerts. I'm kind of surprised, I'd heard it was pretty prudish over here. That's pretty awesome."

Margaret slapped him in the back of his head. "Shopping in New York was excellent."

Pansy nodded. "The food is good here."

Harry seemed pleased. "Yeah. Totally. I liked all those monuments in Washington, and the Museum of Natural History was pretty cool."

Anna cocked her head and seemed to think on it. "We went to a Baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston. That was awesome."

Wayne nodded and grinned. "All right. Excellent. Rumor has it you're in some sort of war with Brittney, famous British pop star."

Anna shrugged. "Not really. I only met her a few times. I don't hate her or anything, I don't know her that well." She grinned at him. "Wasn't she number five on your 'Top ten babes that are uncomfortably hot for their age' last week?"

Wayne nodded. "Not to make you feel weird or anything, but yeah. You totally beat her out at number two."

Melvin cocked his head. "Who was number one? Harry and I missed it."

Margaret frowned at him. Pansy just smiled and nodded. "Christina. We should have invited her. She's touring with us as our opening act."

Garth chuckled. "She's a babe, not that I'd do anything. I'm not weird or anything." His face fell and he looked a bit more uncomfortable than any of the young teens did about it.

"Yeah. I'm totally gonna marry her someday." Melvin grinned.

Harry nodded. "She is a babe. Nice girl too."

Anna looked at Margaret. "I did, but she's got some sort of meeting with her label tomorrow and has to be up early."

Wayne nodded. "That's too bad. Would you introduce us? We've got tickets to the show on Sunday. Don't worry, we're not pedo or anything."

Garth hopped in his seat. "Yeah. Excellent. Back stage passes!"

Anna nodded. "Yeah. Bring your crew and all. I'll hook you all up." She looked over her shoulder at Rufus.

Garth followed her gaze. "Who's that?"

The redhead grinned at him. "That's Rufus. He's the most awesome manager in the business."

The man smiled at them and pulled a cell phone from his ear. "Party on, dudes."

Wayne cheered up. "All right. Party on." He shuffled to the next card. "What do you think about the impact of the current market in the future of the Global Economy?"

Anna cocked her head. "Well, to be honest. Not such a good impact. There are a lot of loans being given to with questionable returns, credit will be strained, and given the mortgage bubble in the current housing market, it could lead to the collapse of several banking institutions and insurance agencies. It could cause a negative impact on the global economy and destabilize the stock market and credit in the US and abroad. There's also the problem of health care costs in America, at the current rate it's costing more than it's making, leaving health care at risk for the future. Not to mention, the fact that the US is consuming more than it exports, causing a strain on trade and forcing it to borrow from other countries and drive itself deep into debt. If kept on the current course, the economy will take a bad turn in ten to fifteen years, leading to a recession on par with The Great Depression of the past. Action should be taken now, to minimize the damage and lower the risk to keep market stability and prosperity."

Wayne looked interested and nodded. "All right. Party." He looked at his camera man. "Well, it looks like that's all the time we have."

The band smiled at the camera and nodded.

Wayne stood up and hefted his guitar over his shoulder. "Would you do us the honor of singing the Wayne's World theme with us?"

The band nodded in unison. "Sure thing," Anna chirped.

Both men looked at each other. "All right. Excellent." Wayne looked at Garth. "Party on Garth!"

The blond was almost hopping up and down. "Party on Wayne!"

Anna and Harry had both brought their guitars and helped the pair play out, stealing Aerosmith's theme for their show to do it.

OooOOooOO

Anna looked fascinated as Garth attempted to work his way around several umbrellas, pieces of fruit, and straws to try and take a drink of the very large cocktail he'd ordered. She had her hands on her cheeks and looked over at Wayne.

"Um, exqueze me? Baking powder? It sounds like you want to pay us to do Wayne's World?" Wayne had very wide eyes.

Anna nodded. "Yeah. I own a big share of North America Broadcasting. I'm gonna put you guys on at Nine O'Clock on Friday nights, pay you lots of money, use you to advertise concerts, movies, and assorted other entertainment entities, and totally let you guys get away with doing the same thing you always do."

Rufus had his hands folded on the table and nodded. "What she said."

Wayne slapped Garth on the back, and he spit out a hunk of pineapple he'd been choking on. "What?" The blond man looked about as if to be sure she wasn't talking to someone else.

Rufus looked at her and arched his eyebrow. "Are you sure about this?"

The girl nodded. "Totally. They can even keep their crew, but we'll add more studio hands to it all."

The man shrugged. "It's your money. I'm not sure how well it will do."

The girl chuckled. "Are you kidding? This is our audience. I mean look at them, these are the same guys who line up for blocks to buy tickets to our concerts. I laughed my ass off watching their show the other night. I don't think it's an isolated incident either."

Wayne and Garth were looking at her with wide eyes. Neither one seemed capable of speaking. "Cut em both a check for five thousand each and sign em up. It'll work."

The man nodded. "If you say so. I took the liberty of looking at some tape of the show after you called me about it last night. I agree it's not an isolated incident, I think they're both excellent guys. However, I should warn, I'm not so certain sponsors will appreciate their humor. They might not be pleased with getting made fun of."

The redhead shrugged. "Screw em. After they've been on a while, the ratings will change their minds. Besides, sponsors will understand what they're in for after a little time. Getting made fun of still sells products. Especially if they seem willing to take the ridicule, are in on the joke, and accept it. Put a warning in the contract when they sign up for advertising and make sure they're aware. It'll work."

Wayne and Garth were both making noises that weren't quite words. Harry, Melvin, Margaret, and Pansy were behind them playing darts and pinball with a pitcher of soda while the meeting was going on.

Rufus nodded and started writing two checks. "If you're sure. I feel I should warn you, it's a big risk. I've got the contracts you asked me to make already. They just need to sign and they'll be on board."

Anna grinned at the pair. "So, how would you like to be the voice of a generation, and the source of entertainment information, interviews, and other awesome stuff. You'll get to meet all sorts of famous people, get into better parties, and totally become babe magnets." She pushed the contracts out and set pens before them. "Party on Wayne. Party on Garth."

Both of them signed the contracts, stared at them as Rufus put them away and handed them both checks. The pair looked at the checks with wide eyes and shook.

Anna leaned on her cheek and grinned. "So. Where's the best party around here?"

OooOOooOO

Harry looked up at the sign to the bar. "Gasworks." He read it out loud.

Wayne and Garth had both skipped off chanting 'We got five thousand dollars!' as soon as they arrived.

"What a hole." Margaret grumbled under her breath.

"I don't know. It has a charm to it." Harry cocked his head. He could hear muffled sounds of live rock from inside.

Rufus frowned. "I'm not so sure about this. You all seem a bit young for this place."

Anna chuckled. "What? We're not drinking, we're going to play. I heard a rumor about this place."

The two men who had recommended the place were just ahead of them. "Hey! Tiny! What's up!"

The large man at the door smiled in greeting to them both. "Hey! Wayne, Garth! Party on!"

The man in the cap nodded. "Party on! So, who's playing tonight?"

The door man seemed pleased to relate to them. "Well, we've got 'Crucial Taunt', they're just finishing up the set, and we got the 'Shitty Beatles'."

Wayne gasped. "The 'Shitty Beatles'? Are they any good?"

The man waved his hand. "They suck."

"Then it's not just a clever name," replied the dark haired man. "What about 'Crucial Taunt'?"

"They wail." Replied the man as he let them in.

The man looked down at the group of teens who approached him. "Hey. You kids are too youn..." He cut himself off and paused. "Hey. You guys are..."

Anna nodded. "That's right. I heard your follow up band tonight sucks. Would you rather have someone who will rock your fucking socks off instead?"

Rufus gave a small sigh. He was a little uncomfortable with the idea, but the redhead was right. As performers, they were legal, barely, but legal. "I'm not sure your parents would approve."

The redhead looked over her shoulder. "I know. I'm kind of glad they're not here. I heard a rumor about this place, and I want to have a look at the band playing here to be honest. We're not here to drink, we'll play, and be on our way. We're off tomorrow, we can sleep in and get plenty of rest before the real show. It'll make for good practice. You've seen our concerts, how much worse can it be?"

The man cocked his head. "You've got a point." There was usually a mosh pit at some point during their shows. They always played at least five or six metal and/or hard rock songs.

OooOOooOO

Anna grinned as she looked at the Asian woman playing. She had just started singing one of her songs 'Ballroom Blitz' into the small crowd of half drunk party goers. The bar was a little rough, but the doorman lead them inside and to the edge of the stage as the woman sang her song.

Rufus was nearby, keeping an eye on the kids as they stood around the base of the stage guarded by the doorman as he talked to the manager. The bouncer kept the crowd back and away from them, no one seemed to recognize or really notice them standing beside the stage off to one side.

All of the D but Anna was banging their heads as the band played.

As she finished up Melvin wiped his chin and stared at her rather ample bosom. "She's a babe."

Harry smiled and nodded. "She is." Melvin was thumped on the back of his head by a bottled water for his comment.

"Do you think about anything else?" The dark haired girl growled in irritation.

"She's pretty, and they aren't bad." Pansy gave a small sigh.

Rufus walked up. "You can play for an hour, then we have to leave." He smiled at them.

Anna grinned at him. "Great. Did you see what I mean about this band? What do you think?"

The balding man nodded. "Very talented."

"Hey! Cassandra!" The redhead waved from the side of the stage. The rest of her band had already climbed up and were setting up their instruments. Melvin was sitting behind a house set of drums, and there was a keyboard set up to the right that the previous band didn't use.

The band leaving the stage all turned and looked over at the group. Their faces fell one by one.

Anna pushed herself on stage but paused as the Asian woman fell down to one knee before her. Her eyes were very wide. "Hey. You know my name?"

The redhead flushed a bit. "Um, kind of. Tiny mentioned it to us when we showed up. We're the next act. You guys can say you opened for the D now."

"Wow." The woman looked remarkably as if an angel had just appeared before her. Her band wasn't in much different condition. "You're really her...aren't you?"

Anna nodded and smiled. "Yeah. You guys wail. We caught the last part of the set. Most excellent."

The woman turned around and punched her bass player in the face. He stumbled back and grumbled in pain. It hadn't been that hard, but he'd felt it and looked at her in irritation. "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah." He was holding his jaw and seemed a bit knocked out of his surprise and stupor.

The girl smiled at her. "Well, I just bought a new television show. It could use a music act. It's a national broadcast. How would you like to appear as the first musical guest?"

Cassandra grasped her hands and gasped as a wide smile appeared on her face. "You're kidding!"

The redhead shook her head. "The guy standing next to you is my agent."

She looked to her right and noticed Rufus with a bottled water in his hand. The man gave a small sigh as he looked at the girl and extended his hand. "A pleasure." He looked up at Anna again and leaned in. "I suppose you'd like a record contract for the young lady as well?"

Anna nodded and grinned. "You read my mind. Heh." She hooked her guitar around her shoulder and managed to plug it into the amplifier by flicking her wrist and tossing it like a dart. "You go introduce her to Wayne and Garth while we're playing and work out the details."

"You sure?" The man arched his eyebrow.

The girl nodded. "Have I been wrong yet?"

The man cocked his head and nodded. "You have a point."

Anna turned and proceeded to rock the fucking socks off the club with her band.

OooOOooOO

A figure in a dark hood and cloak walked alone down a dark alleyway in Hogsmeade. The shadowy figure turned into a small stairwell that lead to a rickety looking wooden door.

Inside there was nothing but dusty shelves filled with empty bottles, and assorted knick knacks that looked as if most of them were broken or defective. The shadow ignored them and strolled past to a stone doorway with no door that lead into a long stairwell.

At the base of the stairs, two men in hoods stood on either side of another rickety looking wooden door. Each had a familiar crest on the breast of the hood, and both drew their wands.

"Who are you? What business do you..."

The pair staggered back into the corners on either side of the door. Both men dropped their wands to the ground and put their hands up to their throats as the stranger walked by through the door that opened itself. "Don't get in my way again."

Both of the guards gasped for breath with pained expressions on their faces as they sat on their rears in the corners and looked on in horror at the strange woman who had moved past them.

Inside a short hallway, two heavy wooden doors with intricate carvings of gargoyles and demons loomed in an ominous manner over the hooded figure. Two torches on either side of the wall were the only light in the room. The stranger raised her left arm, revealing threads of metal bands and sparkling gems grafted into her skin.

Kate Delane strolled forward into the room as the doors opened themselves wide for her to pass. Inside the room fifty men and women, all dressed in heavy black cloaks and hoods with the Death Eater's crest embroidered upon them stood up and turned from rows of seats along long tables.

The young woman ignored them as she strolled boldly into the room. On the other side of the room a large throne like chair was sitting atop several stairs that overlooked the tables.

Sitting in the seat a huge man with matted gray hair was glaring at the intruder while comping on a cigar. His cheek was resting against a huge meaty fist as he lounged and didn't bother moving. He was wearing a cloak like the others, but the hood was pulled back and hanging behind his neck.

Rage sneered as she moved up in front of him and pulled her hood back. Her eyes were orange, and her skin pale and partially translucent.

Grayback chuckled as he puffed on his blunted cigar and leered at her. "Well, well, well. If it isn't our missing girl. Welcome. You're a wanted woman now."

The Sith remained silent and kept her eyes locked on him.

The werewolf seemed amused and cheerful. "What brings you? Shelter? Find the world a cold and cruel place when you're wanted for attempted murder? I know what that's like. You're safe here, no worries. It's nice to know there's someone else with the balls to do more than just sit around."

Kate raised her hand and snarled. Electric bolts shot from her fingers and slammed into the monstrous man's chest. He jerked and screamed in pain as she walked closer and continued the barrage. "Scum! How dare you speak to me in such a way!?"

Grayback was gasping for breath as she stopped electrocuting him and glared down at him with a heavy angry frown on her face. "You little..." He gasped and gagged, clutching at his throat.

The other wizards in the room looked on shock, several had drawn their wands, but all of them just watched, muttering whispers as they witnessed the scene.

"You useless bag of fleas. You were given simple instructions. Protect a cup! A Cup! You failed!" Kate waved her arm and Grayback was thrown from the seat and slammed into the wall, continuing to choke as he slammed into the side of one of the walls, leaving a smear of blood on the stones.

Kate walked up and sat down in the chair. The werewolf was thrown to the ground in front of the seat and fell to his knees gasping and coughing as he was finally allowed to breathe.

He glared up at her and snarled. "Who the hell do you..."

The girl raised her hand again and sent bolts of power into his chest again, sending him flat on his back. "Scum. Don't speak to me again. You're a failure." She stopped after a moment and settled in the chair. "Now. Get out of my sight."

The wizards all looked on from the shadows of their hoods. Many lowering their wands as whispers filled the hall.

Kate's eyes went dark. "Silence, all of you. Listen, and listen well. As of this moment, I speak for the Dark Lord."

Grayback staggered to his feet. "What? You...how dare you! Who do you think you are?" He ripped his wand from his belt and thrust it forward. "Crucio!"

Kate was on her feet before his strike was complete. The blade of red that appeared in her hand shot the spell back into the werewolf's chest. He fell to his knees and groaned in pain. "You useless scum. Don't think he's forgotten your failure. If you weren't so useful as a scarecrow to shake fear into our enemies, I would destroy you." She sat back down and looked at him with a cruel smirk on her face. "Now, get out of my sight. When I have a use for you, I'll send for you." He flew through the double doors howling in pain and rage as he was sent tumbling across the ground. They slammed shut after he was gone.

Rage looked about the room. "Now. I suggest any of you who wishes to argue speak up now."

Many heads hung, but no one raised a wand.

The young woman chuckled. "Good. I am Lord Voldemort's apprentice. I am a Lady of the Sith, and as of right now. I am the master here. I speak for the Dark Lord, and my word, is his word. He will return, I will ensure that. Until then, every one of you belongs to me. Is that understood?"

One of the men in hoods snarled as he stepped forward. "Why should we listen to..." A humming sound filled the air as a flash of red light spun by the dissenter.

His head was rolling across the floor a moment later as her weapon returned to rest on the arm of the chair beside her hand. She looked about the room with her frown never fading as her bright orange and dangerous eyes glared at the hoods. "Are there any more questions?"

The wizards returned to their seats one by one in silence.

Kate relaxed and seemed to settle into the chair a little more. "Good." The air was thick with fear. It was wonderful.

Soon, Anna Potter would be destroyed, and her brother with her. Then, there would be nothing to stop her, the world would belong to the Sith. She would serve her master well, but one day, she would be the Master. After all, not even Voldemort could resist the call of the Dark Side forever. Sooner or later, it would destroy him, she would be there to take his place when that happened, by her hand.

First, she had a few things to take care of. Then, only her Master would stand in her way.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next Time: Ron Weasley and the Treasure of the Goblin Pharaoh.


	39. Chapter 39

A Matter of Force.

Part 39

Ron Weasley and the Treasure of the Goblin Pharaoh.

OooOOooOO

June, 1993 - Devon, England.

Ron Weasley narrowed his eyes and tugged on the brim of his hat. He was pressed up against a rickety wooden wall next to a doorway. A radio was softly playing an old song sung by a woman named Willie Scott from a room in the floor below. "...In olden days a glimpse of stocking, was looked on as something shocking, but now, God knows, Anything Goes. Good authors too who once knew better words, now only use four letter words, writing prose, Anything Goes... " Over the soft sound of the song a conversation could be heard from inside the room.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant," said a voice from inside the next room.

"Right, we'll have to finish up later though. It's got to stew for a bit before we can apply the finishing touches," said another voice.

"Right. What should we do until then?"

"I don't know. Want to get our brooms out and toss the quaffle about for a bit?"

"I guess. I do wish Mum would let us get ourselves a bludger for practice."

"You know how she is. What about this?"

"It'll be fine until we get back. Safeguards and all that."

Ron ducked aside and pressed himself against the wall harder as two tall redheads strolled out of the room. He smirked as they didn't notice him and moved down the wooden stairs. Without a word he slipped into the empty room behind their backs and looked about with caution.

There were posters with Quidditch players flying about fields on their brooms, and a poster of Gwenog Jones with several darts stuck in it. There was a messy set of bunk beads, a couple of heavy dressers with various bottles and items laying scattered across their surfaces. The floor was littered with clothes and odd items, a beater's bat with heavy tape on it, small glittering pieces of worthless metal and plastic things. Across from him was a window, with a large bottle of something bluish green that was bubbling inside as it cured on a desk with an old taped up chair in front of it.

The young redhead smirked as he rubbed at his chin as he approached it. Looking over his shoulder he frowned at the doorway and pulled open the desk drawer. "Ha. I knew it." He reached inside and pulled out a familiar coil of leather and hooked it onto a small buttoned loop on his belt. He started to turn away and paused as his eyes fell on another familiar object. "Huh?"

He stood upright, no longer worried about being found before he got what he was after. Sitting on the desk was a rag doll with a single buttoned eye, and with orange yarn for hair that had once been red. It had a faded blue checkered dress and a sewn on smile. "Hey. That's..." He looked back over his shoulder again and frowned. "What's this doing here?" He picked it up and tossed it in his hand while turning away from the desk. "Those jerks. It's bad enough they..."

The boy paused and looked over his shoulder. "Huh?" His face fell. "Oh man." The bottle on the desk was shaking. He backed away and bumped into the dresser as he looked on as the shakes grew more violent. The entire desk was vibrating. He turned and dashed out the door as the sound of glass shattering sounded behind him and dared to look over his shoulder. "You've got to be kidding me!"

A huge ball of bluish green goo was rolling through the door towards him, picking up things from the floor inside it and growing with size. He stumbled down the steps ahead of it and gasped with a wide eyed shock as they shifted down at an angle, creating a slide. Ron's arms waved as he gripped the doll in one hand and started falling backwards. He pushed with his legs as hard as he could and reached upwards.

The boy managed to catch a light fixture and he pulled his legs up as the ball half rolled, half slithered by below him. The fixture became unstable and half fell out, sending him back onto the stair slide again. He was jarred by the impact and slid slower towards the bottom floor. His eyes went wide as he realized that the goo ball had stopped at the base of the stairs and was waiting for him to slide into it. Tendrils started to form from within it, reaching towards his legs.

The boy struggled to grip the stair railing, two posts snapped off in his hands before he jerked to a stop. The tentacles of goo lashed out towards his dangling feet and he managed to pull himself up just far enough to avoid anything more than a light blue coat of slime on his soles. "Eew! What is that?" His face scrunched up as he glared down at it and tucked the doll into his belt. The post he was clinging to with his other hand almost snapped off sending him jerking downward. "Crap." Without thinking about it he grabbed his whip and lashed out towards the top of the stairs and snagged the top post of the railing. A small wooden decorative sphere where the corner between the second floor and the stairs started. With a small grunt of effort he pulled himself up on his belly and staggered to his feet at the top, giving a small grin towards the blob at the bottom. "Heh." His smile fell away as the stairs shifted back, and the thing started rolling up the stairwell. "Oh, man." He backed away as it moved near him, reaching with tendrils of goop for him.

He looked at the doors behind him for a moment, and then to the whip in his hand. "Right." He pulled the leather tight still latched to the stair railing and jumped over the rail. He hit the ground and staggered for a moment, smirking to congratulate himself on judging the distance right. "Hey. I'm starting to get the hang of this." He paused as he realized he was looking at a familiar shirt. His eyes went a little wide as he found himself looking up at his father.

The man had a frown on his face and a cup of coffee in his hand. "What are you doing? Do you have any idea...what...your...mother...what on earth?"

Ron turned his head. "Oh. Right." The blob was sliding down the wall through the stair rails and forming into a large mass behind him again. The young boy rushed by his father.

The man patted down his hip and swallowed as he realized his wand was on the table by the front door, on the other side of the thing that was moving towards him. "Right." He turned and went after his son.

Ron went into the kitchen with his father and closed the door. The pair was gasping for breath as they put a chair up against it and backed away. The heavy wood shook, and the goo began to ooze through the cracks in the wood.

Arthur Weasley looked at his son. "Ron. When we get out of this, I'm going to have to ask you to explain all this."

The boy looked up at the man and nodded. "Um, it's coming through." He turned and rushed up to the back door. "This way!" He paused as he tugged on it and found the knob unresponsive.

Arthur pulled him aside and tugged on it. "I was supposed to fix this lock yesterday. Molly has been badgering me all week."

Ron hung his head and tipped his hat. "So, we're stuck here?"

The man shook his head. "No. Don't be silly, it's just jammed. Just work it a bit." He was jiggling the handle and pushing with his shoulder and ramming it lightly.

"Um, Dad." Ron glanced back, the blue ooze was starting to rise from the floor on the other side of the counter. Tentacles were lashing out and grabbing anything nearby, pulling it into itself and growing it in size. It was as large as the kitchen table and almost complete enough to start moving towards them again. "It's coming this way again."

The man looked a bit pale as he rammed the door with his shoulder hard enough to cause a bit of pain. "Um, we're stuck."

Ron looked back and saw it starting to move over the counter. "This way!" He jumped onto the counter over the sink and opened the kitchen window. He slid through and onto the ground. Arthur stood upright and backed against the wall as one of the slime tentacles reached for him. After it passed he ducked again and slid through after his son. Ron helped him to his feet and pulled him away as the slime poured through onto the ground where he'd landed and began to form again on the ground. It was going to take a moment to get all the way through, as it filled half of the kitchen after filling itself up with random things from the home. Objects bounced onto the ground and were being pulled back into the mass as it flowed through the window.

Arthur staggered to his feet. "Come on, my wand is up front." He glanced to his side. His son wasn't there. "Ron? Where..."

Ron walked out of the shed with a scowl on his face. "Ruddy jerks. What were they thinking?" He cocked back the slide on a familiar object and pointed his handgun at the thing in the window.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea." Arthur muttered just before the report sounded.

"There." Ron gave a snort as an orange ball of light formed inside the slime.

Arthur's eyes went wide and he put his arms up. "No! Ron!"

With a resounding and rather wet sounding boom, both Weasley's were thrown back off their feet onto the ground. There was the messy slapping sound of goo raining down all around them. The pair groaned together as they struggled to get up. Ron found himself in dark loose dirt and spit a large heavy green leaf out of his mouth. "Ouch."

Arthur shook his head and put his arms over his knees. He looked at his son and frowned. "I suppose you didn't know any better. Ron, never ever set a slime on fire. They explode."

The boy nodded as he staggered to his feet and dusted himself off. An angry gnome screeched as it snapped at his leg, another report from the weapon ended the hostility and it scurried away after a bit of dirt was kicked up in front of it. "Ouch. A slime?"

The man nodded. "You'll learn about them in Hogwarts next year in Care of Magical Creatures. Freezing them works best." He slapped the boy on his shoulder. "Now. Do you mind telling me what a slime was doing in our house?"

The boy opened his mouth to speak. "Well, I..."

"Arthur and Ron Weasley! What on Earth have you done to my garden?" Molly Weasley rushed up with a bag on her arm. Ginny was looking on with wide eyes and a slacked jaw at the scene.

Both men looked down at their feet and went pale with the same expression. The garden was a mess. The elder of the pair worked his mouth. "Now Molly, I..."

The woman had turned her eyes towards the house. "What in Merlin's name?" She rushed up to the home and opened the back door. It opened easily with no trouble. "AAAAAAAHHHHH! My kitchen!"

Ron hung his head. "Boy, are we in for it now."

The man frowned at him. "We? You've got some explaining to do."

He looked up at him with wide eyes. "Me? I went into Fred and George's room and that thing jumped out and attacked me!"

His father arched his eyebrow. "Fred and George's room? What were you doing in there?"

Ginny rushed up to Ron. "Mandy! You found Mandy!"

The boy tipped his hat back and gave her a rather numb expression. "Yeah. I told you I'd keep an eye out for her."

The girl squeezed her arms around the rag doll as he handed it back to her. "Oh! She's filthy! What happened?" She looked very relieved, she was too old to play with her anymore, but the doll meant a lot to her. "Where did you find her?"

"Fred and George had her in their room." Ron gave a small sigh. "It's a long story."

The girl scowled. "Fred and George? What?" She seemed to realize the state of the yard. "What happened? What an awful mess!"

Molly Weasley loomed over her husband and son. "Yes. Explain this. It had better be good."

Ron and Arthur swallowed, both looking a bit like deer in front of headlights. The man looked at his son. "Ron, you'd better start talking."

Fred and George walked up from a nearby field with their brooms in their hands. George had a quaffle under his arm and their jaws dropped as they came upon the scene. "Uh-oh." They chimed in unison.

Ron turned and scowled at them. "It's their fault! They had that thing in their room!" He jabbed his finger at the pair.

Molly turned her glare on the pair. "What?"

Ginny spoke up. "Ron said he found Mandy in their room. She's been missing for days." She squeezed the doll a little tighter.

Fred and George both looked at the rag doll a little wide eyed. George spoke up, "Um, Ginny..."

"No! It's not ready yet!" Fred looked horrified.

The girl scrunched up her eyebrows not noticing the doll's head was starting to swell and expand. When it reached about ten times it's normal size, it spun around, opened it's mouth, and roared at her with glowing red eyes and plushy sharp teeth.

The unfortunate girl went white as a sheet, screamed, and slumped into Ron's arms. He caught her before she fell and knocked the doll away. It's roar became rather pathetic, as the head seemed to deflate, but rather than return to normal, just became flattened and pathetic. It shook a bit and made a whining fluttering sound not unlike a rather rude fart.

Fred and George tried to turn away, but Molly was on them before either could make their escape. She had their ears in her fingers and a righteous scowl on her face.

Arthur crossed his arms and glared at them both. "What were you two doing with a slime in your room? Don't you know those things are dangerous?"

The pair swallowed and flushed as they realized they weren't going to be getting out of this one.

Ron was just as unhappy as anyone else. "It tried to eat me!"

George sputtered. "No it didn't! It's been enchanted so it only hold's things. It's a security slime! We got it at the Alley!"

Fred nodded. "Right! It was just guarding..."

Molly twisted her wrists a little silencing them both as she pulled them towards the house. "Well, you two are going to clean up every bit of the mess it caused. Honestly! Bringing such a thing into our home? Do you have any idea the mess you've made?!"

Ron and Arthur breathed a heavy sigh of relief as they looked on. The boy was hefting his sister up against his shoulder and gave a heavy sigh. "That was close."

Arthur nodded. "Right. I guess we're eating out tonight. We won't be using the kitchen until Fred and George finish cleaning it up."

Ginny's eyes fluttered open. "No! Mandy!" She rushed over to her doll.

Her father moved up to her side and pulled it from her grasp gently. "Don't worry. Come on. My wand is in the house, we'll have it fixed up in a moment."

She sniffled and nodded. After that, she turned towards her brother and rushed up and grabbed him around his neck while kissing his cheek.

The boy looked a bit annoyed with it. "Hey! Knock it off now!" He was blushing as she released him.

"Thanks Ron."

He just nodded and shifted his hat straight. "Don't worry about it. I just ran across her when I was getting my whip back from those two sticky fingered jerks."

Arthur chuckled at the scene and waved them after him. "Come on now. Let's get inside."

Ron and his father stopped as a load of gardening tools landed at their feet. Molly plucked the doll from her husband's hand and scowled at them. "Not until you fix my garden. Come along Ginny. I'll take care of this."

The girl moved up to her side sheepishly and waved at the pair as her mother ushered her back inside. Molly glanced over her shoulder at them. "No magic."

Ron's father gave a small sigh and grinned. "Come on then. Shouldn't take too long. Might as well degnome it while we're at it. We've got to get ready to leave tomorrow."

The boy nodded and hung his head a little. "Right."

OooOOooOO

At the airport there was a small crowd. "Gate 32 and five sixths." Arthur read the ticket as he looked down a long terminal full of people in wizarding clothes. It was off the main terminal for Muggles and hidden away in a similar manner as the station for the Hogwarts express. The Weasley family all had bags hanging from their sides. Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny both had all their luggage inside their carry on bags. Anna Potter had made them all infinite storage bags with some of her pocket space paint after hearing about the trip at school the year before.

"Come along now. They're boarding already." Molly adjusted her sun hat and moved ahead towards their gate.

A young witch smiled at the group as she accepted their tickets. "Thank you, enjoy your flight...Oh! Mr. Weasley! How very nice to see you. I do hope you enjoy your trip." She took notice of Ron, causing the boy to flush a bit and play with his hat.

Percy gave a small sigh as he looked over his shoulder at the woman as they passed by.

Fred and George snickered and pretended to swoon, giving heavy sighs. Their older brother scowled at them both and narrowed his eyes. "Like you two weren't looking?"

George chuckled. "Yes. She only noticed Ron though."

Fred nodded. "He's just lucky his little girlfriend isn't here."

George looked at his older brother. "You did remember to bring lots of scrolls and ink so you can write Parvati didn't you?"

The youngest boy hid his eyes with the brim of his hat. "Come off it would you?"

Ginny stuck her tongue out at the pair. "At least he's got a girl to write back too."

"Ouch." commented George with a cheerful grin.

Fred looked at his older brother. "That's what Ron will be saying all next year if he doesn't."

Molly ushered them into the plane and scowled. "That's enough you two. I'd like some peace and quiet on this flight."

The inside of the plane was quite lavish, many times larger than the interior of a muggle plane of similar size. There were tables and comfortable chairs, and it looked more like a very large sitting room than a passenger plane.

Ginny was wide eyed. "Wow. First Class." There was a section below that while larger and more comfortable, was very similar to a muggle passenger line.

Ron took a seat next to the window and looked outside. Within a few moments everyone was sitting around chatting around him and the plane began to move down the runway to take off. He tilted his hat over his head, and sat back to relax. He heard Ginny mutter in excitement behind him as they lifted off at the view.

OooOOooOO

Cairo, Egypt...

Arthur Weasley spread his arms and greeted his eldest son. "Bill! Oh! It's good to see you!"

"Bill!" Molly practically tackled the man out of his father's grip. "How have you been? Let's have a look at you!"

The man flushed and stepped back. He had his long red hair tied back in a ponytail and an earring in his ear. "I'm fine. How is everyone? The fight went well?"

Ginny was hopping up and down with excitement. "It was so cool! We got to fly first class! It was amazing!"

Percy smiled at his older brother. "I can't complain about that. I saw the seats in coach. I"d have been stiff for hours."

Molly had a bit of a scowl on her face. "You look like you could use a trim." She glanced at his clothes. They were plain, and a bit wrinkled. "Honestly. Do you go to work this way?"

Her eldest son took it in good humor. "They don't care what I dress like, as long as I keep bringing the gold in." He turned towards Fred and George. "How about you two? Not causing too much trouble?"

Ron gave a snort and crossed his arms. "Of course. You should have seen the mess they made of the house before we left. It was awful."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "They brought a slime into the house, and it nearly ate Ron and I."

Fred and George spoke at the same time. "It was a security slime, we keep telling you. It wouldn't have eaten anyone. It's not our fault Ron blew it up."

Bill arched his eyebrow and pushed the boy's hat down on his head a little. "Well. It's good to see you're still on top of things." He shook his head and waved for them to follow. "Come on. I've gotten us a ride. The bank manager loaned me his car and driver to pick you up. Speaking of which, there's someone who wants to meet you, Ron."

The boy seemed surprised as he fixed his hat. "Huh? Really?"

Percy seemed a little annoyed with him. "You're still surprised by that? Really, Ron. Don't you know, everyone wants to meet you now?"

OooOOooOO

The group found themselves sitting in a limo with black leather interior. It was chilled inside, and a stark contrast to the golden yellowish sands and blue sky outside.

Bill made sure his family was comfortable, and that their luggage was loaded. Ron helped and was the last one to enter the car with his eldest brother behind him. He shifted to one of the few remaining empty spots, with Bill sitting across from him. The car was full, but left plenty of room for each person inside to sit comfortably. Ron noticed his eldest brother sitting next to a short figure in white robes with a veil over her face. She had sharp golden eyes and long pointed ears. Her nose was short, and her jaw seemed slim and delicate. "Ron, this is Princess Nubiti. She's the daughter of the head of Gringott's bank. He's known as the Goblin Pharaoh."

Ron found her stern looking gaze rather startling. "Hi. It's nice to meet you, your highness." He tipped his hat towards her and seemed pretty relaxed.

She cocked her head. "Yes. I was interested to meet you. You're...shorter than I expected."

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Well, I'm only thirteen."

The girl seemed to think on that. "You are the one who destroyed Dracula?"

He nodded once and looked away. "You don't have Vampires here do you?"

The gobliness seemed amused. "They do not care for the hot dry weather of our country. He was a good customer to my father's bank for many centuries. It is a shame our business relations had to end so suddenly. He was quite adept at his financial affairs."

Ron tipped his hat back. "No hard feelings I hope." He was a little sarcastic in his tone, but not overly rude.

Nubiti's eyes seemed to smile at him a little. "Some, I doubt Seshafi will be very pleased if she meets you. It was her account, and she's lost a great deal of status because of you."

Bill flushed a bit. "Don't worry, Ron. You're pretty wealthy, Goblin's like that."

The goblin girl nodded. "Indeed."

Ginny looked a bit aghast at that statement. "The only thing your people care about is how rich someone is?"

Nubiti chuckled at her reaction. "How quaint. Who better to look after the wealth of the world then? We only care for the gold of humans, and it's business. The affairs of the heart, passion, and glory of wars mean nothing to us. Goblins are stable, reliable, and honest in our business. Without us, the world's wealth would plunge into chaos and disarray. We have our place, and you have yours."

OooOOooOO

Ron stood in a long hallway filled with old things behind glass. His family had been dropped off at Bill's house and settled in the day before. They had a bit of jet lag that morning, and had just left a couple of hours before. As it was, he was standing in front of a tall golden coffin, painted with rich intricate markings and surrounded by old treasure.

The rest of his family was wandering about nearby, looking at ancient Egyptian treasures. Bill was at his job, setting up a tour of the banks for his family. There was a guided tour for wizarding tourists, but Bill had to get special permission to take them about himself. It wasn't unusual and there wouldn't be a problem, but it apparently involved a great deal of paperwork.

Ron and the rest of his family were in the Museum of History. It was near to the bank, and had plenty to keep their interest while Bill was taking care of things. He'd done most of it before they arrived, but had to get a few signatures and approvals still. They would be going through the bank under the great pyramid later that evening after an early supper. There were plaques on many of the artifacts only wizards could see, and a few items that the muggles moving about in the hall couldn't even see.

The young redhead turned his head as an aged voice spoke up beside him. "Nice hat."

"Huh? Oh. Thanks. I'm not in the way am I?" He found himself looking at an old man sitting in a wheelchair with a cane across his legs.

The old man smiled. "Not at all. Tell me young man, what brings you here?"

Ron got a good feeling about the old man. He seemed pleasant and hooked his cane under the whip at his side to inspect it for a moment. "I'm visiting family. We're going to tour the pyramids later, and we're waiting on my older brother to finish up some things at work before we go."

The old man nodded. "Ah. This sort of thing interests you?" He looked up at the casket.

The boy nodded. "Yes, sir." He peered at a small amulet with an off center crystal embedded in it. It was on a chain, but also had an opening on the bottom that could be set onto a staff. "It's pretty, but it doesn't look like it's worth much."

The old man gave a smirk. "Sometimes the things that look the most worthless are the most valuable. You've just got to learn what to look for. That amulet is worth more than the whole of that gold casket next to it."

Ron arched his eyebrow a little. "Really?"

The old man chuckled. "I'm afraid so. It takes a keen eye to notice the right elements. Many years of training and study."

The boy nodded. "What makes it so valuable?"

"Well, it's difficult to explain really. It's a key to something much more important. Not worth so much on it's own, but it's real value is what you can use it to find."

The young Weasley boy seemed confused. "Oh."

The old man turned his chair. "Come over here. I'll show you something." The boy followed behind him looking interested as he continued speaking. "Do you speak any Egyptian?"

Ron shook his head. "No, Sir."

The wheelchair bound man stopped in front of a case. "Well, I'll tell you something I learned from a man named T.H. Lawrence when I was just a boy. He said to me, 'Wherever you go, learn the language."

Ron peered at the jackal's head inside the case. It was golden and crusted with jewels. "What is this?"

The old man smiled as he realized he had the boy's complete attention. "Well, when I was a young boy in the year 1908..." He went on to tell the boy a story of his youth. When he had helped discovered the tomb of a Pharaoh, with an inscription of a curse, and of a murder and theft involving the jackal's head sitting in the case before him from the site.

Ron was completely enraptured by the story. "Wow. That was amazing."

The old man smiled and nodded. "Yes. Every bauble and artifact you see in this place has it's own story. Each one is an adventure into itself. Many have been fought over for centuries, others simply lay waiting for the right man to come along and see it's true value."

"Dad, boring children with your stories again?" A fifty something man with a broad chest and wearing a hat like Ron's walked up and gave a heavy sigh.

The redhead spoke up. "Not at all."

The old man gave a small sigh. "Yes, yes. Come to collect me again have you, Junior?"

His son seemed amused. "Stop calling me that. I'm fifty years old. How long are you going to keep that up?"

The old man seemed irate with his son. "Until I die. Get used to it." He gave a wheezing laugh.

The old man's sun smiled at him and shook his head giving Ron a good natured grin. "Sorry. He's got a lecture in a little while."

"It's all right. It was nice to meet you, sir." Ron gave a polite and friendly wave. "I'm Ron, Ron Weasley by the way."

The old man put his own hat on, just like the one Ron had on. "Name's Professor Henry Jones. Good luck kid. I see a fire in your eyes like the one I had at your age. Maybe we'll meet again someday?"

The younger Jones gave the boy a smirk. "Come on, Dad. See you around kid." He wheeled the old man away.

Ron looked at the jackal and turned his head as he heard his mother's voice calling him. "Coming, Mum." He jogged towards them. He paused by a sign pointing towards a hall with a lecture and the old man's name on it. "Henry 'Indiana' Jones." It indicated that he was a 'prominent archeologist' and his son was speaking as well. Seemed to be something that ran in his family as his son was mentioned as a professor or Archeology as well. "Archeologist? Huh. Sound's pretty cool." He rushed off again to meet his family as he heard his mother's voice again. "Coming!"

OooOOooOO

Ron looked about at the walls and hallways of the Gringotts branch of Egypt. They were inside the entrance where the Goblins bustled about behind counters, dealing with customers, weight gold on scales, and going about their business ignoring the group. "It's something." There was a very high ceiling in the room. The vaults were located under the Great Pyramid, but the entrance was actually just outside the edge of the city. They had traveled through a long narrow tunnel to reach the bank proper.

Bill slapped him on his shoulder and grinned. "Come on, I'll show you to my office." He waved for them to follow and passed by a stern looking Goblin who scowled at them and shook his head. "Afternoon, Ankiris."

The creature seemed amused and annoyed at the same time. "Well, quite the family you have. I take it you've warned them of the rules?"

The man nodded. "No worries. They're familiar, bank at the branch in England." He smiled at his family. "I'll take you down to my vault here later. I don't work in the vaults themselves, so it's the only place I can really show you."

Arthur nodded. "It's no problem. We're more interested in seeing where you work than anything."

Percy nodded and looked about. "Right. Not that much different than the Goblin Bank back home is it?"

Fred and George looked rather bored, and were being pretty quiet. They didn't like being in places where acting up had quite so dire consequences.

Ginny was beside her mother, clutching her hand. She wasn't afraid of Goblins, but they made her a bit nervous.

A moment later, they were in a small messy office. There were various maps and trinkets lying about the room. A large map of the area with pins poked into it and a magnifying glass on an arm enlarging the area around the tombs. Ron peered at it. "What does a curse breaker do anyway?"

Bill smirked. "I break curses of course. A lot of wizards put curses on their tombs. Many of them die with debts to the bank, and I have to get access to the payments they owe for the bank."

Molly scrunched up her nose. "Sounds a bit like grave robbing."

Her eldest shook his head. "No. The goblins only take what they are owed. In fact, part of my duties involves placing the defensive measures back once they have what they are owed."

Percy nodded. "Sounds interesting. I'd rather work for the Minsitry myself."

Ron smiled at his older brother. "So, you're like an Archeologist?"

Arthur scrunched his eyebrows. "Not really. Archeologists are historians of a sort."

Bill chuckled and nodded. "What makes you ask?"

The boy shrugged. "I ran into a guy at the Museum. He told me about some of the stuff there. It was pretty interesting."

Molly scowled at him. "You shouldn't be talking to strangers."

Ron shrugged. "He was like a hundred and in a wheelchair. He told me a story about when he was a boy in 1908 and how he found some of the things in the museum. He was pretty cool. A lot more interesting than Professor Binns class. I saw a sign and he was giving a lecture about Archeology in the museum later. I might have stayed if we didn't have to come here."

Bill smirked at his brother. "Thinking of taking up treasure hunting? It can be pretty dangerous work. It also takes a lot of time and energy. Most of it is study, and book work. Only a small portion of it has any chance of becoming exciting. There aren't many wizarding Archeologists."

Percy gave a snort. "Too dangerous for Ron Weasley? Do tell."

Arthur smiled at his son. "I wouldn't worry. Ron does poorly in History of Magic anyway. Do you really think he'd start taking Ancient Runes, or Magical Artifacts in school willingly?"

The eldest of the Weasley son's noticed Ron peering at the map on his wall. "Yes. There's no way Charlie would clean up his act and take to Care of Magical creatures. It'd be far too much work for a lad like him who's only interested in Quidditch."

The man flustered a bit and looked away. "Well, come on now..."

Bill seemed pleased with himself. "Come on then, I'll show you to my vault."

A familiar voice caused everyone in the room to turn. "I could show you around. Mr. Weasley's vault isn't very far down. I can let you have a look much deeper into the vaults. Father won't mind much if I show you a little. I can show you the Sphinxes and let you have a look at the High security vaults. We can't go inside them, but you can have a look at our dragons at a distance. We've got two of them here."

Nubiti was standing in the room with them. She was wearing a simple white robe without the veil. Her lips turned up revealing sharp teeth and very alert golden eyes. Unlike most Goblin's Ron had seen, she had very high cheekbones, and a short nose. Her black hair flowed from under a shawl over her head with a golden serpent like crown on the front. "It's no trouble. I have a delivery to make to one of the more High security vaults for my father anyway. You'll have to wait outside while I take care of it, but we'll be passing by all the most interesting points of the vaults on the way."

Fred and George grinned. "Charlie would be jealous." They passed the sentence between them.

Percy nodded. "Sound's interesting."

Ginny didn't like the look she was giving her brother one little bit. "I-I guess."

Bill nodded. "Well, there's no need to stop by my vault then. Not unless you're interested in meeting the Sphinx that guards it. She's not very personable, and she speaks in riddles. I've got to answer one any time I want to take anything out. It's fortunate I'm good at them, some of the customers get a little annoyed by it."

OooOOooOO

Ron found himself sitting in a cart with Nubiti and Bill. The rest of his family was seated in two carts behind them as they started moving down the rails. The young gobliness smirked at the pair. "Keep your arms in the cart. We'll be going pretty quickly."

They rushed through the caverns below the great pyramids at high speed. Nubiti pointed out anything interesting they moved by. The pens with Sphinxes waiting to be assigned to vaults, two large dragons on heavy chains they only got a brief glimpse of, and several more Sphinxes they got a good close look at in front of a few of the vaults they passed near to.

Nubiti smiled at Ron in an almost greedy manner. In her hands was a small object covered in cloth. It looked to be about the size of a wand. "We're nearing our destination."

None of them noticed the shadowy cloaked figure standing next to a lever off to the side of the path. Long slender fingers reached up and pulled it. It was rusted with age and bits of reddish brown rust crumbled off of it as the figure gave a grunt of effort as it worked the lever.

The cart with Bill, Ron, and Nubiti veered off down a different rail. The figure pulled the lever back again, sending the other carts with the rest of the Weasley family down the original path.

Nubiti frowned and looked at Ron and Bill. "Something is wrong." She was looking about. "We should have been there by now."

Bill blinked. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"We're on the wrong track. What? How can this be?" She looked frustrated.

"That's bad?" Ron arched his eyebrow.

The gobliness nodded. "It could be very bad depending on which track we've taken. Hold on."

The older brother got a little wide eyed. "I'm not sure I like the way that sounds."

Almost in answer to that the cart took a sharp corner on two wheels. The group all shifted to the side to right itself before they were thrown off the track. "That was close," muttered Ron.

"Too close," agreed Bill as he looked back.

"Shit! We're in the abandoned shafts!" Nubiti growled in frustration as she leaned forward and gripped the brake.

"The abandoned shafts?" asked Ron as he looked at Bill.

The elder Weasley shrugged. "I don't know. I don't work down here."

"Long dangerous tunnels. Some of them dead ends, others meant to confuse would be thieves. There are no vaults on this path. I've not seen one in a while. No one will look for us here."

Bill got a bit pale. "Well, it's a good thing you're with us then, right?"

Nubiti shook her head. "It would not matter. There are many dangerous things down here. Wild creatures, ancient tombs, and tunnels and catacombs that stretch for miles." She hit the brakes as they moved up and down violent curves and drops keeping them on the tracks and under control.

"Crap," muttered Ron. He looked up. "At least there are still lights down here." An orange glow formed ahead of them.

"We're in serious trouble," commented Nubiti. They came into a vast open cavern with a heavy bridge for the rails stretching out over a vast sea of lava. It boiled and spewed up sprays of hot magma.

The heat was intense and the group all yelled in alarm. The rails were moving up and down like an amusement park ride, with violent sharp turns and twists. They left the tracks more than once and barely landed back on the metal.

Bill cried out in alarm. The lake of lava filled the room with a searing heat, but their speed and the high sides of the cart kept them from burning up. "Look!"

Ron turned his head and got wide eyed. The edge of the lava was ahead, and a path further into the caverns. The track was broken and there was no way the cart was going to make it across. He stood up as they neared it. "Everybody, grab on!" He unhooked the whip from his side as the cart was launched into the air with the three of them in it. The heavy metal box on wheels fell away from them and tumbled into the lava, taking out a few of the support beams on the jagged edges of the broken track.

Ron swung his arm at the apex of the flight and caught onto a stalactite hanging from the ceiling. The three of them gripped onto his legs and his arms burned like fire as his grip slipped from the weight of the three of them. They landed roughly inside the tunnel and Ron's pants slipped down to his knees. The young redhead scrambled to his feet as a cracking sound from behind him and flicked his wrist. Their hanging point had broken off, and the coils of the whip became loosened allowing the stone to fall away into the lava. The young boy stared at the cavern with wide eyes and started coiling his whip.

Bill and Nubiti were looking on with wide eyes as they both staggered to their feet. Ron glanced back at them. "Well, we're not going back that way." He started to move towards them and almost tripped over his own pants. He flushed with embarrassment as he pulled his pants up after staggering a few feet. Fortunately, it was too dark to see with.

Bill had his wand out and peered down the tunnel with a light forming on the tip. "I guess we go this way then."

The gobliness was visibly disturbed. "How did we end up down here? I've been down that route hundreds of times, and I've never ended up anywhere near this place before."

Ron shrugged as he readjusted his belt. "We can worry about that after we get out of here." He walked up to Bill. "Gland you've got your wand."

The older Weasley nodded. "Not as glad as I am you've got that whip. I wouldn't have been fast enough to save all of us with just my wand."

Ron kicked about the ground. "Wish I'd brought my gun."

Bill frowned at that. "Gun?" He noticed his younger brother didn't seem very worried. In fact, he was looking about with a calm expression. He picked up what looked like a human bone and was ripping a cloth from a tattered skeleton. "Hey, give me a light would you?" He wrapped the cloth around the bone and held it towards Bill's wand.

The older boy seemed surprised. Ron was always the nervous sort. "Sure. Are you all right?" He created a little fire and lit the makeshift torch.

His younger brother nodded. "Yeah. That was close, but no one is hurt right?"

Nubiti was clutching the wrapped cloth close to her chest. She narrowed her eyes at the younger boy. "You seem remarkably calm. Someone is trying to kill us. None of the tracks should have led us here. They do not switch by accident."

Ron nodded. "I've been in worse scrapes than this. Come on."

They moved through the tunnel and found themselves looking down what appeared to be a bottomless pit. "Great." Bill frowned and glanced back at Ron and Nubiti. The pair had kept behind him, Ron looked alert and interested, but Nubiti seemed nervous and jumpy.

"Any idea what we might run into down here?" Ron glanced at her.

She frowned at him and clutched the thing she'd been holding a little tighter. "A wild Sphinx, flesh eating scarabs, giant spiders, wyverns, perhaps even a young dragon. These caverns are full of all sorts of creatures."

"Well, there's a bridge at least." Ron nodded towards a rather rickety looking rope bridge ahead of them. There was a small path leading a short ways to the right after the edge of the tunnel.

Bill smirked. "Good eye, Ron." He'd almost missed it as the cavern was quite dark. "If there's a bridge, then there's a path on the other side."

Nubiti nodded. "Yes. It's a good sign. It means someone has been this way before."

Ron smirked as he walked out onto the bridge. "Not so bad. Looks pretty sturdy too." There were lots of thin wooden planks making up the walkway. "Come on."

Nubiti stepped out onto the wood tentatively and moved ahead of him towards the other side. The younger of the two Weasleys waved his arm for Bill. "After you."

His older brother crossed his arms and frowned at him. "Be serious. We'll go one at a time. Let her cross first, then we can go."

Nubiti turned to face them from the other side. "It's fine. Very sturdy." She was a bit annoyed thinking they'd used her to test the bridge.

Ron had barely noticed she'd crossed and shoved his brother. "Oh, don't be such a baby. We'll be fine. Come on."

Bill shook his head and started across. "Fine, don't go complaining to me if something goes wrong." He moved ahead of his younger brother. Ron kept a few paces behind him and looked about at the scenery lit by his torch and Bill's wand. It was a vast and mysterious looking place. "Wow. It is something isn't it?" He staggered to a stop with a horrified and disgusted expression on his face. A huge hairy spider was hanging right in front of his face, dangling from a strand of web as it spread it's legs and felt about the air. "Gah!" He stepped back and put his torch under it, giving a grin as the creature burned and fell onto the bridge before bouncing off the side and into the abyss. "Ugh. I hate spiders," he muttered as he watched it fall.

Bill looked behind him and frowned again. "Quit fooling around would you? Come on." He was near the edge of the bridge and Ron was still in the middle.

"All right," grumbled the younger boy.

Nubiti gasped and pointed. "Ron! Look out!"

"Eh?" The younger boy frowned at her and looked over his shoulder. "Oh no." There were hundreds of spiders crawling between the cracks in the boards, and out from under the bridge. It was quickly growing to several hundred of them, or possibly even thousands as they swarmed on the ropes and boards of the bridge. "Spiders, why does it always have to be spiders?!" Ron started to stagger away as they began to crawl up on his legs as he started to become overwhelmed. He waved his torch down at his legs knocking them off and setting fire to the arachnids. It drove them back as well, as large patches of them caught fire as he backed away swinging his torch at them. He smirked as he backed away, but it fell away as he realized quite suddenly that while the spiders were indeed held back, the wooden rope bridge was now on fire. His face fell and he turned and started to run towards the edge.

Bill was waving his arm and reaching for him. "Hurry up, Ron!"

The bridge snapped while he was still about ten feet from the edge. He hit the boards and grabbed them as it slammed into the wall, jarring him painfully and sending his torch into the darkness below. He started clamoring up the side of the remains, using the wooden walkway like a ladder. Unfortunately, as he climbed, the wooden planks slipped away and fell off behind him as he moved at a desperate pace up the side. Just before he reached the edge, the last few boards fell away with him attached. He squeezed his eyes shut and found himself dangling in the air.

Bill had managed to reach down and grab him. "Ron! Hang on!" He pulled him up with no difficulty and the younger boy staggered and looked over his shoulder at the resulting mess. He couldn't see the other side anymore, but he could hear things crawling about int he cavern.

His brother dusted off his shoulders and chuckled. "Are you all right?"

Ron just looked annoyed. "Why does it always have to be so close?"

Nubiti shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Come on. We should go."

Bill smirked. "Come on. I think I see a light up ahead."

"At least they didn't have guns this time," grumbled Ron as he reminded himself of how much worse it could have been.

The Gobliness seemed confused by that, and Bill didn't seem to notice. The group started forward but was halted almost immediately.

"Don't move."

The trio stopped and looked around. Several men in black cloaks stepped out of the shadows, all brandishing wands. They all raised their hands over their heads. Bill had his wand taken, and the two children were annoyed.

One of the men in black cloaks stepped forward and pulled his hood off his head. He grinned at them with cold beady eyes. "Well, what have we here?"

Nubiti scowled at him. "What is the meaning of this?"

A short cloaked figure stepped forward. "I told you I could bring her." It was a hissing feminine voice. "Just as promised."

The pale bald man frowned at the cloaked figure. "Yes. So it would seem. Bring them."

The trio was made to move with them surrounded by wizards.

A short time later they came upon a huge open caver with large lights set up. They all shined on a structure carved into the stone wall of the cavern. It was an ancient looking temple, with huge sphinx statues in front of massive pillars. At the center was a large golden set of doors. Wizards in black cloaks, all wearing masks with a familiar symbol embroidered on the front were moving about. There were about twenty five of them. They were going over large schematics, and maps, toting around crates and boxes with flares and other equipment.

Ron gave a heavy sigh as he realized his situation. "Great. Death Eaters."

"What is this place?" grumbled Bill.

Nubiti was wide eyed and had her jaw hanging. "This is my Great Grandfather's tomb. Goblin Pharaoh Anubis the Fourth." She clutched the cloth wrapped object tighter. "No."

The short cloaked female chuckled. "Yes. A great treasure lies within. One that can only be retrieved by one with the his blood, in possession of a very special key."

The gobliness glared at her. "Do you think that hood can hide your identity from me, Seshafi" Betrayer. You know what fate awaits..."

A long fingered hand slapped her and sent her to the ground on her knees. The bundle of cloth fell to the ground and rolled open, revealing a jeweled knife inside. "Yes, but only if I am caught. I assure you, there is little chance of that."

"Nubiti!" cried Ron in alarm. He started forward, but a spell from one of the wizards standing around him sent him on his back in pain.

The bald Death Eater chuckled. "Well. How fortunate, that we just happened to come across what we need. The Goblin Princess, and the very key we need."

She grabbed the knife and relaxed as she realized that there were several wands pointed at her. "You expect me to do your bidding? Why should I do what you want?"

The bald man chuckled. "You can do it willingly, or I will simply curse you to do it for me."

Bill scowled at him. "Who are you?"

The man looked at him and walked up to his face. "I am Dimitri Voltir. Now, I will ask your cooperation one last time. Otherwise, I assure you that failure to comply will be quite painful." He chuckled. "I am a reasonable man. Consider me something of an Archeologist. I make my living finding rare and powerful artifacts." He put his hands behind his back. "The two humans. We do not need them. Get rid of them."

The wizards surrounding Ron and Bill all pointed their wands at them.

Nubiti growled and stepped forward. "Wait!"

The bald man looked over his shoulder at her. "Well, something about this bothers you? You do not wish them dead?"

She bit her lip and glanced back at them. "The tomb is filled with traps. I'll need assistance. Even if you curse me, if you send me into that tomb, you'll never get what you want."

The Goblin traitor hissed as she pointed a long finger at Ron. "I want Weasley's life. He has damaged my honor and status."

Nubiti snorted at her. "Not as much as this will."

The older gobliness narrowed her eyes. "I'll have my revenge regardless. All the world will suffer for my loss."

Bill looked very nervous. Ron scowled at her. "Why should we help them? They're going to kill us anyway."

Dimitri chuckled. "Perhaps. However, I assure you that your death will be considerably less painful. You know too much to survive as it is."

The Princess scowled at him. "Shut up, Weasley. If you want me to go into that tomb, these two go with me."

Seshafi snarled. "No. It might be a trick."

Voltir nodded. "She has a point. You may take one of them."

Bill stepped froward. "I'll go. I'm a Curse Breaker."

The Gobliness shook her head. "Send Ron. If he dies there is no great loss. Unless you want to give this one back his wand?"

The bald man sneered. "We'll hold the elder one here. A Curse Breaker with no wand would be useless."

Nubiti frowned at that. "He'll be more useful than a third year student."

Seshafi shook her head. "No deal. You'll take Ron Weasley, or we'll just throw you in there by yourself and kill them both now."

The younger Weasley glanced at Bill and nodded. "I'll go." He looked at his captors. "If he's not alive when we get back, I'll destroy whatever it is you want before I let you have it."

The young Princess snarled. "I thought you needed us to retrieve the treasure. Mr. Weasley is a trained curse breaker, I'll have a better chance with him than..."

Dimitri chuckled. "Once she unlocks the tomb, we've no problems if you both die. After it is properly unsealed, he's more useful than either of you. No point in risking his neck yet. You do not understand, it would be rather convenient of you both got yourselves killed in there. Though, we wouldn't mind if you brought the treasure to us either. It may save us a bit of work. If you fail, I will use the Imperius Curse to force him to help us acquire what we need from the tomb with his skills. We really only need you to open it for us. You get Weasley, or we just kill him now, and send you in alone." He shoved Ron towards her and grinned in a malevolent way. "We don't expect you to survive, but the more traps you manage to bypass, the easier it will be for us to finish up and collect our prize."

Nubiti growled and hung her head. Ron started towards the giant golden doors. "Come on." He gave a small sigh as he looked up at the carving of a giant scarab on the golden surface.

The Gobliness frowned as she moved up to his side and flipped the knife over in her hands. There was a small slot and a hook on the end of the knife handle. She closed her eyes and punctured her wrist with the hook on the handle before stabbing it into the key hole.

With a heavy groan, the doors slid open dripping sand to the ground as they slid back, revealing a long corridor filled with pillars. Torches lit up as magic within the hall came to life, lighting the way for any who would enter. She stepped forward. "Come on then."

Ron tipped his hat back. "Great. Any idea what's in here?"

She shook her head. "None. We need to figure out what we're going to do about this. They will kill us if they get what they want."

Ron looked back over his shoulder towards where Bill was. He had his hands behind his head and had been forced to his knees. He gave his older brother a final nod before stepping inside with her. "I've got to figure out a way to get Bill away from them."

"What we seek lies deep within the tomb." she walked down the hall with a straight face and her nose held up.

Ron nodded. "Any idea what it is?"

She scowled at him. "The Code does not permit me to say. I cannot speak of Gringotts secrets."

He arched his eyebrow. "How am I supposed to help you out, if I don't even know what we're after."

She shook her head. "I'm the only one who can touch it. You need me to get it anyway. Just get me to where we're going, and we can bring him what he wants."

He nodded. "You don't look worried."

She looked away from him. "I'm terrified. No one has ever come out of this tomb alive."

He gave a small sigh. "Great. Well, I guess we should keep our eyes open then." He put his arm up and she bumped into him.

"What are you doing?" snapped the Gobliness. She looked ahead and gasped. "Oh!"

Ron was peering down at a very large spiked pit. There was a thin concrete walkway over the spikes, but the fact that it was there was hidden by an illusion. It seemed as if the hallway extended for another twenty yards until they were both standing right on the edge. "So, there really are traps then?" He didn't sound pleased.

"Of course. What did you expect?" she growled as she started along the stone pathway over the pit. The pair walked across it calmly looking into the torchlit pit at the various skeletons that littered the bottom. Some of them were human, and there were quite a few goblin skeletons as well. He paused and squatted down peering into the pit. "Hey. Is that?"

Nubiti frowned. "Come on, we shouldn't linger."

He glanced up at her. "Hold on for a minute." He hooked his whip into a crack in the stone that wedged it in quite well and hung over the side testing the weight for a moment. It held fast and firm and he moved down the whip towards the spiked floor.

The gobliness scowled and hissed at him angrily. "What are you doing?"

He looked up at her. "Just a moment. I see something." He landed between the metal spikes and looked towards one of the bodies. "Hey. It is." Hanging from it's shoulder was a holster with a revolver in it. He worked quickly and removed the holster, pulling the weapon out and inspecting it. There was a belt with bullets attached to it around the skeleton's waist and he removed that as well placing them on himself. "I hope this thing still works." He flipped open the cylinder and spun it around, finding it fully loaded and unfired. He pulled the trigger and found the hammer cocked back and moved well. "Great. This should be useful." A moment later he was climbing back up onto the walkway with his companion.

She looked annoyed and interested. "What is it?"

He tugged on the holster. "It's a muggle weapon. It's not a wand, but it's better than nothing."

Nubiti nodded and continued down the walkway as he coiled up his whip again and hooked it back on his belt behind her. "Keep moving, and be careful."

At the end of the walkway was another passage that led to a stairwell. At the bottom was a large room with a sand covered floor. There was a door on the opposite side and what looked like gears in the wall off to one side. "Now what?" Bodies covered the floors, the skeletons broken and crushed.

She shook her head and pulled on his arm. "Come on. We..."

The gears on the wall started to turn as something slid into place under their feet beneath the sand. Some sort of pressure sensitive plate. "Shit," muttered the gobliness.

Ron looked up. "Yeah. You said it." Large stone slabs had slid down over the two doors trapping them in the room. Metal spikes slid out of the ceiling and floor, as the ceiling began to move down towards them.

Nubiti growled. "We're trapped!"

Ron looked about the room. "Come on. We've got to think of something!" He grabbed an intact skull from one of the spike tops and ran over to the gears in the wall. He shoved it between them, only to have it ground up. "Great. That's not going to work." He glanced back at her. "Is there anything we can wedge into this? Look for a rock or something."

She glanced about with a desperate and fearful look on her face. "There's nothing in here but sand and bones! We're going to die!"

Ron looked up, the ceiling was almost upon them. "Okay. Think." He looked at the weapon at his side and pulled it out.

Nubiti nodded. "Yes! That looks like metal! Put it in the gears!"

Ron shook his head. "Nah." He aimed and fired at the gears. They were made of stone, and the cog teeth broke off as he fired at them. After six shots he ran out of ammunition, and pulled the cylinder open dumping the shells out and putting more in as Afina had once instructed him to.

The pair was forced to their knees as the ceiling closed in on them. Nubiti was bent between the spikes and had one bearing down on her throat. "Hurry up!"

Ron finished loading and took out the remaining teeth on one of the cogs. The mechanism broke and spun freely without winding the ceiling down any further. After a moment, the ceiling began sliding up and slid back into place. The stone slabs on the doors slid open and the pair both breathed a sigh of relief.

Nubiti gave Ron an appraising glance as she dusted off her knees. "Perhaps you were the best choice after all."

The pair exited the room and moved towards the next chamber. It was a long hallway with several large pits in it. There was a thin ledge on either side of the hole.

Ron put his back against the wall and started to slide sideways across the opening. "Come on then." As he spoke, wooden spears shot from small holes in the wall causing them both to freeze in place. "Bother," muttered the redhead as they slid back into place for a few moments before sliding back out again in a pattern that wasn't that difficult to time.

Nubiti looked frustrated and alarmed, but Ron was managing to move through by timing the thrusts. "It's not that hard, just be careful and pay attention."

She was moving across and shifted. "We're going to die here!"

The boy called to her as he reached the other side. "Take your time. Just..." His eyes went wide as she tried to rush the last set. He managed to reach out and pull her off the wall before she was stabbed. He hit the sand on his belly and ended up clinging to her arms over the pit.

She was clinging to his arm and digging her nails into his flesh. "Don't drop me!"

He gritted his teeth in pain and pulled her up. "I've got you! Just relax. You're killing my arm!" The pair ended yp lying next to each other gasping for breath. They staggered to their feet and looked over the next pit. There was no ledges to shimmy across. "Now what?" grumbled Ron. He looked up and smirked. "Ah ha!"

The gobliness looked confused as he pulled out his whip again. There was a post across the ceiling and he grabbed it with the weapon. "All right, I'm going to swing across and then toss you back the whip all right?"

She nodded and gasped for breath, still winded from nearly being killed by the spears. "Fine."

He did so easily and landed lightly. "Right. I'm getting pretty good at this." He seemed pleased with himself and reared his hand back with the handle in his hand. "All right, you've got to catch this. Are you ready?"

She narrowed her eyes and nodded. "All right." He swung it across to her, and she nearly missed, fumbling with it for a moment. "Just swing across. Sounds easy," she muttered under her breath. With a small scream she went over the hole. She almost didn't go far enough, but Ron grabbed her belt and pulled her the rest of the way into his arms. He snagged the whip before she released it and hooked it onto a torch along the wall. "Come on then. I think we're at the end."

She frowned and nodded looking flustered from hanging in his arms. "I hope so."

They found themselves in a large room with stone steps that led up to what appeared to be an altar. A huge stone casket was standing upright behind the table like a statue of a God in a temple. Before it was a gold table, with a golden glove resting on the surface. It appeared to be a gauntlet of some kind, with rubies and emeralds encrusted in the knuckles, and a large onyx over the back of the palm. Ron scratched his head. "Is this it?"

Nubiti nodded and stepped forward. She picked it up in her arms and wrapped it in the cloth she had been carrying the knife in. The blade was now hooked into her belt. "Yes. This is what we came for. Come. We should leave."

OooOOooOO

Ron scowled as they emerged from the doorway to the tomb. The wizards in the cavern stood around looking somewhat surprised at the pair's emergence from the tomb.

Dimitri smirked as he strolled forward. "Well. What a pleasant surprise. You have what I need?"

Nubiti hung her head and unwrapped the gauntlet. "Here it is."

The man looked at it with a greedy glare. Ron moved closer to where Bill was being held. His older brother was still on his knees in front of a wizard with his wand pointed at him.

A huge Iron Scarab stomped into view from the back of the cavern. Nubiti paused and looked at it in horror. "What?"

The thing hissed as steam escaped pipes at the top of the giant metal insect. It looked mechanical and had glass eyes that revealed a seat inside with a familiar gobliness sitting behind a mess of levers and cranks. The thing shuddered to a stop, and a hatch opened up on top of it as Seshafi climbed out and slid down the side to the ground. "The train is ready."

Dimitri nodded as he took the cloth covered gauntlet carefully and shoved Nubiti back. "Yes. Heh. The Glove of King Midas. Extraordinary." He opened the cloth and slid his hand inside, careful not to touch the outside of it. With a wild grin he turned towards the metal tank. He put his hand against it, and a patch of golden color formed that spread across the surface until the entire tank was a shining golden hulk. "Amazing."

Bill looked on with wide eyes. Seshafi grabbed Nubiti by her shoulders. "What of this one?"

The pale bald man snarled. "Bring her to the train. We may need insurance. Once we reach our destination she won't be useful and we'll be rid of her."

The older Gobliness nodded and pushed her into a group of three Death Eaters. They restrained her by force and dragged her away. She struggled, but was easily subdued and carried off.

Ron growled and glanced over at where Bill was being held. His older brother had his head hung low and looked just as angry.

Dimitri chuckled as he took the gauntlet off his arm and wrapped it back up in the now golden cloth. "With this, I can create a fortune in wealth. After we've used that to our advantage, we'll flood the market with tons of it. Devaluing it the world over and making it as worthless as tin coins."

Bill growled at him. "Bastard."

Voltair shook his head. "Sadly, the two of you have outlived your usefulness." He turned away and waved his hand. "It is time for us to say goodbye. Let them have a few last moments together. Take them to the pit and kill them both." He turned and started walking away towards another passage opposite the way the trio had first entered.

The wizard holding Bill grinned and kicked him in the ribs while motioning for him to stand. He moved behind Ron and indicated that he move up next to his brother. The young redhead did so and was walked ahead to the same chasm they'd crossed to arrive.

Seshafi climbed back into the mechanical scarab. "I'll be guarding our escape with this. There should be no trouble." The thing started spewing steam again as it clanked away towards the cavern entrance. It was a fast moving machine and obviously more magical in nature than mechanical.

Bill and Ron moved ahead of their captor down the tunnel towards their doom. "Any ideas?" asked the older brother.

Ron glanced at him. "Well, you're not going to like it."

The older redhead gave a sigh. "I'm willing to try just about anything."

The man behind them snorted. "I can hear you both. I've got my wand ready, and you'll never get to me in time to stop me from killing you both. Just enjoy your last moments, and I'll make it quick. Otherwise..."

Ron spun around, putting his shoulder into Bill's side. In his hand was the revolver he picked up and he aimed and fired as he fell.

The wizard got a shocked and wide eyed expression as a black dot appeared in the center of his forehead. He fell to his knees and slumped down dead.

Bill looked on with wide eyes. "What the?"

Ron stood up and glared at the body as he holstered his weapon. "Right. Let's go then."

The older Weasley looked at the weapon. "Where did you get that?"

His brother looked at him. "Found it in the tomb. Come on, we've got to go."

Bill ran after him. "Ron! Wait! We can't go that way! There's too many of them!"

His younger brother ignored him as he rushed towards the cavern entrance. The light of the sun was ahead of them as the cavern opened up to a vast desert that stretched as far as the eye could see. He grabbed the fallen wizard's wand and moved after him. "Ron! What are you doing?"

Ron charged towards the light. At the entrance to the cavern was a train with about fifteen cars on it. The tracks stopped on the inside of the cavern, and it was already moving out of the cave and into the desert. The giant metal beetle was nowhere to be seen.

Three Death Eaters were standing about the cave entrance with several boxes. Ron slid to a stop as he fired at one of them and dropped him with another shot to the head. He slid behind a few crates as blasts of magic impacted them. "Great."

Bill slid up next to him with the wand in his grip. "Are you crazy?"

Ron glanced at him. "What? You just want to let him get away?"

The older Weasley frowned at him. "We barely survived this long! What do you intend to do? Do you have some sort of plan?"

The younger boy shook his head. "No, I'm making this up as I go."

Bill shook his head. "We've got to find help. We'll alert the bank and..."

Ron nodded. "You alert the bank, I'm going after that train." He jumped up and fired twice more before hopping over the boxes and moving to new cover. Another of the Death Eaters fell over dead as he did so.

Ron peered over the box and ducked as another blast of magic shot towards him. He jumped up again and fired at a heavy light fixture beside a large stack of boxes the last remaining Death Eater was using as cover. The fixture toppled over and there was a scream from behind the boxes as it landed. Ron got a bit wide eyed as he realized the crates the man was hiding behind were labeled explosives, and he could see a fire starting where the light fixture had landed, as well as a few sparks from the wires from the fixture itself. "Uh-oh."

Bill slid up beside him. "Uh-oh? What do you mean 'Uh-oh'?" He was confused and gripping the wand.

"Move! Hurry up!" cried Ron as he realized that the crates were all stacked up around the entrance. He pulled on his brother's arm and pulled him after him to the entrance.

A moment later, they were both outside after rushing by the large roaring fire. They staggered into the sand away from the cavern, which was little more than a hole in the side of what appeared to be a sand dune with railroad tracks leading off into the distance. The train had not reached full speed yet, and wasn't very far away. There was a turn ahead and it was starting to turn to his right. He made to intercept it by riding towards where it would be rather than directly after it..

Ron rushed up to a horse at the side of the cavern and pulled himself on top of it. He kicked his heels into the animal's side and almost got tossed off it's back as it started running. He looked back at Bill who was calling to him and waving his arm. The older boy had grabbed a camel that was near to where Ron had grabbed the horse and was staggering after him while trying and failing to pull himself onto the animal's back. "Ron! Stop!"

The young redhead called back to him. "You go and tell someone what happened! I'm going after that train!" He glared forward as the Horse ran towards it, gaining ground. "No way that jerk is getting away with this mess."

As he said it, the cavern exploded in a huge ball of flames. Sealing the entrance and almost knocking Bill to the ground. The older Weasley managed to stagger back to his feet, and the Camel finally got to it's knees so he could climb on. "Ron!" He looked on in frustration. There was no way the animal he was riding was going to catch up to him. "Damn it." He turned back towards the city. The pyramids could be seen in the near distance. The best thing he could do was go back for help.

OooOOooOO

Dimitri was chuckling as he sipped on a glass of wine. Nubiti was glaring at him from a nearby chair. The knife had been taken from her and was resting on a table in the car. It was quite luxurious and the man seemed pleased with himself. "Do not worry. Your suffering will end once we reach where we are going. No one even knows where you are, and no one is coming to help you."

She hung her head and frowned. "You will suffer for this. My father..."

"Will be brought to his knees when all the Gold he holds suddenly becomes worthless. How much power do you think he will have then? Hmmm?" The pale man leaned over to glare at her. "The only reason you are alive now, is to ensure that we reach where we are going unmolested. Once there, it will be far too late to do anything."

The train vibrated a little more than was normal, and a huge ball of flames could be seen in the distance. There was a soft boom from the explosion and a dark cloud of smoke billowing from where they had come from. Dimitri stood up with his glass in his hand. "Weasley." He threw the glass to the ground and glared at the destruction. He walked to the door to the train car and opened the door. "You two. Take her to the front of the train and guard her with your lives."

Two Death Eaters in masks looked away from the distant explosion and back at him again. Without any questions, they walked up to Nubiti and grabbed her arms, pulling her up to her feet and shoving her towards the other door.

The bald man growled under his breath as he walked up to a nearby mirror. "Seshafi, be aware. We may have a problem."

OooOOooOO

Ron Weasley's rear and crotch were screaming in pain from bouncing on the back of the horse under his legs. It was running at full sprint, and the railing of the caboose was just out of his reach as he strained towards it. After a moment, he managed to grip the rail and the horse peeled away running off and slowing down as it watched him clamor onto the back of the train with a little clumsiness. He looked back at the animal and raised his hand. "Well, I'm here. Now what?"

He pressed himself against the wall and gave his legs a moment to rest. Hanging onto the sprinting animal had not been the easiest thing to do. After a moment he peered through the window and frowned. There were at least three people in cloaks inside. "Great. Here goes." He reloaded his weapon and tensed himself as he stood by the door.

After a moment to sort himself out and catch his breath he burst into the room and opened fire. Two of the men were down and he spun inside ducking behind one of the seats. It was a passenger train, and there were quite a few cars to move through.

"We're under attack!" cried the lone survivor through the door at the back. Ron took the opportunity to take him out while his back was turned. The man fell down on the outside of the door. The young redhead cursed under his breath, as he looked at what he'd done. He was wide eyed and his hands were shaking.

Voices from further down the train caught his attention and forced him to tear his eyes away from the bodies. He had never killed anyone human before that day. Vampires were one thing, but this was people. He took a few deep breaths as he saw men in hoods rushing through the cars towards him. It didn't matter, they had to be stopped. He couldn't let them win.

Without another glance he walked outside the train again and grabbed onto a ladder that took him up onto the roof of the next car. He staggered and kept low as the wind pushed at him as the vehicle moved across the desert. The heat was intense and the sun bore down on him. His hat kept his vision clear, but he was sweating heavily.

"Where did he go?" cried a muffled voice from below him.

"Check the roof!" cried another.

Ron grumbled as he continued to move. "Great. What do I do now?"

"Up here!" cried a voice from behind him.

The young redhead turned and fired. The unfortunate man was knocked off the train by the shot and rolled across the sand after being blown off the ladder by the bullet. Ron reloaded his weapon and kept moving. Another wizard was climbing up towards him with an angry frown on his face. He started to level his wand and flick his wrist, but Ron was faster. The gun had to be reloaded, but he didn't have to say a spell or flick his wrist once it was. Another man was sent to his doom and this time fell onto the tracks between the cars after losing his grip. Ron squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as he found himself startled by the realization of what had happened to him. "Shit." He balled up his fist and continued forward, hopping over the open area between the trains. As bad as it was, the alternative was worse.

"There!" cried another voice from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and found two more wizards climbing to the roof of the car behind him.

He almost started shooting, but a burst of sand from beside the train erupted from the desert. The men were both blasted off the train roof by the massive wave of sand.

"Crap." Ron looked on with wide eyes as the huge golden scarab skittered across the desert beside the car. It's massive golden legs moving at high speed beside the tank. He could see Seshafi inside grinning at him. She put her hand up to her throat and drew a line across it.

Ron went a little pale and started to run across the rooftops.

The giant beetle bounced into the air just as he jumped to the roof of the next car. It landed on the car behind him, crushing it flat with at least four more men inside. He looked back and saw flames, the nose of the machine had a mouth, and a jet of flame erupted from it into the car underneath him. The boy shielded himself with his arms as the small windows of the car all shot up jets of flames as screams came from inside the car.

He bounded across to the next roof as it moved after him, tearing through the walls and rooftops of the train car behind him. The base of the cars were made of heavy metal, but the structure of the cars themselves were wood and thin metal. It was easily shredded by the thing as it stomped after him.

The boy tried to jump to the next car, but the thing hit the opposite wall of the car he was on and jarred it enough to send him tumbling between them. He hit his chin hard on the railing and ended up hanging with his feet dangling over the edge on the rails. He could feel the tracks jarring his feet and almost got ripped free. He managed to keep clinging and pulled himself up again and onto the next car.

The giant insect tank kept coming through the walls at him. He gasped as he looked back and found it rushing through the walls at him. He ran into the next car and closed the door behind himself. A jet of flames impacted the door and the back end of the car started burning. The door kept them from engulfing the interior right away and he rushed forward.

He fell onto his back as a bolt of magic passed over his head. Without thinking he pulled up his revolver and put two shots before the wizard ahead of him could cast another. The tearing sound as the tank pushed through the wall behind him got him on his feet and running again. It tried to lurch for him, but got caught on one of the metal supports of the car for a moment.

Ron looked over his shoulder and managed to get two cars ahead of it. He closed both doors as he moved and staggered to slow a little as he noticed a satchel with a familiar symbol on the side of it. It was an orange sticker with jagged lines on it and the word 'explosives' written underneath. He hooked it over his shoulder as he moved by and glanced back to see the thing still coming for him. Seshafi was leering at him from inside as it crawled through the train cars littering the desert floor with a trail of wood hunks and scraps of metal.

The young redhead opened the next door and staggered to a stop. The next car was some kind of tank. He grabbed the ladder on the side and rushed up the side. When he reached the top he found that he was near the front of the train. The next car was several large logs chained to a flat bed. The smell of fuel was strong in the air as he coughed and rushed across the top.

He unhooked the satchel of explosives and hooked it onto the top of the ladder at the top of the tanker. He didn't climb all the way down, but pushed off the top of the ladder and onto the top of the logs. He staggered away as the golden scarab vaulted into the air and landed on top of the tanker car. It dented inward, and a sort of pinkish fluid poured out of cracks in the side.

Ron ended up behind the logs and looked up to see Seshafi glaring and leering at him. He pointed at the area below her as he raised his gun and smirked.

Her eyes went wide as she turned them downward. Her mouth opened and he could see her scream "No!"

With a single report the bag exploded, setting off the entire tanker of fuel with the golden tank on top of it. Ron was tossed back into the next car by the blast and landed hard on his back. He managed to lift his head and saw large chunks of metal raining down on the desert and the back end of the train begin to move away. The explosion had ripped the tanker car in half, and now the logs he'd been using as cover were on fire. His vision blurred, and he passed out cold.

OooOOooOO

Dimitri was looking at him with a scowl on his face when he woke up. He was tied to a chair and groaned in pain. He looked about and frowned, realizing he'd been caught. "I suppose I should thank you. You saved me a bit of trouble. Seshafi was useful, but dangerous. I would have had to be rid of her. However, there is the matter of fifteen of my men." He reared his hand back and punched him in the face.

Ron's vision blurred and he nearly passed out again from the blow. He said nothing and groaned in pain.

The pale bald man glared at him and gritted his teeth. He pointed his wand at him. "Crucio."

Ron grunted in pain and writhed in his bonds in agony as the spell tore through him. After a moment, he ended up gasping for breath as he just sat there aching.

The man paced back and forth in front of him. "I must admit, it is a shame you must die." He lifted the boy's head with his wand and turned his cheek. "To think, a boy your age has actually earned my respect. It is a shame we cannot see eye to eye. I'm not fool enough to try and get you to join me. No, you think you are a hero." He backhanded him in the face and snarled. "You are idealistic and foolish. It is a shame, you might have become a great wizard."

Ron hung his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "You'll never be one."

Dimitri smiled. "Defiant to the last. Very well. I shall allow you to see my moment of glory then. Then, you will die. Heroes have statues, and I think it would be a fitting way for this hero's life to end." The man reared his fist back and it slammed into Ron's face, sending him out cold again.

OooOOooOO

When he came to, the sun was bearing down on him. It was late afternoon, and he looked around. "Ouch. Where am I?"

"Dimitri's hideout. A palace in the desert. He has brought us to an oasis in the middle of the desert." Nubiti's voice spoke up.

Ron smirked. "Hey. You're all right?" He looked around and found himself tied to a post. There were ropes across his chest and his wrist were bound on the opposite side of the post. Nubiti was in the same position behind him.

She snorted. "No. We're about to be killed you idiot."

The place was rather lavish. There was a swimming pool beside them, and the home was a rather lavish villa. There were about ten men around them looking on from tables with cold drinks and bowls of fruit. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Dimitri walked up and smiled at the pair tied to the pole and moved in front of Ron. "Ah. So, you are awake then? Not as long to recover as I thought."

Ron was still aching, but he was alert. He didn't look pleased and said nothing.

The man waved his arms. "Now, the moment of glory has begun!" He turned to the gathered Death Eaters and smiled. "Today, is the beginning of a time of great wealth! All of us are now rich beyond imagining!" On the table before him was a familiar wrapped bundle. "As of today, even our homes become unimaginable wealth!" He placed the gauntlet on and picked up an apple. It instantly changed to gold and he laughed, tossing it onto the ground where it landed with a heavy sounding thud. Dimitri laughed and walked over to the wall of the home. He placed his hand on it and looked on with greedy eyes as the golden power spread through the walls. "Yes! Riches beyond imagination are now ours!"

Ron looked on with a scowl on is face as the man stood there as the energy spread. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the men laugh and clap as the ground under their feet and the tables they sat at became gold. The boy turned his head. "Nubiti, listen to me. Pick up your feet and hold them up. Whatever you do, don't let your feet touch the ground!"

"What?" she muttered in confusion.

Ron sounded alarmed but kept his voice down. "Just do it. Keep your feet up."

Dimitri laughed as he looked about as he watched the villa become a golden paradise. Even the water in the pool began to take on a golden tint. "It's beautiful!"

One of the men nearby screamed in terror. Beside him, where one of the Death Eaters had been sitting, was a golden statue with a grin on his face.

Dimitri turned his head towards the growing screams of the others. "What?" They were quickly becoming horrified. Their robes had started to turn gold. At first where it touched the ground, but the energy was now moving up their feet and legs, crawling up their bodies and enveloping them slowly. They struggled to get up and rush away, but none of them could move their feet by the time they realized what was happening to them.

Dimitri gasped and tried to pull his arm away from the wall. "No! No! It can't be! No!" His feet would not move, and he could not lift his other arm away. He managed to get his fingers off the wall, but it was too late. The golden power moved up his elbow, and had begun to crawl up his chest, to his neck. "No! Noooo!" He looked up at the sky, as his lips became frozen in a horrified golden scream. Finally, his eyes became gilded and the screams stopped. The golden statue of Dimitri then cracked, and crumbled, sending the gauntlet clattering to the ground as it slid off his hand and bounced across the gold pavement.

Ron and Nubita slumped to the ground against the post. Their ropes had snapped, becoming soft and brittle as they were turned into gold. They were heavy, but tossed aside by the pair as they were able to easily pry them apart. Together they staggered away from the golden pole, each untouched by the energy from the glove.

Ron Weasley turned to help the Gobliness to her feet and they leaned against each other. After making sure they were both able to stand, Ron walked over and picked up the golden cloth. He moved over and wrapped up the glove, lifting it off the ground and into his arms. He looked at Nubita and waved his arm. "Come on. We should go."

She looked at the bundle in his arms and then back up at him before nodding.

OooOOooOO

At the edge of the desert sands Ron Weasley rode up from between the Pyramids on the back of a camel. Nubita was clinging to his back, and he had a wrapped bundle tucked under his arm.

A large group of goblins was gathered there, looking on. Along with several wizards.

"Ron!" cried Molly Weasley as she rushed forward.

The camel crouched down as the boy's family moved towards him. Bill had a shocked look on his face. Arthur and Molly looked relieved.

"I told you he'd be back!" Ginny cried in excitement as she looked at Bill.

The eldest Weasley sibling nodded with a confused and surprised expression. "I thought you were gone! What were you thinking."

Ron smiled at his family and looked back at Nubita. "That's your father?" he nodded towards a far goblin looking on at the scene with a pipe in his hand. He was surrounded by several other rather intimidating looking goblins with swords and shields.

The young gobliness nodded. "Yes." She looked weary but pleased.

Ron ignored his family, and sidestepped his mother's attempt to grab him. "Just a moment. I've got something important to take care of."

Arthur and Molly looked surprised and a bit shocked at his reaction. Molly narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Ronald Weasley! What..."

His father seemed to notice something and grabbed her shoulders. "Hush Molly, not now."

She gasped and looked at him with wide eyes. "What?" Her features calmed a little as she realized he had a very serious look on his face.

"What's he done now?" grumbled Percy with his arms crossed.

Ron approached the large Goblin with Nubiti at his side. The goblin guard all put their hands on their swords and glared at him. "Sir? This belongs to the Goblins." He held out the wrapped bundle to the largest of the creatures.

The creature looked at Nubita and scowled a little as he accepted it. His eyes became wide as he stared down at it. "Humph. You must not know what this is."

His daughter narrowed her eyes at him. "No. He saw it's power with his own eyes."

The fat goblin coughed after taking too much of a puff from his own pipe. "And...you still returned it?"

The goblins all looked shocked and suspicious at this. Ron nodded. "It belongs to the goblins. It was stolen and I'm giving it back. I know the goblins won't use it, the more gold there is, the less valuable what you've got is. That's why you put it in that place in the first place right?"

The Goblin Pharaoh narrowed his eyes. "You are wise for a human."

Ron blushed a bit. "Um, thanks."

The fat goblin stood up and put his hand on his shoulder. "You have brought back my greatest treasure to me." He grinned and looked at Nubiti. "This is just a magic glove. Using it's power devalues what my people hold most dear. I would not have cared if it had been melted into slag. What you have returned to me, cannot be replaced."

The boy blushed a little and looked back to seen Nubiti smiling at him. She moved up to her father's side and bowed to him. Ron nodded, "I couldn't let that jerk win. Besides, she's been nice since I met her. I couldn't just abandon her."

The Goblin Pharaoh nodded and put his arm around his daughter's shoulders. "You will be well paid." He grinned at the boy. "Bill Weasley."

The man cleared his throat and looked at him. "Yes sir?"

The fat creature gave a rather sharp looking grin. "You are not fired, and will be given a two galleon raise."

Nubiti coughed and turned her head.

The old goblin nodded and gave a small sigh. "Three galleons."

Ron's older brother blinked and looked a bit dazed. "Th-thank you sir."

The young redhead seemed pleased with how things turned out. He turned around and found dozens of cameras pointed at him at once. He sucked in a quick breath and seemed to realize that there was quite a crowd looking on, and that a large number of them had a pen and a pad.

Nubiti walked up, turned his head, and kissed him full on the lips. Bulbs flashed all around him at the scene.

The Goblin Pharaoh cleared his throat and she broke the kiss. "Goodbye, Ron Weasley. I am glad I met you. Perhaps we will meet again some day."

Fred and George chuckled at their younger brother's rather blank expression. "What is it...with him and cute girls?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "We're never going to hear the end of this you know." He had a grin of his own. "She is kind of cute for a goblin."

Ginny frowned at him and gave a small sigh. "I guess so. Still, she was a bit rude."

Arthur had his chest puffed out, and Molly looked a little worried. She seemed to relax a bit as her youngest son walked up with a somewhat tired expression.

Ron gave a half cocked grin as he stepped back towards his family. "Y-yeah. Nice to meet you too." He looked up at his parents. "Man, that was almost as hot as hell. I'm starved, and I want a glass of water. I had to ride halfway across the desert on that thing you know." He pointed towards the camel.

Arthur pushed his hat down his face a little. "You did good, son. We're proud of you, aren't we, Molly?"

The woman seemed to fret on it for a moment. "Yes, we are. Still, you should try harder to stay out of trouble."

Bill put his hands in his pockets. "Well, I give up. You're officially as bad as Charlie. Definitely braver than I am. I thought working with Dragons was bad, but chasing down a train full of Death Eaters to rescue a Goblin Princess? Not even he can top that one."

Ron nodded. "Don't forget about the tank. That was an awful mess."

Percy blinked and looked confused and surprised. "Tank? Did you say tank?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah. Breathed fire and everything."

The older boy furrowed his eyebrow. "You're putting me on."

Bill chuckled and shook Percy's shoulder. "Afraid not. I saw that thing myself." He looked at Ron. "You're going to have to tell me how you managed to deal with that thing."

OooOOooOO

Professor Henry Jones smiled as he looked on as the family moved back into Cairo. "Well. That boy has potential."

His son shook his head and sighed. "I think you're right. He seems to know what's important."

The old man sat back as his son pushed his wheelchair back into the streets with a smirk on his face. "We've got a lecture tomorrow. We should head back and get some sleep."

The younger man nodded. "Yeah." He glanced over his shoulder with a smile of his own. "Good luck kid."

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next Time: Dudders comes to visit.

A.N. Had a bit of writers block on this one, not for the main story line, but rather the little mini adventure at the beginning. It's an Indiana Jones story at it's heart, which should be obvious, so it -had- to be there. Came out pretty well in my opinion though. Hope it was worth the wait.


	40. Chapter 40

A Matter of Force

Part 40

The Black Wedding.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter had grin on his face as he shook a woman's hand he'd never met before. "Hi. Nice to meet you." He was standing on the set of a television show in a small waiting room with the rest of the band. They had finished up the tour, and were making a few stops on the way home. Their last stop had been in Green Bay and they were back in the Chicago area again. The woman had dyed blue hair and was about twenty, there was another band in the room with them that he knew from their work.

"Hi. I'm Karen, it's an honor." She looked like she was quite happy to see him.

Anna smiled at her as she walked up. "Hey. How is it going? It's been a while."

Karen gave her a warm smile. "It's like a dream! Thank you so much!"

Harry arched his eyebrow. "I heard you had something to do with it. I thought it was just a rumor."

His sister shook her head. "No, I met her at the Alley while we were Christmas shopping and heard her playing for a cover band."

Steven, a man with long blond hair built like a wrestler moved up behind the woman and nodded. "Hey. Party on, dudes. You guys are on tonight?"

Anna shook her head. "No. I'm a partner, I own part of the broadcast rights.." She turned her head as two metal heads walked by. "Hey, Wayne. Hey, Garth."

Karen blinked and looked a little surprised. "Really? It's only been on twice, but I laughed my ass off watching it."

The two show hosts looked dazed and pleased. "Hey. All right, party," said the dark haired man.

"H-hi," muttered Garth. He seemed a bit overwhelmed. It was their first show in the new studio. Both of the first episodes had been recorded in their basement. They had started the week after she had met them with the national broadcast using a van parked outside their home loaded with equipment.

Anna smiled at them. "You guys know about the changes and all right? There's a sign that lowers and a theme song and all."

Garth twitched. "We fear change."

Wayne nodded. "Why change?"

Harry shrugged. "It's a national broadcast, and you've got a bigger budget."

The redhead shrugged. "It's the same song you guys always sing, just a recording with a band behind it. Don't worry. We're not really doing anything else different. You can both still play along and it's short, so you can keep playing after it ends. You guys totally get to keep doing what you always do. That was the point of me picking it up. I thought it was awesome to begin with. I only own part of the network, and we had to do it to keep the rest of the board happy. Don't worry, I've got enough to keep them from riding your ass otherwise. It's your show, but I've got enough of a stake in it to keep them from messing around with it."

The dark haired man nodded. "Oh. Right."

The two men walked over to a window overlooking the set on one of the walls in the green room. "Woah. That's so weird," muttered Garth. "I mean, here we are, looking at Wayne's basement, but...that's not Wayne's basement."

His companion nodded. "Yeah. Weird."

The redhead smiled as she looked on. "Hey. You two know Karen, Steve, Billy, Andrew, and Allen right?" She indicated each member of The Scorpions as they approached and shook the two amazed looking metal head's hands. They all shook hands and greeted each other.

"Excellent," muttered the pair. Garth just stared at his hand with his jaw hanging.

Steven glanced at the pair. "So, what's the deal? How does this work?"

Anna stepped in as the pair of hosts worked their mouths and seemed confused. "They open up and do a bit or two they've worked out for the first two breaks, then you come out and play a song, after commercial you guys come out to talk with them. You just hang out and shoot the shit. The last five minutes you guys play again." The show had an hour long format, working out to about forty five minutes of time to fill. She looked at the band. "Try to stick with radio edits. We've got to cut censor anything that goes out of bounds. You can if you want, but it'll show up as a silent spot on the broadcast. It's live, but there's a little delay for that sort of thing, just in case."

Wayne nodded. "Yeah. Excellent."

"What she said," muttered Garth quickly.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. We're dropping by next year. We're about to head home for the year until next summer. We'll be dropping by to promote the tour. We're going out west to play next year."

Melvin had a handful of brown M&Ms from a glass bowl on a small table in the room. Pansy and Margaret were chatting together on a couch behind them. "Hey. Don't forget we're doing Saturday Night Variety in New York tomorrow night. The host is Allen Maxwell, and we're the musical guests. We're in a couple of skits too. We've got to be there for rehearsal tomorrow morning."

Anna nodded. "Yeah. We're leaving right after the show to catch some sleep before we head out."

The dark haired boy gave a small sigh. "Too bad Christina went home."

Harry shook his head. "I think she had about all of you she could take for a while. Honestly, I can't believe you."

Steven and Karen both looked confused. Wayne and Garth had already moved off to get ready for the show, and the rest of the band was chatting with Margaret and Pansy.

Anna rolled her eyes and Harry elaborated for them. "We had to black out the windows on the trailer where we got changed. Not to mention, I caught him trying to lift some of her panties, more than once."

Anna scowled at him. "He's just lucky it wasn't me."

"I avoid you like the plague, you know that," replied the raven haired boy as he looked away with his arms crossed. He didn't look embarrassed in the slightest. "It's not like I was going to sell them or anything. I wanted them for me."

Harry hung his head. "Pervert."

Karen shrugged. "Yeah. All drummers are like that. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff we've caught Allen doing. We've had to pull his butt out of trouble more than once. He almost got shot in Texas and we found him wandering down the side of the road in nothing but a cowboy hat, leather chaps, and covered in Jello."

Melvin nodded. "What flavor?"

Steven chuckled. "Lime."

The boy looked impressed. "I like strawberry."

Harry was chuckling. "Remember the 'noodle incident'?"

Anna's face went a little flat. "Ugh. Yes." She looked at the questioning glance the other band members were giving them. "He got caught in one of the girl's showers in the dormitory at school with a cauldron of noodles. It was an awful mess."

He flushed a bit at that one. "I was trying to transfigure a mirror to see around the corner, but I was hungry."

Anna looked towards the window. "Hey, the show is starting. Come on." She moved over to where Margaret and Pansy were sitting to watch.

Karen looked at Steven and shook her head. "She's something."

He nodded. "Yeah. They're both pretty cool kids. Her and her brother."

The blue haired girl nodded. "I worry a little though. She's awesome, but there's a lot of bad stuff surrounding them. Remember that mess with the House Elves? It's making a lot of our kind nervous. Not to mention there's rumors about the Death Eaters becoming active and trying to..." She grabbed her shoulders and shivered a little. "I don't know her very well, but she's done a lot for me. I'd hate if something happened to them."

Steven nodded and frowned. "Hey. If anyone can handle it, it's those two." He smirked. "If the Scorpions can ever give her a hand, we will."

The blue haired woman seemed a bit surprised by that. "Yeah. I've got her back for sure."

OooOOooOO

Three days later...

Harry gave a sigh as he hefted his traveling bag over his shoulder and stepped off of the plane terminal. "Ah, home."

Anna looked tired and smirked at him. "It's nice to be back."

Pansy, Margaret, and Melvin all stepped out behind them with Rufus following close behind. The man noticed the group of waiting parents looking on first and smiled as the children rushed towards them. Margaret and Melvin hung back a little. They both seemed quiet and serious.

Sirius noticed and moved up to take their shoulders. He looked at the man with them and smiled. "Thanks for looking after them."

Rufus smiled and nodded. "It was no trouble at all. They were very well behaved."

Mr. Black shook the twins and pulled them up to his side, causing them both to flush. "We missed you. How was the trip?"

"It was nice," muttered the girl with a bit of color on her cheeks.

Melvin smiled. "Yeah. It was excellent, but it's nice to be back home."

Anna and Harry hugged their father and paused at the sight of their mother. She had a warm smile on her face, and a bundle in her arms. The twins both grinned at that as she lowered her arms. "Say hello! This is Ivy."

The redhead smirked. "Another, Potter. The world is a better place."

Harry looked at his new little sister. "Hey. I was expecting red hair." Her head had small thin light brown curls on it.

James puffed his chest out. "I think she's got her mother's eyes though."

Lily gave a small sigh. "We can't tell yet, James. It's too soon."

Anna looked up at her. "I think he's right."

Margaret and Melvin both peered over the pair's shoulders to look on. Lily moved to show them, the baby was sleeping, and shifted a bit. Pansy had a wide grin on her face as she moved up to get a closer look. "Wow! She's so cute!"

"Runs in the family," said Anna as she smiled at her.

"Um, hey," muttered a quiet shy sounding voice.

Anna spun on her heels and gave the boy a wide grin. "Cedric. I wasn't expecting to see you here." She grabbed him around his neck and kicked her legs up.

The boy staggered, but held on. "Oh. Yeah. Your parents asked me to come with them to pick you up."

She let him go and took a step back. "I missed you. Hey, you've gotten taller." She gave a short hop and tapped the top of his head with her fingers.

He was a little embarrassed and scratched his cheek. "Have I?"

The redhead grabbed his arm. "How is everyone?"

"Fine. We were all looking forward to you guys coming back."

Pansy and Margaret hung back and whispered to each other giving small giggles nearby.

James gave a small sigh. "All right. Everyone ready then?" Rufus had just said his goodbye to the man and moved off ahead of them.

OooOOooOO

Cedric gave a small sigh as he tossed a newspaper onto a small stack of papers and magazines on his bed. His face was all over them, he'd never had his picture taken so much as when they left the airport. He didn't know what to make of it. He was sitting in his room with two boys the day after picking up his girlfriend from the airport.

"You're so lucky," grumbled one of the boys. He was about the same age as Cedric.

The other boy nodded. "You said it. Lucky bastard."

"I guess so," Cedric was flushed. Both boys were in his house, and he hung about them at Hogwarts. Anthony Ricket and Malcom Preece. Both boys were on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, Malcom was a Chaser, and Anthony was a Beater. Both boys were healthy looking and slim. Cedric was a bit bigger than both of them, but not by much.

Anthony stretched his arms and tossed a copy of Sorceress Teen Beat onto the bed. "Getting into this magazine? I'd never thought I'd know someone who was on the cover of every teen girl magazine in England."

"I never thought I would be." Cedric seemed a bit numb to the idea. He frowned, but didn't look upset as he peered at his photo. He was hanging off Anna's arm, and a subtitle of 'Anna Potter's Boyfriend?' was plastered under each one somewhere.

Malcom chuckled and shook his head. "You never thought about it? What did you think would happen once everyone noticed you hanging about with her?"

The Diggory boy flopped onto his bed on his back. "I don't know. I figured no one would notice me. I'm not famous or anything. Why would anyone care?"

Anthony snickered. "You are now."

Malcom tossed aside the magazine he had and sat down. "Well, you'll be Captain of the Quidditch Team this year."

Cedric groaned. "Don't remind me. She'll probably kick my butt again. It was bad enough hearing about it when she wasn't my girlfriend."

Ricket gave a snort. "Come off it. No one says anything anymore. We all know we've got no shot for the cup unless the both of them break their legs or something."

Their future Captain frowned at that. "Hey. Come off it. I don't want to hear talk like that. Even if it is true."

Preece shook his head. "What was that then? Come on. We're not at Hogwarts yet. Let us be realistic for a little while at least."

Malcom leaned towards him. "Have you kissed her yet?"

Cedric frowned at him. "None of your business."

Anthony glanced at his friend. "Of course he has. Hanna saw them snogging at the station when we left Hogwarts for the summer. Dragged him off behind a wall somewhere." He looked at the larger boy and grinned.

Mrs. Diggory knocked on the door and opened it. "Cedric dear, you've got a visitor." She smiled at him.

The boy blinked and tensed up a bit as Anna poked her head around the corner and waved. "Hey. What's up?"

Her boyfriend flushed a bit. "Oh. Hi. You know Anthony and Malcom."

"Hey Anna." The pair gave a small wave as they looked up at her. They had both hung around the pair a little at Hogwarts. Neither of them knew her very well, but she knew them as Cedric's friends.

"Oh. Hey guys. Come to visit then?" She walked in and put her arm around Cedric's torso.

Malcom nodded. "Yeah. We're here for the weekend."

The girl smiled at them. "Oh. You lucked out then." She slapped something into her boyfriend's chest.

Cedric cocked his head. "Huh? What's this?" He took the slips of paper into his hand. "Tickets?"

She furrowed her brow a little. "Of course. We always do a show when we get back home. I told you about it already. Everyone in the neighborhood is coming."

"I can't just leave these..." he looked at his friends. He moved his fingers and found three tickets. "Oh."

"Yeah. I already gave your parents theirs."

Cedric scratched his head. "You knew they were here?"

She always carried a few extra tickets and backstage passes around with her when they were playing a concert in the near future. She had no idea the pair had shown up, but there was no reason to tell him. "Sure I did. I'm psychic and all." She shrugged and seemed to brush it off. "Oh. That reminds me. Uncle Sirius and Aunt Lissa are getting married next week. You're coming right? We're playing the wedding reception."

The boy blinked. "Huh? I wasn't invited." He seemed confused.

The redhead arched her eyebrow at that. "I'm inviting you, I'd like you to come along as my date."

"D-date?" he muttered.

The girl smirked at that. "Yeah. A date. You're my boyfriend remember? That's part of the deal. You don't have to come, but we've been going out since Christmas and we've not been on one yet."

Malcom chuckled at the look on his face. He was working his mouth and went silent. "Just say yes."

Anthony rolled his eyes. "It's your own fault you know." He seemed amused. "Lucky bastard."

Anna kissed his cheek. "Yes he is. You know, you should be grateful. Do you have any idea how many people would kill for me to ask them out?"

Malcom and Anthony both had shit eating grins on their faces as they both raised their hands.

"I'll have to ask..." started Cedric.

His mother poked her head into the room. "Oh. Cedric dear. Leave your suit out tonight. I need to get it cleaned and make sure it still fits. You've done a bit of growing and I'll probably need to take it out a bit. You want to look sharp for your little date." She chuckled and looked pleased.

Anna turned to glance at her. "Hey. I'll take him to the alley and get him something later this week if you don't mind. I'm sure I can get Mom to take us." She gave him another peck on his cheek and turned away. "I'll let you hang out with your friends. I want to stop by and see Marci and Nori. I haven't been by to see them yet."

Mrs. Diggory smiled at that. "That's nice of you dear."

"Oh. Right." Cedric scratched the back of his head. "I guess it's settled then. I've...got a date...with...Anna Potter." He was a bit bemused as she left him with his friends.

They both had their eyes narrowed and were flipping through magazines while looking at him. "Lucky bastard."

"Oh, shut up." He grumbled as he sat on his bed again.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was sitting with Mark and Brian. They were playing cards in his room. His parents were taking care of his new sister, and she now occupied one of the two rooms that had been unused in the home until then. It was right next to Anna's room and was decorated in a pale pink and white color scheme. He slapped down one of his cards. "It was pretty cool. We went to New York, Washington D.C., Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Nashville, Boston, New Jersey."

Brian nodded. "You should totally go to California. It's pretty cool there."

Harry looked over at him. "Yeah. We're playing a couple of cities there next summer."

Mark shrugged. "I've never been out of England. Must be nice."

The Boy Who Lived smiled at him. "It was interesting. I was glad to get back home though. It's going to be a pretty busy Summer for us I guess."

Brian looked over. "Well, you've only got one more show. Right?"

The brunette boy nodded. "Well, officially. Our Uncle is getting married and we're playing the wedding reception there too. Mom and Dad are busy with Ivy. Plus, my Cousin is coming to visit next month." His face fell a little.

"Oh. That's cool." Mark looked up after playing one of his cards. A small forest grew between them.

Harry glanced at him. "I'm not very excited. He's kind of spoiled and we don't get along very well." It was his house though, and he wasn't very worried about it. Though, he was going to have to put up with him for a whole month. Ron was still gone visiting his family, and Hermione was in France with her family so neither of them would be making it to the show the next evening.

A knock came at the door and a moment later Anna poked her head in. "Sorry to break it up. It's getting late and we've got to get ready to go."

The trio of boys all glanced at her. Harry looked up at the clock on the wall in his room. "Oh. Six already?"

Brian started collecting his cards. "You're going somewhere?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. We're doing a radio show tonight to promote the concert tomorrow."

Mark collected his cards as well and put them back in a small box he kept them in. "Really? It'll be on the WWN later then?"

The Potter boy nodded. "Yeah. We're going to be on the Witching Hour tonight."

Brian nodded. "We'll have to tune it in."

Mark grinned. "Yeah. For sure."

OooOOooOO

Tenacious D was sitting around a table with a twenty-nine year old witch with pale white skin. She was very attractive, and had her black hair pulled up in a bee hive over her head.

Melvin was staring at her chest, and ended up getting the back of his head thwacked by his sister for it. Harry was impressed as well, but refrained from staring. They all had microphones in front of them as they settled into their seats. A heavy set black witch sat with them and smiled.

The band had just played a song with the black witch. Her name was Celestina Warbeck, and she was popular with older witches and wizards as a singer. They had backed her up with acoustic guitars on a rendition of 'A Cauldron full of Hot Strong Love', and 'You Charmed the Heart Right out of Me'. "That was something," the singer commented looking pleased. "You kids have got some talent with those strings."

"Thanks." Harry was pleased with the praise.

Anna had politely declined to do the Puddlemore anthem in the set. Citing support for the Hollyhead Harpies. She didn't really care that they were an all girl team, but liked the green uniforms. She didn't mention why, but Pansy and Margaret both voiced approval for the choice.

The heavyset black witch glanced at the other members of the band as well. "The rest of you are very talented as well. I didn't expect you young kids to know anything about playing the blues." She nodded towards Pansy. "You certainly know your way around those ivories dear."

Melvin shrugged. "The blues is just rock with a slower tempo."

That got a thoughtful frown on the older witch's face. "Indeed it is."

Anna smirked. "Of course we know the blues. Check this out." She stood up and walked over to where an electric guitar was set up. She started playing B.B. King. After a moment, the rest of the band stood up and joined in. Pansy moved up behind the keyboard set up, Margaret joined in next taking up the bass guitar. Harry and Melvin ended up joining in, and they went on for a good bit of time.

This left the heavyset witch absolutely tickled. She clapped and laughed, getting into the music.

Glenda was expecting to do a bit of talking and seemed a bit bemused. She sat back and enjoyed the music looking impressed. The group went on for about fifteen minutes. Playing a bit of Muddy Waters, and T-bone Walker while they were at it.

The black haired witch smirked as they finished up. "Well, that was Tenacious D, and you're listening to Witching Hour. We'll be right back." She spoke in a smooth silky tone and seemed to lounge in her seat. She looked like she'd be quite comfortable with a drink and a cigarette. "Well, that was something."

"Merlin, them kids can play the blues," exclaimed Celestina. Her face fell a little. "You gotta know real hard times to play the Blues like that. It takes a lot of pain and sorrow in a person's life to really know that music."

Anna nodded. "Yeah. Well, I guess being empathic helps a bit with that."

Mrs. Warbeck nodded. "I suppose it would. That's someone else's pain though. You can't fool me child. I know music, and that music, was your pain."

Harry smirked at the expression on the redhead's face. "We've had hard times of our own. Things have been good lately though."

Pansy was silent. Melvin and Margaret both looked a little uncomfortable. They had all had things in their lives that had been tough. Pansy had only been living with a single parent for a short time, but she didn't know her father very well. He'd left, and she'd not heard from him since.

The woman frowned. "Well, I'm not gonna push you none. I can see that I'm right though." She gave a nod. "You all know what I mean. We've all got pain and sorrow." Her face softened to an almost sympathetic and gentle look. "You're all too young to know how to play the blues like that."

Glenda arched her eyebrow and leaned back into her microphone as the on air sign lit up again. "Well. We're back with Tenacious D and Celestina Warbeck. I'll tell you, that was really something to hear."

"Thanks," said Harry. The children were a bit uncomfortable, but somehow felt better after playing. It quickly faded.

The host smirked and noticed Melvin was checking her out again. Margaret seemed annoyed and he winced as something happened to him under the table. "I have to be honest. I wasn't expecting you to play something like that. You do more than just pop and rock it seems."

Pansy nodded and spoke up. "Yeah. Anna wrote a symphony they played in Romania this summer. It was really something."

Melvin nodded. "Yeah. Usually that kind of stuff bores me, but that was pretty cool."

Margaret glanced at him and scowled a little. "We learned all sorts of music. We don't like to stick to one particular style or theme. We always play a bit of everything in our shows. Haven't done much blues though. Maybe we should do some more?"

Anna smirked at that. "Hey. You all know I can arrange it."

Glenda arched her eyebrow. "Arrange it?"

Harry chuckled at the reaction. "Anna writes all our music. She's got a stack of notebooks that's as tall as she is filled with songs and music she's written."

The redhead nodded. "Well. It's not like none of you is allowed to write anything."

Celestina sat back and looked at her with wide eyes. "You write all the songs?"

She shrugged. "So far. None of them have tried anything like that yet. I'm trying to encourage them, but they're all too lazy."

Melvin gave an amused and sarcastic snort. "No, you just work us into the ground. None of us have time."

The two women laughed at that. Glenda looked at Anna. "So, there's been rumors about you having yourself a boyfriend. Care to comment on that? Everyone has seen the pictures of you at the airport with a rather handsome young man."

Anna glanced at her. "Sure." She leaned up to the microphone. "Hi, Cedric." She made a kissing sound.

The two women giggled at that. "Really? It's true then?" Glenda was amused and a little surprised. She was expecting the girl to be a bit shier about it.

Anna nodded. "Yeah."

Margaret interrupted. "Pansy and I had to practically force her to admit it. It used to be getting her to say anything was like pulling teeth. She'd turn all red."

The redhead narrowed her eyes. "I'm a busy girl. I didn't think I had time for that sort of thing." She gave a small sigh. "He's worth it though. It's not as bad as I thought it might be."

Pansy giggled. "Yeah. It's still weird hearing you talk about it now. You're such a tomboy, and you were in total denial."

Celestia laughed. "Really now."

Glenda was quite into it. She was getting quite a scoop out of the interview. No one had been able to get any comment on the matter. "Really? What sort of boy catches the attention of Anna Potter? What's he like?"

The redhead shrugged. "He's cute, and he's sweet. He's also got a nice butt."

Celestia nodded. "Uh-huh. That definitely helps."

Glenda smirked at that. "I understand you like the Hollyhead Harpies?"

Harry shrugged. "The girls do. Anna's not really much of a Quidditch fan. She likes baseball."

That surprised both of the witches. "Baseball?" commented Glenda.

Anna looked over. "Yeah. I play Quidditch at Hogwarts. I'm Slytherin's Seeker. Harry plays for Gryffindor as Seeker. I don't watch matches much, but I like Hollyhead when I do."

Glenda seemed interested. "Oh. You play against each other then. Any sibling rivalry?"

Melvin sat back and stretched his arms. "You've got no idea."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. It's a pretty big deal at Hogwarts."

Celestia chuckled. "It has been for centuries."

Margaret smirked. "Not like since these two showed up. You should see it. Both of them were made Seeker in their first year, and it's all the school talked about for weeks."

Gnelda smiled. "You're both pretty good?"

Anna puffed her chest out. "Slytherin won the House Cup the last two years."

Harry frowned. "You only beat me once. You weren't on the team yet when we beat Slytherin the year before."

The redhead turned her nose up. "I kicked your butt and you know it."

Melvin shook his head and seemed pleased. "I've been watching Quidditch since I was old enough to sit in front of the television. These two are the best broom fliers in the world."

Pansy looked a bit wide eyed. "No kidding. I've never seen anyone fly a broom like these two can. It's unbelievable some of the things they do. The match between these two is a huge deal at Hogwarts."

The redhead had a confident smirk on her face. "We own the sky."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't go thinking you're going to beat me so easily this year."

His sister narrowed her eyes at him and smirked. "Oh, so you admit that you're going to lose then?"

Margaret put her hand onto her cheek. "They are impressive. I'm positive there isn't a player in the whole League that can out fly either one of them."

Neither one of the adults seemed to take it all that seriously. "Well, that's something," commented Glenda looking amused. She looked up as a light flashed on the ceiling. "Well, we're out of time. This has been the Witching Hour, and this is Glenda Chittock. Good night, and pleasant dreams." She looked over at the band. "Any final words before we end the broadcast?"

Celestia gave a cordial good night. The rest of Tenacious D did as well. Anna went last and spoke in a completely serious tone. "Good night. I'm Anna Potter, and you're not." The broadcast ended and everyone was looking at her. "What? I've always wanted to say that." She seemed pleased with herself.

There was a glass pane on one wall. She could see her mother holding her face while her father laughed himself to near tears on the other side.

OooOOooOO

Cedric Diggory paced back and fourth with wide eyes in front of the door to his house. He was dressed in a nice suit and tie. It wasn't a tuxedo, but a bit nicer than a business suit. He wasn't aware of it, but it had cost almost as much as the rest of his clothes combined. He'd gone out with Anna and Mrs. Potter a few days before to pick it up.

"You'll be fine dear." His mother grabbed his shoulders. "You're going to wear out the rug if you keep it up. Calm down."

Amos Diggory walked up and slapped his son on the shoulder. "Don't worry, son. There's nothing to be nervous about." He smiled and shook his arm. "You look good. You've got that Diggory charm after all. I'm quite proud, you're growing into a fine man."

He gave a numb looking nod. "Yeah. What do I do though?" He wasn't sure what to do with his hands and kept putting them into his pockets and taking them out again.

The man shrugged and took his shoulder. "There's nothing to it. You just go with her, and have a good time."

The boy nodded. "What do I say? I mean. I've got no idea."

His father shrugged. "What do you usually talk about? It's no different than when you spend time with her now, just in nicer clothes." Amos slapped his son on the shoulder. "Relax, You'll be fine. There's no need to be nervous."

Cedric gave a numb nod, and a knock came at the door. He walked over and fumbled with the knob for a moment before opening the door. His jaw hung open as he stood there in a sort of frozen state.

Anna had her hair done up in curls on top of her head. She was wearing well applied makeup and had on a long sleek silver dress with green trim. It pushed her chest up and showed a hint of cleavage. She had two large diamonds sparkling in her hears, a diamond necklace hanging from her neck along with the charm he'd bought her for valentines day, and a green towel hanging from her shoulders. "Hi. Ready to go?" She smiled at him.

Cedric felt his knees grow weak. "I uhhh."

She put her hand up and closed his jaw with a gentle push. "You look good."

He nodded. "Thanks. You look...amazing."

She hooked his arm under hers and put her hand up. A black towel hanging from the back of the sofa in the home floated into her grip. "Don't forget your towel." She hooked it around his neck and pulled him along. There was a long black car waiting for them on the road.

Cedric's mother had tears in her eyes and blew her nose into a handkerchief. "You two kids have fun now!"

Amos had his chest puffed out and a grin on his face. "We'll see you when you get back."

Anna smiled at them and waved as she almost dragged him to the car. He wasn't resisting, but seemed a little stiff as he looked back and gave them a wave.

OooOOooOO

The wedding went beautifully. Lissa was wearing a long off white dress, and Sirius looked quite respectable and handsome in a black tuxedo. They were married at a small crowded chapel and had seed rained down upon them as streamers flew into the air as they exited the church and rushed to the back of a limo under the hail of confetti and rice. Dozens of white doves fluttered out from the gathered wizard's wands and into the air overhead. Sparks of light and small pops of what seemed like small but bright and colorful fireworks filled the air as well.

Pansy and Margaret both cried. Anna sat with Melvin, Margaret, and Harry on the groom's side of the church. Pansy was on the opposite side, with a few members of her own family who had come to the ceremony. Lissa's mother was a stern looking gray haired witch who kept her nose up. Anna heard her muttering about hoping her daughter ' was marrying right this time' and something about 'having a good name at least'. The woman had a brother and two sisters looking on with several cousins of various ages sitting about.

Pansy had introduced them, and Anna, Harry, Margaret, and Melvin had signed a few autographs. The younger members of Pansy's family seemed more excited about meeting them than the ceremony itself. Anna found herself under the regard of the family. She took notice that many of them were watching her quite a bit. They didn't seem hostile, and whispered amongst themselves as they took glances in her direction. Once the ceremony started, the attention faded as everyone payed attention to the event itself.

After the ceremony was over, they all used port keys to travel to the reception area. The reception was being held in a special room in the back of the Three Broomsticks Inn. An attractive older witch named Madam Rosmerta with a curvy body greeted them all and showed them to the back room. The bar wasn't very large, but a special room similar to the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts created a large hall where the guests could have their reception in privacy. There were several large round tables with place settings and white tablecloths, a stage where Anna's bunnies had already set up the band's instruments, and a podium with a small table off to the side where Sirius and Lissa could sit on the stage with the band to their right. There were white flower arrangement at the center of the tables, and a large ice sculpture of the bride and groom on a table off to the right, along with a full bar.

The bride and groom were riding in the limo to the event, and had not yet arrived. The guests stood about mingling with glasses of wine and champaign being served. The younger guests had butterbeer, as well as a few of the older guests.

Anna looked about and took it all in. The tables were set up around an open floor for dancing. She looked over at where the instruments were set up and glanced them over. Everything seemed in order, and she knew the bunnies well enough to trust that they'd done the job right with only a glance to make sure. "This is nice."

"Isn't it though?" said an older and somewhat stern sounding voice.

The girl turned and gave a polite smile as she found herself being looked over by Pansy's Grandmother. "Hello."

The old witch narrowed her eyes a little. "I've heard a great deal about you from my Granddaughter. I've been interested to meet you. I am Mrs. Warwick, I am Lissa's mother."

The girl gave a small polite curtsy and lowered her head a little. "A pleasure. I'm Anna Potter."

The old woman nodded. "Yes. I know. I've heard some very interesting things about you indeed. I once attended Hogwarts myself. I was Head Girl of Slytherin in my day."

The young redhead smiled at her. "Really? I assume you know that is my house. I'm the Seeker of the Slytherin Quidditch team." She wasn't sure what to make of the old woman, but she didn't seem unpleasant. She did look like a strict woman though.

Mrs. Warwick gave her an appraising glance. "Your house?"

The young redhead nodded. "I am Salazar's Heir. The only person with more claim to it than myself is Professor Snape. He is the house head. I was his apprentice."

The matriarch frowned a little. "That is not a claim to be taken lightly. Pansy speaks highly of you."

Anna returned her frown. "I assure you, I take it quite seriously."

The old woman nodded at that. "Severus Snape is a good man. I know him. I once taught him at Hogwarts. I taught Divination and Ancient Runes for twenty years."

The young redhead nodded. "I trust him more than any other teacher. He is strict and fair with all of his students. I'd be lying if I said I liked him, but he's a respectable man and teacher."

The woman gave an approving nod. "You'll do well with that attitude. Pansy told me of what she saw in the washroom. She is not a dishonest girl. I must admit, I was skeptical of her claim none the less."

"You believe it now." It was not really a question.

The old woman nodded. "Yes. I expect you shall be a powerful witch. I approve of her friendship with you. It worries me though. Our family has ties with the Death Eaters. I will not lie. However, I now trust that you are the true heir. We shall be watching you closely, Miss Potter."

The girl gave a small bow. "I shall not disappoint." She looked up at the old woman. "You taught divination?"

She arched her eyebrow. "Yes. You have attended?"

Anna nodded. "Yes. I write horoscopes for the Daily Prophet. I have my fortune teller's license. The horoscopes in the Saturday edition are my readings." She'd been doing it on the side for a few weeks. She wrote them down on Friday evenings and sent them by owl to the newspaper.

Mrs. Warwick gave an approving nod. "I see. Many Wizards do not take such things seriously. My gift is not particularly strong, mostly feelings and vague premonitions."

The young redhead smiled. "Yes. My father is a bit skeptical. I'm particularly good with a Tarot Deck. I'm only permitted to do private card readings by order of the Ministry." She'd discovered that it was indeed the case. Trelawney had gotten a few complaints from parents to the school, but the order for her readings to be deemed private had come from the Ministry of Matic.

The old woman got a bit wide eyed. "That's not been done in centuries. You would have to be a class two psychic at least. There hasn't been such a witch or wizard in hundreds of years." She narrowed her eyes. "Tell me child, what do you think of this union?"

Anna looked towards Sirius and Lissa. "Your daughter has chosen well. He is the one for her. I see children, three of them. They will be together for as long as they both shall live. Strong and steadfast, passionate and loyal, a flame that burns for a lifetime. She will never be with another man. The Black family shall be reborn through them, as a Phoenix with new life for generations to come. Stronger and more resilient than before, and they shall help bring about a new age of Wizardry. The house they shall build, will stand on a foundation of the firmest stone, and the foundation of a new and powerful order beyond Wizardry shall carry their blood within it. A strong and bright future, against darkness, and a new age of peace and prosperity shall be assisted by their name. Respect, Honor, and Power beyond any the Black name has carried before it shall be granted by this union."

The old woman put her hand up to her mouth as she looked on with wide eyes. Anna's eyes had gone white, and her head was hanging slightly. Her hair moved as if a wind blew through it as she stood and spoke to the old woman in a calm and even tone. She looked up at her and smiled. It was not unsettling, and seemed warm. "Put aside your worry, she has chosen, wisely."

Sirius Black walked up behind the scene with a glass of wine in his hand. He had a rather blank expression on his face and Lissa was on his arm. Everyone nearby was looking on at her as she stood there in silence. Mrs. Warwick had backed away.

Her uncle spoke up. "Well, that's nice to hear, Anna."

The pair had arrived just before Mrs. Warwick had asked her question of the girl. They were about to be announced, when Anna's state had made the room grow silent as she spoke.

Lissa put her hand up to her mouth. "Anna? That was very kind of you. Are you all right?"

The girl seemed to snap out of her state. She shook her head and put her hand up to her temple as she swooned a bit. She was blinking and looking about in confusion. She almost fell over, but Sirius managed to catch her. "What? What happened?"

The old woman helped her Son in Law put her back on her feet. "Are you all right child?"

"I'm fine. What happened?" She looked up and noticed that Sirius and Lissa were both standing there. "Hey. When did you get here? Did I black out again?"

Cedric and James had rushed over to the scene. Lily was right behind them after handing Harry the bundle with Ivy in it. Her brother also approached the scene with the baby in his arms, but kept back.

"Anna. Are you all right?" James shook her shoulders a little and she seemed to get her senses back. "What happened to you? I've never seen..."

Cedric spoke up. "I have. You don't remember what you said do you?" He looked quite serious as he put his arm on her shoulder.

The girl frowned. "Oh man. Not again. I didn't say anything bad did I?"

Mrs. Warwick smiled at her. "No. Not at all child. I see. Forgive me, I was not aware that would happen. I should not have asked."

She glanced at her but didn't seem angry. "Asked what? What did I say?"

Sirius frowned. "What's going on? Is everything all right."

His Mother in Law shook her head. "Everything is fine. This girl is a powerful psychic. I never thought I'd see such a thing. I asked her what she thought of the marriage, and she had a very strong vision of the future."

Anna blinked. "I did?" She looked about and noticed everyone was staring at her. Whispers and mutters had started among those who had gathered. "Oh man. Great."

Lissa furrowed her eyebrows. "Mother? What do you mean?"

The woman smiled at her. "I know enough about Divination to know this was no trick." She put her hand on her daughter's shoulder and hugged her close. "You have done well. I am proud of you."

Anna scratched her head and looked very flustered. "Sorry."

Lissa blushed and looked at the girl with wide eyes. "Wait. You mean, all that she said...it's..." She put her arm under her new husband's and got a rather blank expression with the exception of a flushing in her cheeks.

Sirius looked confused. He glanced at Anna and winked. He knelt down at the redhead's side and leaned in close. "Hey, thanks for that. She's been pretty hard on me since we met. It was good of you to help convince her I'm all right."

The girl looked at him with wide eyes. "I did?"

Cedric gave a small sigh. "Come on. You look like you could sit down. It's all right. It was a good one this time."

She seemed to relax a little as he ushered her off. The room had calmed and seemed to be settling in again. "Are you sure? What do you mean 'this time'? Have you heard me give a bad one before?"

He glanced at her. "You're fine. Just relax and forget about it. You've got a show to do later, and you look like you need to sit down and shake it off a little. Come on."

She nodded. "All right. What did I say though? Why won't anyone ever tell me what I said when that happens anyway? What is it?"

He smirked at her. "You said they're going to get along famously, and that they'll have a happy family. It was a bit long winded, but that was pretty much the gist of it."

She calmed a little more and seemed almost normal again. "Oh. Okay. I guess that's all right." She still wasn't pleased about it, it wasn't exactly in public, but there were a lot of people she didn't know in the room, and everyone had seen it. "Shit. This is embarrassing."

As she sat down, Pansy was crying. Anna noticed and gasped. "Pansy! Are you?"

The girl grabbed her around her neck. "Thank you." She was smiling as she backed away and released her. She used her napkin to dry her eyes.

"Huh?" The redhead realized she was very pleased. "Oh. I guess. I couldn't really help it that time. I'm glad it was all right though." She calmed down again as she realized her friend wasn't upset, but quite pleased.

Melvin looked pretty relaxed. "Well, that was something."

Harry nodded, he still had his sister in his arms. She was being quiet and he was keeping her occupied with a silver spoon. She couldn't do more than wave it about and try to put it into her mouth. She dropped it a few times, but Harry just handed it back and Ivy kept playing with it. "I'll say." He was grinning at his sister. "It was a really good one. Don't worry."

She frowned at him. "I'm more worried about who might have noticed than what I said now. I'll be fine, but I hope this doesn't end up as more than a vague rumor."

Pansy nodded. "It'll be all right. It's just our friends and family."

Hagrid walked up to the table and grinned at the children. "Hello." He smiled and waved. "Tha was sumthin else. You be careful now. Don go wearin yerself out now." He gave Anna a nervous looking smile that wavered a little.

She nodded. "Thank you. I'll be fine." She sipped on a glass of water.

Dumbledore strolled up and looked down at her. "Miss Potter. I am glad to hear you speak so highly of your House Head. I trust you are all looking forward to the start of the year next fall?"

The group gave nods of varying enthusiasm. Anna and Melvin were the most reluctant. The redhead spoke up. "Well, I admit I was buttering her up a little. I guess I was pretty honest though."

The old man smiled at her with a twinkle in his eyes. "It is good to hear they have a bright future ahead of them. Though, I admit some of what you said surprises me. You spoke of a new order, one that his family would help build. I am curious if that has any meaning to you now?"

She gave a nod and her features went seriously. "Harry and I, will train others. We are the first of our kind, but we will be far from the last."

The old man gave a small nod. "Ah. I see." He turned away. "I suppose I should go and greet the bride and groom myself."

Hagrid gave a nod and played with his hat. He was dressed in a mismatched and patched suit, with a very large top hat. "Er, right Professer, I'll jes tag along if yer don't mind." He gave the table a small wave. "I'll talk ter ya later."

The children all waved as the both of them moved off towards Sirius and Lissa. Most everyone was greeting and congratulating them.

Margaret gave a small sigh. "I guess we really are stuck with you for good now huh?" She smirked at the brunette.

Pansy gave a small grin. "Yeah. It's a bit weird. I've got to get used to Pansy Black now."

Harry arched his eyebrow and looked up from playing with his sister. "Black?"

"Yeah, Uncle Si...Dad, adopted me. We've all got the same last name now." She looked a bit uncomfortable, but not too much. "It's kind of strange calling him that now. I guess I'll get used to it."

"Pansy Black? Huh?" Anna seemed to think on it. "You'll be fine. Don't worry."

The girl nodded and looked at her plate. She had mixed feelings. She wasn't upset that her new 'Dad' had adopted her, but it stung a little that her father had allowed it without even a little protest. He had moved on, and abandoned her. He'd just sent a written document giving up custody of her.

Anna put her arm around the girl and shook her a little. Pansy leaned in to her and spoke up. "Sorry. I'm fine. I just..." She seemed to shake it off. "It's a happy day. I'm glad, it's wonderful." Her words had a hint of bitterness in it, and it left a small sour taste in her mouth. She sniffled once and sat up again. "I'm a Black now, and my mother is happy."

Cedric glanced over as Anna leaned into him a little after Pansy pulled herself together. "Everything all right."

Anna nodded. "Yes. It's fine. It's a party, and we just need to get in the right mindset. Come on, chin up." She put her hand under Pansy's chin and smiled. "We're going to have a great time. Once the dinner is over, we get to play. It'll be something to remember."

The girl nodded and cheered up. "You're right."

OooOOooOO

The band was on the stage playing appropriate music for the gathering. Mostly softer rock songs and love songs. Sirius had made a few requests of them for a few of their more classic style rock songs. They did White Wedding, Love Song, Everything I do, and similar music for the event. It was going well, and most of the guests were on the dance floor enjoying themselves.

Albus Dumbledore was sitting back and watching the events at a table with Mrs. Warwick. He had a light smile on his face at the scene and seemed relaxed. "It's been a while, Millicent."

She looked over at him and nursed a glass of wine. "So it has. How are things?"

He put his lip out a bit. "Very well." He shifted in his seat a little. "It's been an interesting evening."

The woman narrowed her eyes a little. "So it has. I suspect you mean that Potter girl."

He gave her a small smirk. "Among other things. Sirius Black a happily married man? I had given up hope of that years ago. Your daughter had quite an infatuation with him when she was younger as I recall."

The gray haired witch nodded. "I'm not sure what Alucius would make of it, rest his soul."

The Headmaster seemed to think on that. "I'm not certain either. He may have approved, but I cannot say for certain. Sirius is a member of a prominent Wizarding family. The name has been well respected for many years. He's a bit of a black sheep in the family, not as bad off as some, but none the less..."

She lifted her nose a little. "Yes. I think he would have accepted it, though he may not have liked it."

The old man looked on at the bride and groom dancing together in the center of the room. Anna was singing Pat Benetar's Invincible on the stage with her fist raised in the air. "She's certainly something."

The old woman gave him an unamused frown. "A psychic that powerful, how long have you known about it anyway?"

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. "I've known she is gifted for some time. I'm still not entirely certain of the true extent of her ability. She's intelligent and I suspect some of her predictions are of her own workings."

Millicent gave a rough sounding sigh. "She's at a class two prophet. That bubble headed hippie you've got teaching my old class wouldn't know what to do with her."

He shook his head. "No. She's a class one prophet. I'm fairly certain of that now."

The woman looked at him with wide eyes. "What?" She downed half her glass in one go. "What do you intend to do?"

He arched his eyebrow. "Do?"

She leaned in and hissed at him. "Don't play coy with me Albus. The Ministry is already sniffing around her. That brother of hers as well. How long do you think it will be until they figure it out?"

"I'm not sure. She's not to be taken lightly. She's intent and focused on hunting down and doing away with our old friend." He seemed a bit lazy as he thought on it. "The Ministry will of course be very interested."

Mrs. Warwick growled. "They'll lock her up the first chance they get. Any excuse to get her into Azkaban where they can hold her and use her abilities to their advantage. She had no choice about answering what I asked her. The girl has no control, and it makes her very valuable. If those thoughtless toads at the Ministry discover the extent of her gifts."

"I suspect they may find they have bitten off more than they can chew." The old man looked over at her. "Putting that girl in Azkaban would be more dangerous than you can possibly imagine."

The old woman frowned at that. "A class one psychic? How many lives does she remember? Why have you not come to me with this? Trelawney has a gift, but she's far to inept to deal with something like this. She can barely predict that a ball will hit the floor if she drops it. That woman has no knowledge or control of her gifts. Her visions are weak and infrequent enough that it doesn't matter much."

He nodded once and sipped on a small glass of bourbon in front of him. "I know of at least two that she can remember, though she's only spoken of one. I have seen signs of another in her behavior, and some of the things she's said that she though I couldn't hear. When she gets frustrated, she likes to mutter under her breath. I believe this is the fist time she's been a girl, it gave her a bit of trouble. I am pleased and relieved she's managed to adjust well."

The old woman nodded. "I see. Fudge isn't smart enough to deal with someone like her. Scrimgour doesn't care for her, and would gladly trump up charges to lock her away in his prison to take advantage of her gifts. She'll be chained to a wall and forced..."

"No." The old man shook his head. "Millicent, listen to me very carefully. I have seen the man she was in her past. I assure you, that would not occur. Putting that girl into a place like Azkaban would unleash a darkness unlike any this world has ever known. Whatever this 'force' that she is able to use is, it reflects on the emotional state of the one who uses it. Putting that girl, or her brother for that matter, into a place like Azkaban would be a grave mistake indeed. I assure you, I would do everything in my power to prevent it, even if it meant taking her life."

The woman's gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "What? Are you mad?"

He shook his head. "I have no intention of doing any such thing. However, I can assure you that it would indeed be the lesser evil. Voldemort is nothing to the man she once became. I'm not entirely certain it even was a man anymore. It was a being of such great darkness that it brought an entire Galaxy into war, and destroyed entire worlds."

The woman looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

Dumbledore looked at her and did not appear to be in a joking or light hearted mood. "It is a fate she very much wishes to avoid repeating. I am certain beyond doubt, that the life she lived before this one, did not occur on this world."

Mrs. Warwick seemed confused and as if she was having difficulty understanding him. "Another world?"

The old man nodded. "Several actually. I assure you that there is no one in all of Hogwarts I keep a closer eye on."

Millicent frowned at that. "I see. I've heard rumors that she and her brother are Warlocks."

The old man nodded. "Of a sort. The terms she uses is 'Jedi' and 'Sith'."

The woman scrunched her face up at the words. "What? What sort of..."

"Orders of Warlocks from a place far away, with thousands of years of training and study into their abilities. It is not just the Potter children. There are others as well." He glanced at her. "I know of at least two more for certain, and I suspect there is another hidden somewhere in England."

"It sounds to me like you've hit yourself in the head." She looked annoyed with him.

He shook his head. "Millicent, we are witnessing the beginning of something that I believe will change our world forever. The girl has already told me she intends to teach others. She intends to start a new order, though I'm not certain of the particulars."

The woman looked up at the stage at the girl playing music with her friends. "Salazar's heir indeed."

He worked his tongue on the inside of his cheek. "Yes. That much I am quite certain of."

She hung her head and looked at her glass. "What of this 'other life' you spoke of?"

He shrugged and nodded towards the stage. "I believe that is the origins of what she is doing now."

She finished her drink and set the glass down. "How do you know all this?"

He arched his eyebrow. "Trelawney tried to test her ability and ended up unlocking a vision of the man she once was in a crystal ball. It was quite interesting. An awful man, but there was a silver lining I suppose. In the end, he turned against his darkness for the sake of his family. Her brother knows of the story as well. He told me of it, it seems she used to tell it to him as something of a bedtime story when he was younger."

The woman glanced at him with a scowl on her face. "Both of them are skilled at occlumency. I couldn't get a thing from either one of them. How do you know he was being honest?"

Dumbledore smiled. "If you get to know them, you'll understand."

She stood up, crumpled up her napkin and tossed it onto her plate. "I shall see you in the fall then Albus. Let Trelawney keep her class. She's good enough to handle the rank and file of Hogwarts students. That girl is beyond her ability." She walked over to where her daughter and son in law were to bid her farewell to them before leaving the reception.

Dumbledore relaxed a little more with a smirk on his face. It had almost been too easy.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was sitting at a table at the back of the reception hall. The band was done, Sirius and Lissa had fed each other cake, and were now on their way to the Honeymoon. They would be spending two weeks in Bermuda.

Pansy, Margaret, and Melvin were all staying with them until they returned. The Potter home was going to be very full for the next couple of weeks. Dudley would be coming over to fulfill the bargain she made with the Dursleys a day or two after they left.

The guests were still mingling a bit, but the crowd was thinning as they made their way home. There were about fifteen people left not counting her family. The wedding party had originally been about sixty people. She was sitting with Cedric with her head on his shoulder. Both of them were worn out and looked tired.

"That was nice," commented the boy with a yawn as he stretched his arm. His other was around her shoulders and she was resting against him.

She nodded. "Yeah, it was. I'm worn out though."

He didn't look at her, but he could tell he'd started blushing a little from his emotional state. "Thanks for inviting me. That was a good show by the way."

She nodded and didn't lift her head up. "Thanks for coming. I had fun, it was nice having you here with me." She scrunched up her nose a little. They were pretty much in the corner of the room and isolated from the remaining guests. She lifted her head up, and turned his cheek towards her.

He looked confused as she kissed him and pulled on his tie to draw him closer. It was loose and his collar was unbuttoned. He blinked and grinned after she broke it off. "What was that far?"

She put her head back against his arm. "You look good in a suit."

"Oh," he muttered and settled in. He had liked it, but still hand trouble figuring her out.

Harry walked over and rotated his shoulder. "Hey. We're leaving. Come on."

Cedric nodded as they stood up together. Anna rubbed at her scalp a little and let her hair down. She shook her head and shook it out with her hands. "Good. I'm going to sleep like a stone tonight," she commented.

Her boyfriend was looking on and had frozen in place. She kissed him on the cheek as she noticed his state. "You're sweet."

He looked a little embarrassed. "Do you have to point it out every time you notice?"

She grinned at him and pulled on his hand as she walked towards the door. "It's so cute though. You totally think I'm hot."

He narrowed his eyes a little. "And I'm not?"

She patted his cheek. "Of course you are, Cedric dear. You've got a great ass."

He looked over his shoulder as if to check. "Really? I suppose it is nice."

Harry rolled his eyes and seemed amused. "Quit flirting and come on. I want to get to bed myself."

His sister smirked at him. "Well, there's no reason we can't do both. I can do both at the same time." She shifted her hips as she walked away.

Cedric looked on and gave a small sigh as he watched her walk ahead of him. "It would annoy me if she wasn't so hot."

Harry had a straight face. "I can tell you like it too. She only likes teasing you this much because she knows how it makes you feel."

Cedric arched his eyebrow. "Really?"

Her brother nodded. "We're both empathic you know. She gets a rise out of your emotional state. It's a bit creepy to me because she's my sister, but I guess I can't say I don't understand your side of it either." He slapped Cedric on his shoulder. "Sorry, but you're just going to have to learn to put up with it."

Her boyfriend frowned a little at that. "I'm not that bad off."

Harry still had a straight face and nodded. "Yeah, you are. That's why she's been so hard on you tonight. It's kind of hard to miss. She knows how much you like her teasing you like that, so she's laying it on extra thick."

He looked at her brother out of the corner of his eyes. "That's not fair."

The Boy Who Lived smirked. "Tell her I told you and I'll make you regret it, but she's just as bad off as you are. I think she gets off on your feelings about it all."

Cedric blinked. "Huh? R-really? You're putting me on."

Harry gave a small shrug. "Well, don't take it too far. She'll zap you like anyone else if you overdo it, but I'm positive you can get her back if you want to turn the tables. You're the only guy who could get away with it that I know of."

The older boy gave a smirk. "What? That's your sister. Shouldn't you be threatening to beat me up if I hurt her or something?"

Harry gave a small amused half laugh. "Like she would need my help with that."

Cedric frowned a little at that and shook his head. "Don't take it the wrong way, I like all of you, but you have got to be the strangest family I've ever met.."

Harry nodded. "I suppose I can't argue with that. I'd feel bad for you, but I know better."

The Diggory boy seemed to think on it. "You really think she'd..."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure."

Anna's boyfriend nodded. "Anny suggestions about what I could do?"

Her brother shook his head. "Not a chance. You're not dragging me into it. You're on your own. I;m only telling you because she's been so hard on you and has an unfair advantage. That and I think I'll find it amusing if you turned the tables on her sometimes.. She likes you as much as you like her. You're not getting any more out of me than that."

The older boy looked surprised. "She likes me that much? Really?"

"Come on. I've said all I'm going to. If she finds out I told you this much it will be awful, and I promise I'll make sure some of that gets back to you if I find out she heard it from you." Harry had a smirk on his face as his serious expression broke.

Cedric shook his head as they walked out the doors of the bar and into the street to return home.

OooOOooOO

Pansy and Margaret were in Anna's room. They were all staying together in her room while they were over until the newlyweds returned from their honeymoon. The bedrooms in the home were very large, and Anna's bed was more than big enough for the three of them to sleep comfortably.

Anna was sitting in front of the mirror brushing her hair as her two friends laid out across her bed flipping through magazines and chatting. She wasn't paying much attention as they went through and pointed out outfits they liked in the pages and commenting on the attractiveness of photos of boys in them. Pansy and Margaret were already finished dressing down, but they were all still in their gowns from earlier in the evening. They'd only been back for about an hour, and it was late in the evening.

It wasn't odd at all, and she didn't feel the slightest bit of discomfort. Less than two years before, she would have thought of herself as completely out of her element, and would have been very uncomfortable with the prospect of sharing a bed with two girls. She stopped brushing her hair and poked about her face, checking small blemishes. She didn't have any zits, but was making note of small bumps and imperfections in her skin. She sat back and furrowed her eyebrows. Considering the scars on her face, she couldn't very well find the logic in doing so. She unscrewed a small bottle of ointment and dabbed small dots of it around any areas that looked like they might break out before rubbing it in with her fingers.

It was odd to her, but she was getting into being a girl. It was comfortable, normal, and didn't feel off in the slightest. She'd kissed a handsome boy more than once, on purpose. She had really liked it as well. It was comfortable to her being female. She'd never expected it to actually happen, and somehow, she'd just then realized that it had. It was no longer weird to talk about cute boys, and she felt no shame wearing feminine clothes she would have burned before even considering putting on when she was younger. She used to tell herself that it was odd, but it wasn't. Not in the slightest.

In fact, when she'd seen Lissa Parkinson, now Lissa Black stroll down the isle in her wedding gown, she had actually spent a few moments imagining herself doing the same thing, wearing a dress of her own one day. It hadn't been something she'd even really noticed herself doing until she found herself looking in the mirror removing her make up.

Lily stuck her head in the room and smiled at them. "All right girls. Go ahead and get ready for bed. It's getting late."

Pansy glanced over at Anna. "You've been quiet."

They all started changing, pulling their night clothes out of their bags and removing their clothes.

Margaret nodded as she pulled her head through the neck hole of her night shirt and pushed her arms through the sleeves. "She's right, you've not said much since we got back."

Anna shrugged as she pulled on her own nightgown and buttoned up the front. "I dunno. I'm just being introspective I guess. I get that way sometimes."

Pansy bounced onto the bed and pulled her hair out of her collar. "About what?"

The redhead shrugged. "I dunno. Just being a girl in general."

Margaret flopped down next to Pansy. "She was thinking about Cedric, but she doesn't want to admit it."

Anna nodded. "Him too. I guess that's what brought it on. He was so cute tonight." She smiled as she slid between them on top of the mattress. "I never really thought much about boys when I was younger. I've always had other things on my mind. Training, avoiding the Dursleys, worrying about Death Eaters, visions I had., taking care of my brother.. That sort of thing." She picked up one of the magazines and flipped through it a bit. "I guess that's why I'm such a tomboy. I didn't really know any other girls until I started at Hogwarts. I never wore girl's clothes, or talked about boys, or any of that sort of thing. I guess I'm getting used to it. It wasn't that long ago you'd pretty much have to tie me up to get me to wear makeup, high heels, and a dress. I dunno, it used to kind of bother me. I'd get uncomfortable just changing in the same room as another girl. Now I don't think anything of it, I've got a boyfriend, and I just spent most of the night in a formal gown. Before I met Cedric, I probably would have kneed any boy who tried to kiss me in the balls before I let him get away with it. Now I'm trying to figure out how I can get him to kiss me without starting it first."

Pansy seemed a bit surprised. "Oh." She smiled. "That's good I guess. Right?"

Anna gave a nod. "Yeah. It is." She rolled over and flipped through the pages.

Margaret gave a small sigh. "The two of you did look cute together."

The brunette giggled. "You should have taken another break to dance with him again before we finished. We could have played without you for a bit longer if you'd wanted."

The redhead shrugged. "He danced with a couple of Pansy's cousins after that. I had to give him permission. I think he was going to sit in the corner all night because he was worried about upsetting me."

Margaret glanced at Pansy. "How many cousins do you have anyway? I had no idea your family was so big."

The girl cocked her head. "Seventeen I think." She seemed to think about it. "Oh. Wait. Aunt Aura had a baby a few months ago. So it's eighteen now." She seemed to think about it. "I've got six Aunts, and seven Uncles."

Margaret scrunched her face up. "I don't see how you keep up with it. I've only got two Aunts, two Uncles, and three cousins."

Anna stretched her arms out and tossed the magazine aside. "Not much to speak of here. You already know about my Aunt and Uncle. Dudders is coming to visit after you two leave. Harry isn't looking forward to it much, but I think it will be all right. He wasn't so bad the last few times I saw him."

Margaret wanted to change the subject and picked up one of the magazines. She flipped it open to a photo of a woman wearing a pea green dress with a wide waist with a floral print on it. "Do you think I'd look good in this? It's pretty sixties, I dunno though."

Anna scrunched her nose up. "You'd look good, but the dress would still be awful."

Pansy peered at it for a moment. "Maybe in a different color? It might look good in yellow or orange."

The redhead thought about it. "I guess it might. I still wouldn't wear it. It makes her waist look big. I like those boots though." The woman was wearing a thigh high pair of boots made of white vinyl.

Margaret regarded them. "You'd look good in them. I'm too tall for platform boots though." She was the tallest of the three of them by about three inches. Anna was a short girl, and only came up to her shoulder.

Pansy smiled as she looked at them. "I saw a pair that looked kind of like those that I liked. They had four inch heels instead of platform soles. I didn't like the color. They were off white. I liked the style though. They laced up on the front like those do."

The raven haired girl glanced at Anna. "That reminds me. Do you think we can talk your mother into taking a trip to the Alley? I need to pick up some things. I need some toenail whitener, mine are starting to get a bit yellow, and I forgot my Zit prevention potion. I'll break out horribly without it in two weeks. I've got oily skin."

Anna shrugged. "If that's all you need I'll make you some tomorrow, or you can have mom do it. We're both licensed Potion's Masters. We've got plenty of ingredients." She hopped off the bed and picked up the jar she was using a few moments before. "I've got some here you can use if you'd like."

"Oh. Thanks." The black haired girl lifted a hand held mirror and unscrewed the lid. She peered at it and arched her eyebrow. It was a bit thicker than what she was used to. "You made this?"

The redhead nodded. "I don't need to buy any sort of potion."

Pansy nodded. "Yeah." She dug about her bag and pulled out a can of a waxy substance. "She made this for me. It works much better than the stuff I used to buy from the store."

Margaret nodded. "Really? What is it?"

The brunette smirked. "It's a hair smoother. My hair would be as bad as that Granger girl's without it. I get all frazzled and dried out." She ran her fingers through it. "It looks great doesn't it?" It did, it was very shiny and full. Pansy's hair looked very healthy, Anna's did as well.

The redhead nodded. "Yeah. I use something similar. It takes some of the curl out of my hair, but not all of it. It's a relaxer, but it also hydrates and gives it a nice shine."

Margaret looked impressed. "You make beauty products?"

Anna nodded. "I can make anything. If I need something, I just make it."

The raven haired girl finished applying a few dots of the cream to her face and rubbed it in. "Feels a bit stronger than the Madam Allison stuff." She could feel it tingling on her skin, but it wasn't overpowering or unpleasant.

The Potter girl shrugged. "If you ever need anything just ask. Like I said, I'm a licensed Potion's Master. I'll be glad to make you anything you need. I make all of my own stuff, skin firmer and smoother, Zit prevention potion, wart remover, you name it, I can make it."

Margaret gave a nod and smiled at her. "I'll remember that. I didn't know you were making things like this or I might have asked sooner."

Pansy giggled. "I found out when I ran out of my hair solution before the end of the year. I was going to send an owl to Mum to send me more, but Anna offered to make some for me. It's way better than the stuff I used to buy. It lasts twice as long, and the results are better."

Margaret glanced over at her. "I was wondering if you'd started doing something different with your hair, but I hadn't bothered asking yet."

The brunette girl grinned. "You should start a line of beauty products, Anna. This stuff is great. You're really good at makeup and beauty potions."

The redhead frowned. "I'm good at all potions. I'm the Greatest Potion's Genius in the Universe!" She pointed her hand in the air and her two puppets appeared again tossing bits of confetti that vanished before it hit the sheets.

"Anna you're so awesome!"

"Anna you're the best!"

Margaret frowned a bit. "Did you do something different with those things? They used to make quite a mess."

The redhead nodded with a grin. "Yeah. I tweaked them a little with an evaporating confetti charm."

Pansy giggled. "I still think those things are neat. They're so cute! Little puppets that look like you."

The black haired girl shook her head. "Cute? I think there a little disturbing. You look a bit mad when you do that. You really shouldn't."

Anna shrugged. "Sometimes it's fun to look a bit mad. Anyway, I am the Greatest Potion's Genius in the Universe, and don't you forget it." She pulled her friend into a playful headlock and wrestled her onto the mattress. The trio ended up on a light shoving match that degraded into belting each other with the pillows on the bed.

Lily poked her head into the room again. "All right. That's enough you three. Lights out. You can hang about tomorrow. It's time for sleep." She had a grin on her face as she saw the scene and flipped the switch.

"Yes, Ma'am," said the three girls in unison. There was a bit of giggling as they settled into the sheets and shifted into comfortable positions.

Lily gave a small sigh as she walked out of the room with a smile on her face. The scene had brought back pleasant memories of when she was a girl that age. She was looking forward to going down for the night herself, and Harry and Melvin were already both passed out. James was probably asleep already as well. He'd gone into the room right away. She put her hand on the knob to the door, and a now familiar cry from nearby made her freeze in place. "Of course." Her grin faded but didn't vanish as she shuffled a little slower than before towards Ivy's room. "Yes, yes. Coming dear."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter grinned as she stretched out her arms as she strolled into a large open space. The rest of the band was standing about looking at the Georgian Home. "So, what do you think?" She waved her arms at the interior, it was set up as a recording studio. The group was standing in Abbey Road, in St. John's Wood, in the City of Westminster, in London. The very same building the non existent Beatles had used in her past life.

James Potter was poking about. There were instruments set up about the room, as well as microphones. The walls were set up for acoustics, and the rest of the home was a little run down, but mostly well kept.

Anna walked up to a closet door and smirked. "Ah, here we are." She opened it and lifted a paint can from the floor and moved it over to the door. She plopped a large paint roller down next to it and poured some of the contents of the can into a paint pan.

Melvin looked about the room and noticed what she was doing. "What's up? What are you doing?"

She frowned. "I'm making a port door."

James jerked his head around. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Relax. The enchantments on the house won't let me put a port inside. That shed has a back door. I was planning on using that one for the other end. I already asked Mom. I thought she said something to you already." She started painting the inside of the closet in large messy strokes. It didn't have to be neat, as the interior of the closet would no longer exist, and it would just lead to the back door of the shed on the edge of the back yard in the home.

Her father nodded and frowned. "I'm going to ask her about that later."

Harry shook his head and chuckled. "She did. I was there when she asked her. Mom said as long as it wasn't connected to the house it was fine." He looked at the sound proof walls and poked at the gray foam with his finger. "I guess it's nice. We've got our own recording studio now then?"

The redhead poked her head out of the closet and nodded. "Yeah. Neat huh?"

Melvin sighed. "What about the rest of us? That port is only good at your house right?"

Anna blinked. "No. I'm going to do a few of the upstairs closets too and put a port somewhere about your house too. Uncle Sirius already gave me permission. I'm going to give you some of this port paint to take with you when you go home. You can't do it in the house, but he's got a shed just like ours too. The back door is right up against the fence, so it's the perfect place."

Pansy grinned. "Hey. That means we can hang out all summer!"

Anna wiped her brow. "Yup. It'll be easier than walking across the street. This place is pretty secure too. Bars on all the windows, a heavy door with a good lock, and I was planning on getting Mom and Dad to take care of the security enchantments later. It'll be easier to get some recordings done this way. We won't have to put out all the parents all the time. Plus, it'll make it easier for Mom and Dad to stay in touch with Uncle Sirius. This house will be connected to his home too, it's not just for us to use."

James smirked at her. "Not really, I can aparate, remember? You've still got a bit of a muggle mindset about some things dear."

She shrugged. "We can't. We're all still minors."

The man nodded. "Yes. Well don't forget there's going to be rules. I don't want you running about London from here. You've got to stay in the building. The enchantments we'll be placing on this place will make we know when you're here, and if you leave."

Anna nodded. "I figured. Give us the run of the yard at least. It's not very big anyway."

He crossed his arms and thought on it for a moment before nodding. "Fair enough."

Margaret walked out the sound mixing booth on one side of the room. It was full of recording equipment and had a glass window looking into the room. "Rufus set all this up for you?"

The redhead nodded. "Yeah. I asked him to arrange to get the place set up before we went on tour." She stepped out of the closet and poured the paint back into the can. Unlike Pocketspace paint, it was finite and had a minimum amount. She hefted it up and walked towards the door to exit the room. "I'm going to paint up the hall closet now so we don't have to bother with it later. You guys can paint the other end when you get home."

Harry gave a sigh. "Well, I guess we can expect another ten albums this year. That slave driver, she set this up so we could work all summer."

Melvin hung his head in a joking manner. "That brat. She's going be dragging us here all the time now." Neither one of them was being serious and they laughed at themselves pretending to be suffering at the mere thought.

The raven haired girl rolled her eyes. "Really. I think it's a wonderful idea."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. It would have been harder to get together what with Ivy and your mother's baby coming. They aren't going to have much time to cart us around. This does make things easier on the band."

James scratched his head. "Well, babies are a lot of work. We've got our hands full with Ivy now."

His son grinned at him. "We know. This just makes things easier on all of us. I think that's how Anna talked Mom into it."

The redhead came back into the room and sighed. She wiped her brow and set down the now covered paint can. "There. That should take care of it." She flopped down into a bean bag chair that was one of several strewn about the room. There were a few small tables next to the stools in front of the microphones, and s small low table between the bag chairs. There were about seven more stacked along one of the walls.

James took notice of it. "That's a lot of seats."

The redhead nodded. "Well, we expect to have visitors. There's snacks and sodas in the kitchen, Rufus has a key to the place, and we'll probably meet executives and such here sometimes. It's a business and all. Plus, I'll probably let a few other bands use the studio while we're away at school. The port doors only work for the band, you and Mom, and Uncle Sirius and Aunt Lissa. They're just closets to everyone else."

Her father looked down at the can. "Where did you get this anyway?"

She looked over her shoulder. "I made it of course."

He arched his eyebrow. "That's a pretty complex enchantment."

She shrugged. "I'm a licensed Potion's Master. All I needed that I didn't have handy was a hair from everyone. That was easy enough to collect. I can make anything. I'm..." She stood up.

"The Greatest Potion's Genius in the Universe," finished everyone else in the room in a deadpan tone.

She smirked and crossed her arms. "And don't you forget it."

James seemed to think on something for a moment. "There isn't a lab here is there?"

Anna frowned at that. "No. Mom wouldn't let me. She said the one at the house was good enough."

He nodded and seemed to relax. "Good. Licensed or not, you're still a minor. Your Mother and I need to be able to keep tabs on what you're making."

Melvin and Harry had both left the room and came back with a can of cola for everyone. They handed them around and the group sat about relaxing in the bean bag chairs.

"We'll be spending a lot of time here I guess," commented Pansy.

Anna nodded. "Yeah. We don't have to only use it for recording you know. We can hang about, it's got other things to do. There's a Muggle video game, and a mirror in the sitting room we can watch. We can bring friends over here as well."

James frowned a little at that. "You can expect us to know who is here and what's going on. You've got to get permission to bring anyone over here, and they've all got to abide by the same rules. I don't want you two thinking you're going to be having wild parties and free reign over this place. I suppose if you get permission you can have your friends over here."

Anna nodded. "This place is for working. We're not going to be trashing it. It's a recording studio above all else, not a frat house. Don't worry."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. There's no reason to hang out here a lot if we're not doing something. Might be kind of nice to be able to have people over here to hang out while we play."

Anna gave a nod. "Right. It connects our houses too you know. We can all use the ports to go over to each other's houses as well. We can run about the neighborhood, here or over at Uncle Sirius's house."

James considered that. "Well. You should ask permission first. Give a call before you drop by to make sure it's all right. That goes for all of you. If this place gets abused, I'm afraid the grown ups are going to have to seal up those ports."

The children all looked pleased and nodded in eager agreement. Anna hopped up. "Well, everything is set up here now. Let's try that door." She kicked herself up and opened it, revealing the inside of the Potter's shed. "Great. Works perfectly."

The group all stood up and moved through the porthole back to the Potter home. A moment later they were walking across the yard and into the home.

Anna was the last to enter the home and looked over her shoulder at the shed. She smirked to herself as she regarded it. It wasn't just a convenient way to make the band's life easier. The shed now functioned as an escape hatch to what would soon be another secure location.

OooOOooOO

Harry sat up on his bed and scratched at his scalp. He put on his shoes and pulled on his jedi robes as stretched himself a little and scratched at his body. "Great. Another day." He smirked a bit as his wand floated over to his hand as he opened the door to his room.

Anna was waiting on him and leaning against the railing. She didn't speak and motioned for him to follow.

"What are we up to today?" he was still a bit drowsy, but was alert.

She shrugged. "The usual, we'll duel for a bit and then do some meditation."

The pair walked into the back hard and extended their wands before facing off.

A few moments later, Pansy, Margaret, and Melvin were all on the back porch watching the scene. Melvin was shoveling a bowl of cereal into his face, while Margaret and Pansy both had cups of warm tea. It was early enough that there was still a bit of a cool chill in the air, a light fog listed in the air. The two wands glowed a short distance away, swinging about with their familiar hum and pops as they clashed.

Melvin looked up and noticed James Potter come out of the house. He stood by the door and crossed his arms as he watched. The boy grinned at him. "It's something isn't it?"

The man nodded. "Margaret, Melvin, can I talk to you two a moment in private?" He gave them a light smile and didn't seem upset.

The two looked at each other and stood up to go with him. Pansy looked confused, but turned her eyes towards the yard again to watch the twins practice. It was impressive to see and she'd never had much opportunity to see it. She was aware they did it at Hogwarts, but the pair weren't permitted to bring along spectators. Not that she would get up that early all the time.

Inside the home, James Potter turned to face the two children. "I ran into your father while the three of you were away. I didn't want to say anything in front of Lily."

The pair gasped and looked at each other.

He looked quite serious. "You two aren't related to Sirius, are you?"

Margaret hung her head and bit her lip. Melvin played with the carpet with his toes. "No," muttered the boy.

He nodded. "He said some very strange things. I won't repeat them, but what's going on here. What's your relationship to my daughter?" The man had threatened the pair, and had said some nasty things about his daughter. He also mentioned something about a relation to her that he hadn't fully understood. The man seemed to think it was her fault, and outright stated that he'd kill them both if he got his hands on them. James had heard the man mention his name, and asked him about them. He hadn't expected the man to turn around and start screaming in a mad rage. The man seemed to think he knew about something he didn't. "I'm not trying to press, but he seemed to think Anna was involved, and I'm afraid I'm rather confused."

The girl looked up at him. "We're her servants."

Melvin gave a nod. "It's complicated. It's a family curse. We're sort of stuck with her."

The man arched his eyebrow. "Curse? I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for details. Don't worry, this is between us. I need to know what's going on if Anna is involved with this. She's my daughter."

Margaret gave a heavy sigh. "Our family is to test any who claim to be Salazar's Heir. There's a chamber at Hogwarts for that purpose, we can't tell you anymore about it than that. Only a Boggs can open it. If the one we put inside passes the test, we become bonded to them. We become their slaves."

Melvin nodded. "We can't really explain it further than that. It involves powerful dark magic, it's very bad for us if we go against it. Worse than death. We've got no choice but to obey her, and our parents will kill us if they can."

The man looked horrified. "What? Why?"

Margaret had tears streaming down her face. She was having a hard time with it, and Melvin put his arm around her. "They tested another, and he passed as well. Years before, and they must remain loyal to him, for the same reason as we must remain loyal to her."

The man nodded. "I see. I am sorry to bring this up, but I think I should know what's going on. I know it must be difficult."

The boy glared up at him. He didn't look pleased. "The one who passed before your daughter. You know him. He's the one who blew up your old house."

The man's jaw went tight. "I see."

"Is there anything..."

Margaret frowned at him. "The only thing that can be done is to destroy him. If she or her brother can manage it, then our parents become her's just as we are."

The man looked towards the back yard. "I'm not so sure I like the sound of this. It's not right to force you..."

The boy shook his head. "Shut up. I wouldn't have it any other way."

That caught the man off guard. "Huh?"

He stood tall and puffed his chest out. "She doesn't have any say in the matter. It's our family's curse, and it has lasted for generations. The only way she can refuse is to kill us both."

Margaret nodded. "We don't want to leave. She's my best friend. I love my parents, it's difficult dealing with this, but we both hate him. We don't want Anna to lose."

Melvin looked up at the man and clenched his fist. "Sirius already knows all about it. We're fine. Everything is working out well. He's good to us, and so is she. Things are as good as they can be considering. Just forget about it all right? The only thing any of us can do is support her and hope for the best."

Margaret gave a nod. "The curse was given to our family by Salazar himself. We do not wish it broken. If it was, we would go back to our parents, and we would be forced to aid him. Neither one of us wants that."

The man nodded and patted him the pair on the head as he gave them a smile. "All right. Thank you for telling me about this. I can't say I fully understand, but I trust Sirius. I can see this is hard, and I'll speak with him about this later. I think I know all I need from you two. I'm sorry, and I'll do anything I can to make it easier." He gave a small sigh. "It's probably best to not tell Lily. This is between us, you've got my word."

The pair nodded and moved back outside. Margaret burst into tears and leaned into her brother. Pansy was on her feet the moment she noticed. Harry and Anna stopped what they were doing immediately and rushed to the scene.

The brunette put her hand's on the girl's shoulders. "Are you all right? What's wrong?"

"Margaret!" said Anna as she almost skidded to a stop in front of the pair. Melvin had a scowl on his face, but neither one looked angry, just saddened and upset. "What happened."

The boy was sobbing softly into her brother's arm. "It's nothing. We're fine."

Harry frowned. "Doesn't look that way. What's going on."

The raven haired boy shook his head. "Your father ran into our father while we were away. He knows about us, and the curse."

Anna hung her head and gripped her weapon. "I see. Is..."

He looked up at her. "Everything is fine. He said he's not going to tell your mother."

Margaret nodded as she sniffled. "It's all right. It's just not an easy subject for us. He just wanted to know, what was going on. He had every right to ask."

Their three friends did their best to comfort them, moving in close and doing what they could to reassure them. The redhead nodded as she shook the girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I wish I could do more."

Melvin looked at her with a serious frown. "The best thing you can do is take care of You Know Who. It's the only thing that will fix this for any of us." He seemed a lot more relaxed. "Don't worry about it, all right? We just need a moment to calm down. We're both fine."

The redhead stood up and nodded. "You both know I'm willing to listen if you need anything. Don't be afraid say something if you need to. I'm responsible for you both, and I'll do anything I can. You know that."

Harry nodded. "The same goes for me. I may not be responsible, but you're both good friends of mine. You know I'm there if you need anything for both of you."

Pansy gave a sad looking smile. She sniffed as Margaret and Melvin's condition made her own eyes misty. The Potter Twins proclamation made a few tears fall down her cheeks. "They're right. I'm your friend too. Any of us would be glad to help any way we can. You're like a sister to me, and he's like a disgusting perverted brother."

Anna smirked at that. "Same here. You guys are in the band, and that makes us family as far as I'm concerned."

The Boggs twins both had a bit of trouble reigning in their emotions, but managed it.

Margaret shoved at Anna's side. "You two go and finish your practice. We're both fine."

Harry nodded and smiled as he turned away. They had calmed considerably, and felt better. They'd both gotten an emotional lift from their friends rushing to help them, and there was little more they could do to make it any better.

Anna gave her a small smile. "Are you sure?"

The raven haired girl pouted at her. "Don't act like you can't tell you've made me feel better. Go on. We're fine."

The redhead shook her head and turned back towards the yard. "All right. Like I said, if you need anything, just ask."

OooOOooOO

The next day Anna was sitting on a bean bag chair at Abbey Road. She had an acoustic guitar on her lap and was plucking out random melodies as her friends chatted. They had just done a few recordings and were relaxing afterwards with their friends from the Neighborhood.

"This place is awesome." Lee Jordan was looking about the room with a grin on his face.

Noriko and Marci were both hopping with excitement on their bags. "Yeah. That was so cool!"

Brian was lounging in his own with a soda in his hand. "Yeah. My friends are never going to believe I got to hear songs the new Tenacious D album before it even comes out."

Mark nodded with wide eyes. "It was something. Everyone I know is so jealous at school that we get to hang out like this in the summer. A few people still don't believe me, even though I've got pictures and everything. They think I faked them or something."

Cedric grinned as he looked up from a pile of Chocolate Frog Cards. He, Harry, and Melvin were negotiating trades to fill out their collections. Harry and Melvin had almost complete sets, but still needed a few of the newer printings to fill out the ones released in the last year. "It was something to hear. How do you come up with this stuff."

Anna just shrugged and sipped on her cola. The girls were flipping through a stack of magazines. "It just works for me." She pointed at a pair of striped stockings. "What do you think?" She showed it to Pansy.

"It would make your legs look longer. I guess they could be cute."

Margaret looked over her shoulder. "Oh. I like that dress."

Noriko looked at the older girls with an issue of Sorceress Teen Beat. "Hey. Look at this. It's a picture of you and Cedric."

The redhead arched her eyebrow. It was a photo of her in front of the Three Broomsticks with him on her and going inside. The article made mention of the Black Wedding, and had pictures of all the band members dressed up for the event. "Huh. Didn't even notice there was anyone taking pictures." She relaxed back into her bag and flipped through the pages of her own magazine. There was an article about applying makeup, and since it was a wizarding magazine, the picture provided a moving example of how to apply the look. The models moved and turned to show off their clothes, and the advertisements showed products being used with models with huge grins appearing to really enjoy them. She ignored the articles, they were mostly fluff and what she considered bad advice. No different from Muggle publications of the same type.

"Wow, they really liked that dress you were wearing." Marci looked up from the same article Noriko was reading. "They said it was a nine. Very tasteful."

Nori smiled at the blond. "It was really cute."

Anna looked up from her own magazine. "Yeah. I really like that dress. Might wear it again some time."

Margaret clucked her tongue. "Why? I'm sure you'll find another by the time something else like that happens. You can't go wearing the same thing all the time."

The redhead flipped the page. "Why not? I don't care what a fashion magazine or some stuck up pundit thinks of what I do." She paused as she found herself looking at an article entitled. "How to get him to kiss you." She flushed a bit and turned the page as she glanced over at where her boyfriend was sitting.

Pansy shrugged. "I liked the dress I wore, but I probably won't wear it again."

Margaret nodded. "Same here. If Anna wants to wear hers again, I won't say anything. I can't think of what I'd wear it to though, by the time we go to something like that again, I'll probably have a couple of more."

The redhead shrugged. "Maybe I will, maybe not. I dunno." She turned the page back again and gave in to reading the article. It kind of turned her stomach a little, but she kept going anyway. It was mostly suggesting things no boy would notice, or things that would confuse them and probably not get the desired response.

Cedric stood up and went towards the kitchen.

Anna glanced at her friends. "You guys want a soda or something? I'm out and I'm going to grab another."

Margaret had picked up the magazine Nori and Marci were reading. "What? A seven? I looked better than that," she grumbled.

Pansy smiled. "Hey, they rated my outfit an eight. I think they dinged us for not having dates."

The raven haired girl frowned at that. "I'm fine." Pansy and Marci both shook their heads. Nori looked up at her. "I wouldn't mind another."

The redhead nodded. "All right. I'll be right back." She walked to the kitchen and almost bumped into Cedric, who had a pair of cans in his hands. "Oh. Hi."

She smiled and shifted to the side. "Hey." She moved by him and opened the fridge, it was fulled with cans and assorted snacks. She took two cans out.

He looked on as she did so. "Oh. I could have gotten that for you."

She shrugged. "I didn't think of it until afte you left." She closed the door and walked up to him. One of the cans in her hand popped itself open and she took a sip.

Cedric almost ran into her again as they both moved towards the door.

She stepped back a little and he moved in front of her looking over his shoulder at the door. "Thanks for inviting us over here."

She pushed herself against the wall and blushed a bit. "It was nice having you all along. We'll probably spend a bit of time over here. It's a job after all, it's a fun job, but it's still a job."

He noticed her state and leaned towards her. She didn't back away any further and turned her head away a little. He turned her cheek and moved in closer. Their lips drew close.

"Hi. What's going on."

The pair almost jumped apart. James Potter walked into the room and opened the door, pulling a can of soda out of the fridge. He popped it and sat on the counter looking between the two teens. He took a swing and waited on an answer.

The redhead looked at him with wide eyes. "Um. We were just getting some sodas for..."

Cedric scratched the back of his head and turned a bit pink. "Yeah. Soda run."

The man nodded. "Oh. I see. It's almost time for lunch. So, we should head back."

Anna growled under her breath as Cedric backed out the door and went back to the others. "Damnit." She moved off after them. She had turned a bit pink herself.

James gave a small sigh as he hopped off the counter and followed the two embarrassed teens chuckling to himself. "Have to start keeping a closer eye on those two." Anna hadn't been aware that he'd put a few enchantments on the house when they'd first visited to keep an eye on what was going on already. They couldn't 'see' what was going on, but were alerted if anything like a make out session or unruly behavior started. If she didn't know before, he was pretty sure she was aware of it now.

The redhead was a little frustrated and surprised by the sudden appearance of her father, and did indeed suspect such a thing. "A virgin alarm? Are you kidding me?" she grumbled as she walked into the room with her friends and handed Nori her soda. "Hey. We're heading back for lunch."

James walked into the room and smiled as he waved at the group. "Come along. You guys can come back over here later. It's time to eat. Dobby and Kreacher made sandwiches and you're all welcome to eat with is if you'd like."

The boys collected their cards, and the girls all tossed their magazines aside as they started towards the closet door.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next Time: Dudders comes to visit.


	41. Chapter 41

A Matter of Force.

Part 41

Summer of love.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was sitting on the couch in her home. It was the middle of Summer, and Pansy, Melvin, and Margaret had all returned home for the rest of the summer. The redhead had a book in her hands and wasn't really looking at it. On the Mirror, a witch was stuffing a hog to prepare for a large banquet style dinner with several other pans sitting on open flames cooking side dishes around her.

Lily was leaning against the arm of the chair nearby looking on with interest.

The girl was half interested, it looked very good, and she was getting a little hungry looking at it. She wasn't really interested in eating though and lifted up the paper to help put off the urge by placing a barrier between herself and the images of high calorie food.

Dudley would be coming to visit in two days. She was going to go pick him up at the start of the next week. The house wasn't exactly empty, but things had gotten quiet since Lissa and Sirius had returned from their honeymoon and had come to collect the other children.

Both of the red haired women turned their heads as a knock came to the door.

Lily furrowed her eyebrows. "Visitors?"

Anna hopped up. "I'll get it. It's probably for me or Harry anyway." It was a nice day, and late morning. She was planning on going out to visit the neighborhood children shortly, and expected her brother to do the same.

She opened the door and paused. A woman who looked to be about twenty three was standing there with a boy of about eleven at her side. She was pretty, in a long blue dress with curly brown hair and hazel eyes. The boy had a pair of glasses, green eyes, and black hair that was sticking up a bit and looked a bit messy. He rubbed under his nose with his finger and grabbed his mother's hand as he looked at the redhead with wide eyes. "What are we doing here again, Mum?"

The woman smiled at him. "Hush dear."

Anna blinked and seemed confused. "Hi. What can I do for you?"

The woman smiled. "I'm Alyssa Humdragon. This is my son, Alex."

The redhead nodded. "Um, nice to meet you." She stayed in the doorway. There was no way random fans could get to their doorway. For the same reason as the Paparazzi was unable to get too near to the home. The enchantments on the home were much greater than those of the average wizarding home, and prevented anyone without legitimate business from finding the door in the first place. Those with ill intent couldn't even find the building. It was extremely difficult for anyone not invited over to find the house at all. "What did you need?"

The woman seemed very cheerful. "I'd like to speak to Harry Potter if you don't mind."

The redhead narrowed her eyes. "About what? Nothing personal, but I don't know you, and our house is pretty heavily enchanted to prevent surprise visitors."

Mrs. Humdragon flushed a bit. "Well, it's a bit personal I'm afraid. I'll be glad to explain, but I really need to explain it to him as well." She put her arm across the boy's shoulder. He was looking at the redhead with wide eyes as something seemed to hit him, but stayed silent.

The boy was still holding his mother's hand and staring at the girl. "That's...Anna Potter? What's going on? Why are we here?"

The woman gave him a light chiding. "Hush dear. I'll explain it in a moment." She looked at the redhead. "I've got something rather important to tell Harry Potter."

The girl seemed to regard the pair for a moment. "All right. Just a moment." She couldn't sense anything off. The woman was excited and seemed to be in a rather good mood. She was excited and nervous. The boy was confused, but excited and nervous as well. The kid was a fan, but the vibe she was getting off the mother was different.

"Harry, you've got visitors." Anna walked to the end of the hallway to the door and leaned around the corner to call to him.

James walked up to the scene and noticed the woman and her son standing in the doorway. "Oh. Hello. You're here for Harry then?" he smiled at them and motioned for them to enter. He looked at his daughter. "You shouldn't leave them standing in the doorway like that, Anna. It's not polite."

She looked up at him. "I don't know them. She said Harry knows them, but I..."

The woman blinked. "Well, he only knows me. It's been a while."

Anna arched her eyebrow. The woman was being honest. "A while?" she muttered.

James turned towards the guests. "Well, I'm James, Harry's Father."

Alyssa smiled. "Oh! Really! I'm glad that all worked out for him then."

Anna cocked her head and her eyes went a little wide. "Wait a minute..."

Harry rounded the corner and slid to a stop. "Huh? Who?" He looked up at the woman and then at the boy. "Um, Hi?" He was confused and didn't seem to know them.

The woman smiled at him. "Ah. There you are. Hello, Harry. It's been a long time."

The boy looked over his shoulder and then back towards the woman. "It...it has? Um, who..." His eyes became wide as she put her hand on her son's shoulder and smiled at him. "Alyssa? Is...is that you?"

The woman nodded. "Yes. This is your father then? Everything worked out well for you? Is your mother about as well?"

Anna leaned in towards her brother. "What's going on?"

James nodded. "Yes. Please explain."

The boy ignored them and greeted the woman as he lit up with cheer. "Wow! You've, gone and grown up. Is that really you?"

She nodded. "Yes. How have you been? You still look just like I remember you."

He grinned at her. "It's great. Everything worked out. Managed to get to my parents and bring them back. Plan worked out perfectly. Thanks for the help. I couldn't have done it without you."

The woman seemed pleased. "I've never regretted a moment. I wanted to come see you, but I didn't want to show up too soon. You said something about how it might cause trouble."

The boy nodded. "Well, I said you're welcome to visit. I'm glad to see you. How has your life been? I had to come back, so I missed a bit."

Alyssa smiled at him. "Wonderfully. I married Roland, you remember him?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. That worked out well for you then?"

The brunette woman beamed. "Yes. I never would have gotten the nerve to drag him to the altar if not for you."

Harry looked at the boy. "So, this is your son then? Hi. I'm Harry Potter." He extended his hand to the boy.

Alyssa nodded and put her hand on his shoulder. "Yes, this is Alex. He'll be starting Hogwarts this year."

James cheerfully interjected. "That's good to hear. Tell me, how do you know my son?"

The woman looked at him. "We met about twelve years ago, give or take a few months."

Anna was silent and looking at the boy with her. "Hey. I think I get it now."

Harry glanced at her. "Yeah. I met her when I went back to help Mum and Dad. She helped me out quite a bit. Gave me a place to stay, and made sure I didn't starve to death."

Lily had been attracted to the commotion and caught the last few moments. "Oh! It's nice to meet you." She seemed pleased with greeting the woman. "We owe you our thanks then. It was quite a mess Harry pulled us out of back then."

James seemed pleased as well. "Yes. Quite the mess indeed. Come on in, we'll sit down and have a good talk then."

"H-hi..." muttered Alex as he waved his hand and blushed. He was feeling a bit shy and nervous. "What's going on? Mum. I thought you said we were going to..."

"Yes, dear. I'm getting to that," said the woman.

Anna narrowed her eyes at the pair. "Harry...how long were you in the past?"

He glanced at her and blushed. "I dunno. About a month?"

Alyssa nodded. "Yes. That's about how long he..."

The redhead socked her brother on the back of his skull. "You...you pervert! What the hell were you thinking?!" She turned very red and pointed at the boy. "I'd expect something like this from Melvin, but you? Did you completely lose your mind or what?"

Lily and James both blinked and went silent.

Their visitor blushed and shifted her eyes away from Harry's parents. "Well, um..."

Harry was rubbing at the back of his head. "Well, I...huh? What are you on about?"

Anna growled at him. "Sorry. Nice to meet you." She looked at the woman and her son. "My boneheaded brother is too stupid to notice. Perhaps it would be best if you spelled it out for him, Mrs. Humdragon. Just get it over with, that's why you're here isn't it?"

She flushed and nodded. "Well, yes. Harry, um I brought our son here today to meet his father."

Lily's head snapped from James and then back to her. She put her husband in a headlock. "What?"

Anna tugged on her elbow and shook her head. "Not him. Your idiot son."

The older redhead's eyes calmed a little as she released her choking husband and turned her gaze towards her son. He was frozen like a deer in headlights.

Lily blinked and turned towards the woman. "You mean, you and my son..."

The boy stepped in front of his mother. "Calm down! I mean..." He scratched the back of his head and looked at the floor. "At the time...we were the same age. She was pretty cute, and I owed her. She did a lot for me, and took care of me while I was hanging around waiting for the right time to do something. I didn't have anything to give her, and she liked me. So I..."

Anna belted him on the back of his skull again. "Shut up. You're only making it worse." The boy hit the floor.

Lily's eyes rolled up in her head and she fell back in a dead faint. James managed to catch her. "I'm confused," muttered the man.

Anna crossed her arms and put her foot on her brother's back. He was lying on his belly clutching his head. "Harry had sex with her when he went back in time to save you and Mom. They were both the same age at the time, so now he's got a son that's only about two years younger than he is." She pushed her foot into the boy's back. "Right, Harry?"

The boy nodded his head and gasped in discomfort while holding the back of his head from the ground. "Yeah. That about sums it up."

Alyssa had her hand over her mouth. "Oh my. I don't mean to cause trouble, but I thought I should say something to him."

Alex was wide eyed and more confused than ever. "Huh? Wait a minute. Harry Potter is my Dad? No way! That can't be right. He's only like fourteen or something."

Anna slapped his shoulder. "Nice to meet you Nephew."

He turned his head towards him and worked his mouth. "Wait. Look, this isn't funny. I..."

The redhead shrugged at him. "Well, my brother and I have a friend who has a time machine. It's complicated, but it's not as impossible for us as you might think."

Lily had only passed out for a moment and was looking at the scene and clinging to her husband at the same time in silence. Her eyes fell towards her son. "So, you and Harry..."

The woman blushed. "It was my first time. I don't mean to try anything now. I'm a married woman." She played with a handkerchief. "I have no regrets, but...I wanted our son to know who his father was. Harry did a lot to help me while he was there. I though Harry deserved to know about it as well. I'm not angry, I understand why he had to leave. Raising Alex on my own was difficult, but I never blamed his father for it. He belonged in his own time, and I didn't find out about Alex until after he had returned."

The black haired boy in glasses looked at the teenage boy who stood up and scratched his head. "This is my...Dad?"

Harry looked just as perplexed. "Um, er...Hi, Son?" He had no idea what to do. He looked back at his parents and flinched at his mother's expression. "I'm grounded, aren't I?"

The woman had a fierce expression in her eyes and nodded. "You'd better believe it. We'll deal with it later."

James gave a small sigh. "Come on then. I guess we should all sit down and have a talk about this."

Anna pulled on Alex's shoulder. "Come on then. You can hang out with me while the parents and Grandparents deal with this."

James and Lily both flinched at the term 'Grandparents'.

The boy gave a nod. "So, you're like, my Aunt then?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much."

He went a little pale and spoke without thinking. "Gross, that means I..."

The redhead put her hand over his mouth. "Just stop there all right? Nothing wrong with it, but I don't need to know anymore, and now you know better."

He gave a nod and blushed. "Sorry."

She shook her head. "No need. I'm a total babe and all. Come on then. I take it you're a fan then?"

The boy gave another shy nod. "Yeah. I...I really don't believe this. I mean, is he going to be all right?"

Anna nodded as she led him up the stairs. "He'll be fine. Just relax. The grown ups are going to make him feel uncomfortable for a bit, but you'll both be fine."

Alex looked about as she ushered him into his room. "This is so weird. I was expecting to meet some old guy or something. Instead, I end up at Harry Potter's house, and..." He sat down on the edge of her bed and looked to be in a daze. "Are you sure about this? I mean..."

The redhead sat down next to him and shook his shoulder. "You look just like him." She stood up and walked over to her dresser. After rummaging through one of the drawers for a moment she pulled out a photo and pulled him over in front of the mirror. "Look, see." She put a head shot of Harry's up next to his face.

The boy stared at the contrast for a long moment and took the photo from her. "You're kidding me." He was still having trouble getting his head around it.

Anna shrugged. "Yeah. I feel the same way. He's about the last person I would have expected something like this from." Her expression mirrored his own.

The boy cocked his head as he peered at the photo. "I'm not sure what to think. I guess it's pretty cool...but...I'm going to be in school with my Dad next year? That's...weird."

The redhead nodded. "Tell me about it."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was in big trouble. "Um, sorry? It was just the one time. I didn't think..." He had his head hung and his hands between his knees.

James gave a small sigh. "It only takes one time."

Lily was looking at him with a stern wide eyed expression. "Honestly, Harry! I never expected such a thing from you!"

He turned his eyes away. "Well, it wasn't just me..." He looked at Alyssa.

The woman lifted her nose a little. "Yes. I must admit I did my best to convince him. We were both young. He still is, but I was no better at the time."

Lily scowled at her. "I'd ground you as well if I could. I'm too young to be a grandmother!"

James held her by her shoulders to keep her from standing up and shouting. "Lily, calm down."

She turned her eyes towards her husband. "Calm down? I'm a grandmother, and I've not gotten my first gray hair yet!"

Alyssa bit her lower lip. "Yes. I can understand that. I was young and naive."

Harry gave a heavy sigh. "I felt like I owed her something. I didn't think..."

"That's right, you didn't! Now you're a father, and you're not even fourteen yet!" Lily looked about ready to reach for him, but ended up just shaking her finger. "Oh James, where did we go wrong?"

Harry flinched at that. "You weren't around. That's why I was there in the first place."

His mother calmed a little. "I suppose..."

James was trying very hard to look stern, but he was having a hard time being cross with his son. "Calm, down Lily. Look, it's not that bad. I can't really blame her. She raised the boy on her own."

The redheaded woman glanced at Alyssa and she gave a reluctant nod. "Yes. I...I suppose we do owe you some gratitude. You helped him save our lives."

Harry nodded. "I never would have pulled it off without her help." He thought he might have, but at the very least it would have been much more difficult.

The brunette woman nodded. "Yes. I'm very glad things turned out so well for him. I knew I couldn't keep him. I was young and foolish."

James gave her a weak smile. "Yes. I'm sure that if she knew then what she knows now."

Alyssa flushed a bit. "I love my son, very much. I'm grateful for what happened. He's a wonderful boy. It was often very difficult, but I have never regretted what I did."

Lily still looked uncomfortable. "All right. That's enough. What do you want from us?"

Harry looked up at his parents. "Well, he's family."

Alyssa nodded. "I thought you might like to meet your Grandson. I realized this might not go well, and that it might be difficult, but...I did have to try. I'm sorry to have upset you. I won't bother you again if you wish. I don't need money, I'm well off enough. Alex will have a good education and my husband cares for him as if he was his own. I just wanted to be honest with him, and I felt I owed Harry enough to tell him. I wanted them to meet, at least once."

Lily frowned at her son. "Harry. You..."

The boy stood up and balled up his fist. "You're welcome here. She'll get over it. I'll be seeing him at school for the next few years."

His mother gasped. "Harry!"

He looked over his shoulder and smiled at her. "Ground me if you must. I'm not going to ignore it. I suppose I should take some responsibility for what I did."

James gave a heavy sigh and put his hands up to his face pulling them down his cheeks. "Well, I guess I'm a grandfather."

Lily wasn't pleased, but nodded. "I can't blame him for this." She closed her eyes. "I suppose I can't really be upset with you for what happened ten years ago." She looked at her son. "It did happen, didn't it, Harry?" She was very displeased with him.

He blushed and nodded. "Yeah. I um...can't really deny that."

Alyssa gave a wistful and slightly sad looking smile. "I'm sorry I got you into trouble, Harry."

The boy gave her a smirk. "No, you're not. I don't mind though. I'm glad you said something. It would have confused the hell out of me next year when I met him." He sat back down. Alyssa was next to him, but there was a comfortable distance between them given their past and their now wide age difference. "Sorry I couldn't have been more help."

She nodded. "I always understood. I used to wish you had stayed, but I knew I couldn't keep you when I met you." The woman looked at his parents. "He was very honest. He explained the whole thing to me when he first met me. I didn't believe it right away of course, but he convinced me. It didn't help that he was quite the handsome young bard."

The boy blushed. "Um, yeah."

James felt Lily tense up as she glared at her son. "Pervert." He was trying very hard to supress the very slight feeling of pride in his chest for the boy. He knew it was wrong, but it was difficult not to be proud of his son being such a ladies man at such an age.

The man looked at Alyssa. "Well, I suppose we'll be glad to have you visit sometimes?"

Lily gave a nod. "Yes. You're welcome. I'm not pleased about this, but I won't take it out on my grandson. You are both welcome to visit, anytime. We'll have you over for Christmas or something." She stood up. "I hope to hear from you again. Just, give me a few days to settle over this. I'm not exactly pleased to hear about this."

Alyssa nodded. "Yes. I understand. I'm sorry to have been so much trouble. I hope you understand."

The redhead glanced at her son and gave a nod. "I do. I'd like to get to know my Grandson, he is my first." She scrunched up her face and gave a heavy sigh. "...and his mother."

James gave a small sigh. "Well, why don't we arrange for him to visit then? Spend a bit of time over her this summer?"

Harry didn't say anything and sat quietly. His mother had calmed considerably, and her anger was mostly directed at him at that point. She wasn't enraged, but it was easy to tell she was severly disappointed. His father wasn't as upset as he was pretending to be, but it was probably best for everyone to not say anything about it.

Alyssa nodded. "Yes. I'll be glad to arrange it. He's been asking me about his father for a few years now. I just never knew quite what to tell him. I wanted him to meet him, rather than just tell him outright. It was a bit complicated, and I wasn't sure he was ready to hear it. I thought it would be best to show him rather than say anything. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have believed me if I had just told him. Harry is not that much older than he is, and time travel is a bit strange even for wizards."

The boy took the opportunity. "I'll go get Alex."

The brunette woman nodded. "All right." She turned towards James and Lily. "I'll give you my contact information. I thought it best not to bring my husband this time, but I expect he'll like to meet you as well. He cares for Alex as if he was his own. He's got a brother and sister as well."

Anna and Alex were both listening to music when the door opened. Harry poked his head in. "Hey. Um, Alex and his mother are leaving now."

The boy's face fell a little. "Oh. Already?" He and Anna were playing air guitar and having a good time of hanging out. Their conversation hadn't gotten very deep.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Sorry."

Alex nodded. "I was hoping I'd get to talk with you for a bit. I mean, you're my Dad and all right?"

That surprised the brown haired boy a little. "Well, we'll meet again."

James walked into the doorway with his son. "Don't worry. We've talked with your mother. You'll be coming to visit us sometimes, and you'll see Harry at Hogwarts. Lily and I are your grandparents after all."

The boy flushed and nodded. "Oh. That's good."

Harry's father chuckled as he slapped his son on the shoulder. "Harry is grounded for now anyway. He wouldn't be much fun to hang around right now. We'll have you over sometime before the school year starts."

Anna waved as Alex was ushered out of the room. "See you later, Nephew. Be excellent to each other, and party on!"

He gave her an honest looking grin. "Yeah. You too."

Harry looked a bit embarrassed. "Yeah. Nice to meet you. Wish we could have talked more, but I guess I had some explaining to do."

After that, the two family's said their polite goodbyes as the Humdragon pair left. Harry gave a heavy sigh. "I suppose I should make some sort of arrangements. I dunno, a trust fund or something?"

Lily took him by his shoulders and turned him towards the stairs. "You can think about it in your room. I don't want to see or hear you again for a while. Upstairs, now."

Anna pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes as he walked by. She had her arms crossed and was clearly annoyed. "Honestly. I never expected...from you no less..."

He gave her a half hearted shrug. "Whatever, 'Lord Vader', you've got no room to talk."

Her eyes went wide and she blushed heavily. "That...ooh." She couldn't exactly argue with that. "Bloody hell," she grumbled.

Her mother smacked her in the back of her head. "Language. You're lucky I put up with so much in your music. I don't want to hear it in your speech."

She rubbed at the back of her head and moved back towards the couch. Her mother was in a sour mood, and it was probably best to avoid her for a bit. Her father seemed to get the same idea as he moved off.

The man sat down in front of the mirror and narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't you go getting any funny ideas." He had a cup of tea and sipped at it with a casual air about him.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you crazy?" She crossed her arms and looked away. "Look, even if I did, and I'm not going to by the way, but even by some off the wall way outside chance I did do something stupid like that idiot, I would remind you that I'm a licensed Potions Master, and I can make my own birth control. There's no way I'd end up like that."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah. Well, I'm still keeping an eye on things. It's my job as your father."

She nodded. "Yes, well. Apparently you've been 'watching' the wrong end." She wasn't really all that upset with Harry for getting laid. What really got to her was the fact that he'd just admitted that his trip to the past was considerably longer than he'd previously implied, and the fact that he'd gone messing around with past affairs, literally in that case, with no regard for consequences in the future.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and sipped at his tea. "I don't want you thinking you'll get a free pass because of your brother though."

She scowled at him. "Do you think I'm stupid? Part of the reason I'm mad at him is the fact that I know this will only make it worse than it was before."

The man nodded. "Fair enough."

Anna glanced at her father. "Any idea how long he's grounded for?"

He shrugged. "Nope. I'm not about to go and bother your mother for a while about it either."

She nodded and looked towards the kitchen. "Yeah. Good call. She's pretty pissed. Strange that you're not."

He looked at her. "I'm pretty upset too."

His daughter smirked. "I'm empathic, you can't lie to either one of us about that. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were proud of him."

The man picked up the paper and found it very interesting. "Oh. I suppose it's a good thing you do know better then."

"Well, I don't, but I don't want to upset Mom by running my mouth about it either." Anna nodded. "She was kind of hot. I guess it was kind of hard to miss."

He cleared his throat. "I suppose she was."

His daughter nodded. "Hypocrite. I try to steal a kiss from my boyfriend when you're not looking and you can't ignore that, but my brother gets a twenty something year old woman pregnant and you're practically bursting at the seams. Don't think I don't know you're going to tell Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus about it as soon as you're sure Mom can't overhear you."

He lowered the paper to frown at her. "Well, I'm going to tell them I'm cross with him about it."

She leaned against his arm. "Yes, but you're going to imply you're secretly proud of him too. Bagging a bird like that at his age, pretty impressive, no?"

The man leaned into her. "You know, I can ground you too. Trying to blackmail your own father." He sipped at his tea.

She sat back up and tossed her hair. "I haven't asked for anything. You and I both know that you're not being very honest, and that if it wasn't for Mom, you'd not be pretending to be anywhere near as upset about it as you are." She lifted her nose. "What's wrong with pointing out that if I was in the same position, you'd be trying to lynch the boy responsible for it? That's hypocritical and a bit of a double standard, wouldn't you say?"

He put his arm around her shoulder. "Yes. That's exactly the case, and I'm not in the least bit sorry for it." He shook her arm and smiled at her. "Is that better?"

She nodded and smiled back. "Yes. It is, Daddy." She put her head on his shoulder. "You really shouldn't be so dishonest. I know better, and so does Harry."

He ruffled the paper and set it down placing his cup on the table in front of them. "Yes, but your mother would skin me if I was so forward. You'll find that sometimes its best to not say exactly what's on your mind, even if you know the other person really knows otherwise."

The girl nodded. "Oh. Such wisdom! I hardly something so intelligent from the same man who thought it was a good idea to charm all the light bulbs in his daughter's room with a sprinkler enchantment."

He tilted his head. "I don't know, I thought it was rather ingenious."

Anna shifted over to sit on top of him. "Yes. Well, you've not noticed I've turned you into seat cushions either." She picked up his tea cup and peered into it. "I might not be able to get you back with my wand you know, but I'm a licensed Potions Master now. I can brew up anything I want."

"Hey. Now...wait a moment." muttered James Potter as he tried to move. He fit quite well into the couch by that point.

"We'll see how long it takes Mum to notice you're missing." The redhead had quite the satisfied smirk on her face. "Oh wait. You also replaced the bathroom rug with Devil's Snare while Pansy and Margaret were over. I had to pull them out of that. Hmmm." She put her finger to her chin. "I've got just the thing."

James could no longer move his head, it was still possible to notice that he was the seat cushion, as his human features were still visible, but he'd turned very gray, and his body and head had grown very wide and short. "What's that?" he asked as he noticed her take out a small bottle and eat one of the pills inside.

Anna settled into the cushions. "Why, it's one of the Weasley Brother's inventions. They developed it last year." She turned the bottle to read the label. "According to the label, it will cause anyone who takes one to expel the same amount of gas as eating fifty cans of baked beans, with a stench equivalent to eating five dozen hardboiled eggs in the space of only two hours. Oh! Look! Horse Diaries just started! I love that movie! The story of a young witch and her bond with a horse, as she grows into womanhood and falls for the young stable hand who helps her realize and then rescue her dreams in an epic romance! So emotional! So epic and sweeping!"

Her father gave a small gasp. "Now, Anna. There's no need for all this now." His voice was a little fearful. It sounded perfectly awful, more so than the pill she'd just swallowed.

The redhead turned her head. "Kreacher, be a dear and bring me a soda and some popcorn? I don't want to miss any of this great film."

"Anna, look, it's genius, the pills and spiking my tea and all, but there must be something better on. Come on now, you're not into films like this. I know better. I'd rather watch your mother's soaps."

She pulled out a roll of electrical tape and put a long strip over his mouth. "I'll have you know this is one of my favorite movies. Now quiet down, I can't hear it." She took great care to not cover his nostrils, and settled back in as a satisfying rumble started first in her stomach, and then from her rear.

She'd never enjoyed watching the film quite so much before.

OooOOooOO

Lily Potter walked out of the kitchen and found her daughter sitting at the table with Noriko and Marci. They were giggling and talking amongst themselves. She looked over at her daughter. "Anna, where is your father?"

The redhead blinked and glanced up at her. "Dad?"

Her mother nodded. "I've not seen him in a while. It's almost four now."

The girl shrugged. "He's in the couch. I turned him into cushions. The antidote is in the bottle on the coffee table if you feel like giving it to him." She looked over in the general direction. "He's the cushion with the strip of tape on it. Just take it off and pour the antidote in his mouth and he'll be good as new in about five minutes."

Her mother looked at her out of the corner of her eyes. "I see. I didn't need him for anything in particular. I was just wondering where he was." He'd played several pranks on his daughter and her friends had gotten caught in the crossfire a few times while they were visiting. She'd had to pull Pansy out of quicksand up to her shoulders from her daughter's closet at one point.

Anna smiled and nodded. "Well, he's not going anywhere."

Lily glanced over at the coffee table. "That little blue bottle is the antidote?"

Her daughter confirmed it. "Yeah."

The woman turned back to the kitchen. "Just leave it there then. I'll get around to fixing him up later."

Anna grinned. "No problem."

OooOOooOO

Anna stood on a familiar porch, on a familiar street. She was once again on the doorstep of her Uncle Vernon's home. The door opened and she smiled. "Hi. No parties this year?"

The man had gone pale and growled. He'd tried to close the door in her face, but it wouldn't budge. He started pulling on the knob with a bit of force. "No! We don't want visitors!"

The redhead shrugged. "You're not going to get rid of me. You know why I'm here."

The man went red and scowled at her. "He can't..."

His niece put her hand on her hips. "I explained this to you already. You made a deal, and you can't back out. It's too late."

Petunia stepped into view and gasped. "What? What are you...?"

The redhead walked into the building and looked around. "Where's Dudley? It's time to pay the piper. I have to take him, I've got as much choice about it as you do. We made a deal, and it's as good as a signed contract. For my kind, that's binding in a way that can't be ignored. You can't refuse and I can't let you off, even if I want too."

Vernon growled as he grew even more red. "He's my son! You can't have him."

The redhead smirked. "You should have thought of that before you made a deal."

Petunia screeched. "You blackmailed us! We had no choice!"

Anna just shook her head. "Come off it. We're not going to hurt him. We're certainly not going to treat him like you treated us. We made a deal and you willingly agreed."

Both parents blinked as they realized Dudley was standing behind them. He spoke up. "I want to go," he muttered.

Both adults looked at him with wide eyes and slacked jaws.

Anna shrugged. "He's our cousin. He'll be fine. We're not permitted to harm him. Even we have laws we have to follow. He's not going to come back a wizard you know. We couldn't teach him if we wanted. That's what your wife's problem is. She's jealous of her sister. She wanted to be a witch as well. She begged the Headmaster of the Wizarding school to take her. She's got no ability, and neither does your son. He couldn't learn if we wanted to make him. It doesn't work that way."

Vernon pulled his son up to his side. "What do you want him for then?" Both parents moved around him in a protective gesture.

The girl rolled her eyes and waved her hand. Both adults were jerked away from his side and she walked up and took his hand. "He's coming to visit. What is wrong with you two idiots? Haven't you figured it out yet?" She pulled the boy along behind her and poked his father in the chest.

Vernon couldn't move his arms to push her or grab her. Petunia was in the same state. "Figured what out?"

Anna narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm helping you, you moron. Do you really think I don't know about your recent promotion? How the hell do you think that happened you idiot?"

Vernon blinked at her and went red. "I worked hard..."

The redhead put her hand on her hip. "I'm your Boss doofus. The Direct Media Account? Ring a bell? Who do you think told your supervisor to put that on your desk? Who do you think Direct Media Enterprises is?"

The man went pale and worked his mouth. "What?"

The girl was really enjoying herself. "I own a very large share of your company. Your boss, your boss's boss, your boss's boss's boss, all work for me." She looked quite haughty. "Now shut the hell up and let my cousin come to visit. Idiot. I'm the richest woman on the planet. I've got multiple platnum albums, I've got more music awards than will fit on my walls, my own clothing line, several recording studios, a music production company, a line of beauty products, two actually if you count the one for normal people and...my kind. I've got large shares in three television stations, plus two more in the US, several manufacturing firms, three publishing companies, and that's just me. Harry has his own interests." She poked her finger into his heavily starched shirt again. "What exactly don't you want to rub off on your son? You nearsighted, bigoted, moron?"

Petunia went rather white. "Wh-what?"

The girl rolled her head back and let her arms drop. "I'm fucking Anna Goddamn Potter! Do you get that? Are you not comprehending it?"

Vernon spoke in a very raspy and small tone. "What do you mean?"

She crossed her arms. "Look. I'm the only one who really has any interest in keeping any sort of contact with you. Mom would be perfectly happy abandoning you and cursing you into living in the streets. Harry doesn't care a lick about it, and Dad would be glad to help her out. I'm your in road. I'm willing to try and see if you can turn yourselves into reasonable well adjusted human beings. If you can clean up your act and learn to behave like decent people instead of nosy unpleasant toads. If you can get me to actually like you, I can make you rich. What part of that are you to stubborn and thickheaded to not want in on?"

Petunia went very pink. "You...you think you can..."

The little redhead narrowed her eyes at them. "Yes, I can." She gave an exasperated sigh. "Look. I'm gonna put it to you straight. I don't like you. The rest of my family likes you even less." She turned her eyes away and pouted. "You're family though, and I guess I don't want to just give up on you yet. You were perfectly awful, but I suppose I do owe you some measure of gratitude. I had to brainwash you and control you like the weak willed puppets you are, but it wasn't so bad once I got a handle on it. So I guess I don't hate you that much. I suppose I feel a little bad about it, even if you did pretty much force me to."

Vernon and Petunia were just standing there looking at her. Neither one had moved and seemed frozen. She pushed her way into the house and turned on the television. Within a moment of flipping around, she found one of her band's music videos. "That's me and Harry." She pointed at the television and walked over to turn on the radio. She didn't even have to adjust the dial. "That's me and Harry." She went back to the television and flipped through the channels. "I own a good bit of this station." The little redhead grabbed the remote. "And this one, and this one." Flipping a bit more, she found yet another music video. "Oh, look! Us again." A moment later an entertainment news show. "Wow, look at that, us again."

Both the Dursleys were still standing the the same place. They'd turned their necks to watch her and did nothing. Dudley looked pensive, but stayed quiet and flushed with his hands behind his back.

Anna walked up to Vernon and Petunia again. "I've got you by the balls anyway you look at it. Get me? I say the word, you've got a new corner office. I say the word, and you can't afford payment on your house anymore." She looked back and fourth between them. "Now. What part of this is a bad thing for you, or Dudders, besides putting up with me and making nice?"

Vernon made a choking sound. "You're the...Direct...Media...?"

She slapped his belly. "That's right sunshine. Your biggest account. The reason your boss remembers your name now. The whole reason everything is going so well for you lately." She looked on the coffee table and noticed brochures for new cars spread out across it. "The whole reason you've got the means to afford considering this."

Petunia had her hands folded up against her chest and looked both horrified and amazed.

Vernon was turning red again and looked about ready to blow his top. "I..."

Anna slapped him across his cheek. "Stop that you dimwitted choad. What exactly do you have to get pissed off about?" She rubbed at her temples. "I am your ticket out of suburban hell and a thirty year pension future. All you have to do, is get me to like you, and forget about all this stupid stubborn jealousy and self righteous bullshit. There's nothing wrong with me because I have magic powers. If you play your cards right, it can be very good for you." She balled up her fists and got a bit red faced. "Do I have to say it slower, or did that penetrate that thick skull of yours yet?" She tapped Vernon on his temple with her finger.

He looked at the floor, still stunned and horrified. He was still holding the doorknob, "Dudders, go and pack your things."

Petunia was playing with her apron with her lips in a very wide 'o'. "You..."

Anna turned to face her. "I could have dragged you through ten kinds of hell the likes of which you could never imagine. I've got enough lawyers and plenty of perfectly legitimate reasons to drag your ass to court for the rest of your natural lives and have you living off bread and spam in a one room apartment for the rest of your miserable existence. It may not seem like it now, but I am being very nice to you. Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth? You speak the Queen's English yes?"

The woman had gone very pink and took a step back while looking at the floor.

Anna seemed to relax. "Dudders is going to visit his Aunt and Uncle for a month every summer from now on. He'll be perfectly fine. We've already got servants and he won't be sleeping in any closets. Now stop whining and live up to your end of the deal before you piss me off and I slam the door in your face for good and let you rot in this self made hell of yours."

Vernon started to mutter looking dejected. "We're perfectly..."

Anna turned and shook her head. "No, you're not. You're miserable angry people with nasty short tempers and little tolerance or consideration of others."

Dudley came out of his room with a black suitcase that he was lugging in an awkward manner in front of him. "So, I get to come and visit you?"

She looked at him and smiled. "Yes, that's right." She waved her arm. "Come on. Say goodbye to your Mum and Dad. We'll be gone all month."

The boy was beaming and looking quite pleased. "Do you live in a mansion?"

Anna shook her head. "No, it's a big house though. Lots of room to run about."

He set his luggage down and wrapped his arms around his mother and father's waists. "G'bye!"

The girl lead him out the door towards a long black car parked in the street that neither of the Dursley parents had noticed before. It was a black stretch limo. Anna put her arm across the boy's shoulder. "Now, you're gonna have to behave. There's rules and all. We'll have fun, but it's not going to be like here. You've got to be nice to everyone, and help out. Don't go trying to push anyone around, everyone there can use magic. I'll look out for you, but you're gonna get creamed if you go around acting like a prat like you do around here all right? Being bigger doesn't matter much at my place. In fact, you're gonna lose a bit of weight. You're almost as wide as you all tall Dudders."

He looked a bit annoyed. "I'm big boned."

Anna nodded. "Yes, I know. That's fine, but you're fat too. Don't worry, the food is good. We spend a lot of time running about outside though. No videogames or sitting about watching television all day."

Dudley looked confused. "Really? It's not boring?" He hefted his suitcase into the trunk.

She smirked. "Nah. Like I said, you'll be fine. I'm hoping to get you into some good habits. We'll see. There's more to do than you think. You gotta do what you're told though."

He looked a bit wary. "Um, okay." His fear abated as they got into the car. "Wow. This car is huge!"

Anna nodded. He was very agreeable at the moment, but she was aware he was going to learn a few hard lessons. Well, hard for him anyway. Throwing tantrums wouldn't work well, and he wasn't going to be able to stuff his face constantly. Keeping him under control wouldn't be too difficult, but she knew he was going to stretch their patience thin very quickly. It was going to be a long month for her family, and him, but she was hoping he'd learn something.

Vernon and Petunia looked on, still frozen in the same places. The man was white, Petunia was a very deep shade of pink, and they both had wide eyes as they watched the car pull away.

Vernon closed the door. He almost stumbled over to his chair, flopped down and opened the paper.

"Vernon! She..."

"Shut it." He buried his face in the paper.

"But..." insisted Petunia with a squeak in her tone.

He rustled the pages and settled into his seat a little more. "I don't want to talk about it."

His wife was getting a little upset. "Vernon! They took our Dudders and..."

He lowered the page and looked up at her with a scowl on his face. "Yes, they did."

Her eyes became very wide. "Do something!"

He lifted the paper again. "Not a chance."

"What? That's our son!" she was appalled and shocked.

He nodded. "Yes, he is."

"Don't you care..."

He shifted a little lower. "Not a lick." He didn't sound very pleased. "He'll be fine."

Petunia put her face into her hands and ran off in tears.

Vernon gave a small sigh as he turned the page. "Might be kind of nice to get a little peace and quiet." It was a half hearted grumble and he glanced towards the bedroom as the door slammed shut.

OooOOooOO

Anna opened the door to the spare bedroom in her home and waved her arm. "Here you are. This is where you're staying."

Lily was standing behind them looking on. "All right then, Dudley."

He was wide eyed and looked about. "This is much bigger than my room at home." He seemed a bit nervous. Anna's mother frightened him a little, she had a small smile on her lips and had been quiet other than a polite welcome when Anna had brought him in.

The bunnies had been running about when he'd come in, but he couldn't see them. They were invisible to muggles. Dudley could see the House Elves, but they were in the kitchen and he'd not met them yet.

Lily Potter looked at her daughter. "You'll help him get settled in, Anna?"

She looked up and nodded. "Sure. I'll help him out, get him adjusted and all." She stepped out of the room and caught her mother's attention. "Look, talk with Dad would you? He's spoiled rotten and a bit of a prat, but if he starts playing pranks and teasing him, it's only going to make things harder. I'm gonna talk with the other kids too, he's a muggle, and you know his parents. Part of the reason I want him here is to undo some of the damage they've done. It will only be harder if Dad is giving him a hard time. I don't mind goofing around with Dad, but if I want to help Dudley I'm going to need a little help."

The woman didn't look entirely pleased with having the boy there. "I'll speak with him." She smiled a bit lightly. "I'm surprised at you. What brought this on? They deserve..."

Anna nodded. "I don't like them, but they are family. That counts for something. Teasing them is fun, but I don't think it would be good for me to torment them for the rest of their lives either. Dudders is going to be a handful, but...it's not entirely his fault. He's still young enough that I can't help but blame his parents more than him." She looked over her shoulder into the room. He was sitting on the bed and looking about. The large boy was nervous, but not upset or afraid. "I sense good in him." She didn't say it, but there was something in all of them. Vernon had a nasty temper and was extremely stubborn, but Petunia was the worst of the three. Her jealousy had consumed her, and she was pretty bad off. Still, there was something there, not much, but enough to give her hope, and them an opportunity. She wasn't sure why she was doing it herself.

The woman gave a nod. "All right. You made your deal. I'm not entirely pleased about it mind you."

Anna sighed. "Neither am I. I can sense something in them though. It is buried deep, hidden away, but there. I suppose it's enough that I feel I should at least try." She turned back into the room and smiled at her cousin. "All right Dudders. Let's get you unpacked, then I'll show you around."

He nodded. "Where's Harry?"

His sister gave a smirk. "He's...grounded. He's stuck in his room right now. Don't worry. He'll be about."

The pudgy boy chuckled. "Grounded? For what?"

Anna bit her lip and considered just telling him. It might be kind of funny to see the expression and help him tease her brother about the whole mess. "It's a wizarding thing. We're not supposed to tell Muggles about that sort of stuff."

Her cousin blinked. "What? What's a Muggle?"

The girl looked at him over her shoulder. "It's what Wizards call someone who can't use magic. Don't worry, some of them are jerks and don't like people like you much, but it's not really a bad word."

The boy nodded and scrunched his face up. "Everyone here is a Wizard then?"

Anna shrugged. "Yeah. Everyone who lives nearby is. There might be a few muggle families close by. I'm not sure. I haven't really been that far around here. Pretty much just on this street. Furthest I've been in this area is the Weasley place. They live a few miles from here." When Harry's punishment was over, he could walk to see them. Their parents weren't keen on letting them go that far because they thought they were a bit young to be wandering so far. They were both old enough to make the trip on their own though that summer.

Dudley blinked. "Who are they?"

The redhead was filling his drawers with his clothes. He'd packed poorly and they'd have to pick up a few things for him. She was expecting it though, and had a few extra toiletries prepared for him. He hadn't brought a toothbrush or any toothpaste, and had too many shirts and not enough pants, only a few pairs of socks, and plenty of underwear. "Just friends of the family. Nice people. You'll probably meet them while you're here. Ron's a good friend of Harry's, and he usually stops by in the summer a few times. They've been away though, took a trip to Egypt this summer."

The pudgy boy looked a bit confused. "Oh." He hadn't been listening, as the girl was unpacking his things without touching them. They were floating from his suitcase and flying into the drawers. "Um..."

She smirked at him. "I've always been able to do that. Your Dad would have blown his top if I'd done it at your house though. Your parents don't like magic."

Dudley nodded. "I know. They say it's foolish and dirty."

His cousin chuckled. "Yes. I remember." She didn't elaborate, he didn't need to hear about it. "All right then. I'll show you around the house. Come on then."

The boy was wide eyed and a bit pale as they entered the kitchen. "Dobby, Kreacher. Meet Dudley, he's my cousin."

Both House Elves were working in the kitchen and turned to look at the rather dumbstruck boy. Dobby got a huge grin and moved up to greet him with a low bow. "Dobby is very pleased to meet you sir."

Kreacher was a bit more pensive and narrowed his eyes. He was a bit slower in approaching, but gave a polite bow.

"Wh-what?" muttered Dudley. He was shocked and didn't want to get too close.

Anna explained to both sides. "Dudley is a Muggle. He's new to things like this. Dudders, these are House Elves. They're sort of like butlers for Wizards. Don't worry, they won't hurt you, but don't go teasing them. They're not pets and you should treat them with respect. If you need anything, just ask and they'll both be glad to help you out. If I find out you've been mistreating them you'll get into a lot of trouble. You're to be polite to them both." She wasn't scolding him and seemed pleasant.

Dobby and Kreacher both looked at her with wide eyes and slacked jaws. "R-respect?" muttered Dobby as if he'd never heard the word. Certainly never directed at him. "P-p-polite?"

Kreacher seemed just as surprised. "Mistress is too kind."

Dudley looked a bit taken back by the two things. "Elves? As in, real elves?"

His cousin slapped his shoulder. "Yes, of course. You'd be surprised what's real. Come along..."

She showed him the bathroom, and pointed out the Elves' room before taking him up the stairs. She passed by the bedrooms and took him to the attic stairs. "Come on."

He seemed a bit surprised at going higher into the house. "This is the Potion's Lab. You need to stay out of here. I spend a lot of time in here, but it can be dangerous. You shouldn't be in here at all, okay?" There were lots of beakers, a few pots and cauldrons, including a few that were set aside and bubbling with various liquids. It smelled a bit like a spice cabinet, but with a slight twinge of decay as well.

She tugged on his arm. "Up we go." They were in the attic. "This is the attic, over here we have the Olwery. This is Carrot and Hedwig. They're our delivery owls. Wizards don't send letters with the post office. Instead we use owls. We can still get letters from the post, but we don't use it unless we're writing to a non-magic user."

The boy nodded and seemed interested. "Birds? How?" He was confused by that. The two fowl were standing on a perch over a blue parchment with white lines drawn all over it. They looked like blueprints. The smaller owl was pointing his claw at the page and both animals were looking at it and ignoring the pair. "What are they doing?"

"Carrot, Hedwig, this is Dudley, our cousin. He's visiting us this summer." Anna smiled at the two birds and jerked her thumb at her cousin.

Carrot looked up and cleared his throat. "Oh. Delighted. I suppose it's nice to meet you."

Hedwig seemed much more pleased. "Narf! Hello there!"

Dudley's jaw was hanging. "They talk?"

Anna nodded. "Yes. These two do. Most owls can't. I think they're special for some reason, but I'm not really sure why. Neither of them seems to recall anything about why they can."

He shook his head. "Oh. What are they doing? Are they building something?" He seemed to notice that the page they were over were some sort of plans for a machine.

The redhead nodded. "Yeah. They're trying to take over the world. They do it every night." She looked at the two snow owls. "Good luck with tonight's plan guys."

Carrot nodded. "Yes, thank you." He turned back towards Hedwig. "Pay attention Hedwig. I'm going to need your claws for this part..."

Dudley found himself dragged back down the stairs into the main home. "That's Harry's room, he's grounded right now. You'll see him later, he's not allowed to have visitors at the moment." She grinned and pulled him along. "Oh. There's someone you should meet. You have to be quiet though."

Dudley wasn't so sure he wanted to meet anything else in the house. It was strange enough as it was. He wasn't thinking he was in any danger, but he was getting confused. The redhead opened the door next to her parent's room and pulled him over to a baby crib. "This is Ivy. Your new cousin. She's only a month old."

The boy was relieved a bit and peered into the crib. The tiny little baby girl had her eyes closed and her head turned to the side. Anna pulled on his arm and out of the room. "Come on then. We'll go outside for a bit. I'll introduce you to the other kids."

OooOOooOO

Dudley was sitting around with the neighborhood kids. Cedric frowned at him a little, he'd heard about the boy from Harry. Anna had spoken to them about him coming and they were all being tolerant of him. They all knew he was a muggle.

Mark and Brian were getting along with him. Dudley was being on his best behavior. It kind of surprised his cousin. The fact that she'd explained that everyone there could use magic probably hadn't hurt.

They were outside and in the soft grass talking with the boy. He was very interesting to the Wizard children, and even Cedric was curious and asking questions. Noriko and Marci were both sitting around Anna, who seemed to be pretty protective of her cousin. Brian and Cedric were both larger than Dudley, not by weight, but both were thick armed and broad shouldered and easily a head taller than him.

Mark was looking at his chocolate frog cards. None of them moved at all when Dudley was looking at them, and each would freeze in the same pose if he did. "That's interesting. So, muggle pictures don't move?"

Dudley shook his head. "No. We've got video, and it does. These pictures can move? You're putting me on? They're just sitting there."

Anna smirked. "It's because you're a muggle. They're magic cards. We're not allowed to let muggles know about wizarding stuff. You're allowed to know a bit more than most because you're related to me and my family, but there's still lots of stuff I can't show you or tell you about. We used to live with you, so the Ministry of Magic has cleared you for...what's it called?"

Cedric glanced at her. "First Level Magical Knowledge Permission. Dad works with a few who have that kind of clearance. He's in the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures. There's a few places where muggles live close to certain types of Magical Creatures, and they're allowed to know a bit about them for their own safety."

The pudgy boy nodded. "Secret? Why?"

Anna shrugged. "There's not enough of a lot of things to go around. If everyone knew about magic, then everyone would want magical solutions to their problems. With resources being so limited, it's not practical. Muggles have their own way of doing things. You've got technology to get by, and it does well enough for you. It's to help protect muggles too. It helps keep bad wizards from messing around with normal people. Taking over the world, or making magical slaves, or abusing their powers to do bad things to people who can't fight back. It's complicated."

Dudley seemed to think on that, he was interested in the new place, but confused a great deal. He wasn't very smart, but he was still following the conversation a little. "What's the Ministry of Magic?"

Anna looked up at him. "It's Wizarding Government, we're still British, and we're not immune from the law. We've got our own department and branches that take care of magical things though. It answers to the Prime Minister just like the rest. It's run by the Minister of Magic, he's pretty much the head wizard in Britain."

"Oh," muttered Dudley. He sort of understood, but he was also aware that he'd be pretty lost if they asked anymore. "So, what do you do around here?" He was getting tired of sitting in the grass.

Anna gave a sigh. "Well, we can't play Quidditch with him."

Cedric snorted. "Like any of us wants to get creamed by you anyway. I have enough of that in school."

His girlfriend smirked. "I hear you're the team Captain this year."

The burly boy nodded. "Yeah."

Mark shrugged. "We could teach him to play Battle Mage. The effects won't show, but the game still works. There's a Muggle version of it I've heard. You just can't see the spell effects."

The pudgy boy gave a small snort. "Only nerds play that. It's geek stuff, dragons and whatnot."

Anna glanced at him. "Dragons are real. I've seen a couple. There's one guarding the vaults in the Wizard bank. They're pretty rare though."

His eyes went wide and his head whipped around. "Huh?"

She continued as if he'd not gone all white. "It's not so nerdy when Wizards play. Instead of those paper maps muggles use, little miniature creatures appear and fight for real. If you use a fire spell it makes a little fireball."

The large boy scrunched his eyebrows. "Really? You're not putting me on are you?"

Nori spoke up. "No. We all play, but she's right. If you're around, it won't work. It is pretty boring without it. We rode the train to Winchester once, and Brian and I played on the way there for a bit. None of the spell effects showed because there were muggles sitting all around us."

The tall blond boy nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't the same without it. Gobstones work though."

Anna frowned. "Ugh. I hate that game. It's gross."

Mark grinned at her. "That's the fun in it."

Dudley was almost afraid to ask. "Gobstones?"

The redhead glanced at him. "It's like marbles, but when you lose a point, the marbles spit this disgusting goo on you. I hate it."

The large boy nodded. "Oh. That doesn't sound so bad."

Mark shrugged. "We've got some. I'll have to go back to my house to get mine."

Cedric nodded. "Yeah. Mine are in my room. He'll be here all summer right? We'll play some other time."

Anna nodded. "I'll pick him up a set later. You'll have to leave them here when you go home though. You can play when you visit, but you can't take magical objects back home with you. It's not allowed."

Marci spoke up. "I don't care for it either. Nori likes to play though."

Dudley blushed as he glanced at the blond girl. She was very pretty but wasn't paying much attention to him. He shifted with discomfort and looked about. "What can we do though?"

The redhead stood up. "How about Baseball?"

Cedric gave a small sigh. "We've not got enough people. There's an odd..."

Lee Jordan walked up with a grin on his face. "Hey. What's up?" He sat down and noticed Dudley. "Who's this then?" He was a tall black boy about the same age as Cedric.

Mark smiled at him. "This is Anna's cousin Dudley. He's visiting for the summer. He's a muggle."

Jordan seemed surprised. "A muggle?"

Anna frowned at him a little. "Yeah. What are you up to?"

The older boy shrugged. "Nothing much. I just got back from the Burrow. The Weasleys just got back from Egypt and I was hanging around with Fred and George. I was helping them degnome the garden, but we got bored. I had to leave when we got caught shooting gnomes out of a launcher into his sister's window. Ginny pitched a fit when they got into her closet and started ransacking her dresser. Mrs. Weasley was pretty upset."

Anna's eyelids closed half way and she gave a snort. "Idiots as usual." She looked up at Jordan. "What kind of launcher?"

The boy shrugged at her and grinned wide. "Just a bit of pipe and a bit of their air blasting gum."

Anna nodded. "Oh. I know that stuff. Number 235." It was chewing gum, when a bubble was blown with it, it increased the amount of air pressure in the bubble a hundred times. It could knock the person chewing it onto their rear when it popped. She looked at Dudley. "Dudders, a bit of advice. No matter what, don't take anything from the Weasley twins. They've got a habit of enchanting pranks into things. If they give you candy, don't eat it. You'll regret it if you do. It's the sort of magic that will work on a Muggle too."

He furrowed his brow and nodded. "Oh. Okay."

Lee seemed surprised. "Yeah. How do you..."

She smirked at him. "I just do."

Cedric glanced at her. "Huh?"

The redhead shook her head. "It's nothing. Just a little something to do with that little prank war of ours." No one knew it, but Fred and George had started a business. She'd put up the funding for it, and they were running a mail order joke and pranks business. Wizard Wheezes, Practical Jokes and Jinxes. They had wanted to call it Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but she'd made them take their name off of the company title until they graduated from Hogwarts. She knew Molly Weasley wouldn't be pleased if she found out. She'd also put up a bit for manufacturing. They did development at home, but a few House Elves and quite a few bunnies took care of filling stock using their instructions. They also mailed out orders. It was already paying for itself, and the three of them were making a bit. She took only a small percentage and most of the money went to the twins. There was an advertising campaign going on, and no one knew who was running the business. Part of the deal meant that she was on the 'board' for the company and could order as much as she wanted for free.

It was booming, a lot of orders were going out, and they were expecting quite a boom in business once the school year started. The twins weren't very hard to sell on keeping it all under wraps. Their mother had expressed displeasure in their activities before, and had stalled a couple of new products by confiscating and destroying a few prototypes. She thought of it as a waste of time and was getting more hard lined about it. She thought they would waste their future doing things like that, and that such a thing was too much risk, without ambition, and that they would both fail and end up poor and destitute with no skills to fall back on.

The Twins were in no danger of an early retirement yet, but the simple fact was, that even with the current rate of growth, that would happen within two years. Probably sooner, as they were expecting things to pick up before the start of the School term in a little more than a month. It was the busiest season for Zonko's, and stayed steady throughout the school year. She had no reason to think that Wizarding Wheezes would be any different, and they had quite a few copyrights and patents filled out for all three of them already.

On top of that, she'd also started a line of beauty products and potions on her friend's advice. She wouldn't be making anything personally, but the products would be using her recipes and concoctions, all copyrighted and patented as well. It wouldn't go on the market until just before the school year started and promotional advertisements were just hitting the presses. There was makeup involved as well. Lipstick that lasted until it was intentionally removed and didn't smudge but still allowed you to leave kiss marks if you wished, blush and mascara that adjusted to skin tone and would not apply any more than the perfect amount, shimmering and/or color changing eyeshadow and lipstick, even sorts that changed to suit moods, and mascara that wouldn't run or clump up and made lashes extend to the perfect length, anti-zit potions, skin moisturizers, magical braces, hair products and dyes, and similar things. She'd not told anyone but the Dursleys about it yet, but the products were already being produced and packaged for shipping.

Dudley sat back on his hands. He had no idea what anyone was talking about anymore.

Anna stood up and dusted off her rear. "How about a game of baseball then? We've got enough, I've got gloves, bats, and a few balls at the house. We can play in my back yard."

The group went outside and did exactly that.

OooOOooOO

James Potter cocked his head as his daughter put something in one of the plates of food that was being taken out to the table in silence. He was getting frustrated with the boy already. "That fat prat. All he's done so far is whine. He's hungry constantly, it's a wonder with the size of him." The girl was pouring a bit of something in a bottle into her cousin's plate. "Are you sure I can't turn him into a toad for a while? Just a bit?"

The redhead was behind her mother's back and scowled at him. Kreacher and Dobby had helped prepare the meal, but Lily was overseeing and acting as head chef. The elves weren't used to it, but neither one minded the help. Lily enjoyed cooking with them, and used them more for assistance and to prepare ingredients and set things up. The table was set, and Harry and Dudley were waiting on their dinner. "Leave him alone. It's bad enough as it is. Besides, I had him running about outside. He's got reason to be a bit hungry."

The man narrowed his eyes at her. "Yes. Well, I for one am glad he's been out of the house. He's driving me crazy. He tried to throw a tantrum when I told him he'd have to wait until dinner was ready. Started crying, can you believe it? Shut up fast when he realized I was ignoring him, but it was still irritating listening to him blubber and whimper."

Anna stirred the concoction into his potatoes. "He'll adjust. I've been putting up with him all day. Lee Jordan tried to feed him a toffee that would make his tongue grow to four feet, and I've had a time keeping the other kids from teasing him. He skinned his knee playing baseball and wailed like a baby in front of everyone. No one likes him, and they're just putting up with him because I'm hanging around him." She looked over her shoulder. "He pushed Nori over playing third, and tried to trip Mark. He's too chicken to try anything with Brian and Cedric, they're both bigger than he is. I'm gonna have to get Harry to help keep an eye on him. I'm not so sure it will end well if I leave him on his own around them." She gave a heavy sigh. "I had to step in to keep him from getting clobbered by Brian."

James snorted. "Maybe you should let him? Might do him some good." He was eying the bottle she was using. "What's that then? You're going on about me not being to hard on him, and you're spiking his food?"

Lily turned and grabbed her hand before she put it back in her robes. "Yes, what is this?"

The girl blushed. "I want to send him back in better condition than he showed up in. It will curb his appetite and make him lose weight. It'll also give him a bit more energy. Make it easier to keep him off his fat ass and running about."

Her mother took the bottle from her and peered into it, she took off the top and sniffed it. Her face fell a little and she nodded. "All right." She looked at her daughter in approval as she handed it back.

Anna nodded. "Don't tell him about it. I can't have him on this stuff forever. It's just to get him started. Hopefully his idiot parents won't undo the good it does before he comes back."

James shook his head. "I'm not going to put up with his attitude forever."

The girl sighed. "I didn't say don't punish him for being a prat. Just, don't take it too far and torture him. He's irritating, and I've been mentally driving him about a little. I want him better behaved too." She looked up at him. "Turning him into a toad is too much. Send him to his room, or get me to deal with him."

Lily put her hand on her hip. "Why are you doing this anyway?"

The redhead shrugged. "I want him to turn out better than his parents. There's good in him."

James rolled his eyes. "You'll be disappointed then. They're his parents, and we're not raising him for them."

The girl narrowed her eyes as he walked out of the kitchen. "I'm working on that end too," she muttered under her breath.

The girl didn't realize her mother heard her quite well. Her hearing was enhanced to help out with the baby. Harry was taking care of Ivy at the moment, and he was a big help. Anna had done her part as well. She was quite proud of them both for being such a big hand with her. They both were very welcoming and helpful with their new sister. "What are you up to I wonder?" she asked out loud as the girl went out to join them at the table. Dobby and Kreacher were taking the plates out as she dried her hands with a dish towel. She put her hand on Dobby's shoulder. "Make sure Dudley gets that plate." The elf gave a nod and took it out to the table.

OooOOooOO

It had been two weeks since Dudley had arrived. He was getting along all right. He'd thrown more than a few tantrums, but they were growing more infrequent and his whining had lessened. The redhead waved her hand in front of her scowling cousin. He had his arms crossed and a huge pout on his face. "Go and wash your hands."

His eyes glazed over and he shuffled off to do as he was instructed.

Harry was out of his room. His mother had just lifted his grounding a few hours before. Ron was sitting with him as they looked at the scene. The redheaded boy looked a bit disgusted. "Ugh. How do you put up with it?"

Harry looked displeased as well, but with his sister. "You've been doing a lot of that to him. You shouldn't."

She walked over and sat down with them. "I'm trying to get him in the habit of doing things like that without it." She looked a bit weary, and had spent almost the whole two weeks with him. Partially to keep an eye on his behavior and take over if he was becoming too much of a problem like she just had, and partially for his own safety. Mark, Brian, and Noriko disliked him intensely. "It's been a pain, but I'm sure you've noticed an improvement." Cedric didn't care for him either, but she trusted him a bit more.

Ron's jaw dropped. "This is an improvement?"

Harry's head fell a little. "Yeah. It is. Believe it or not. I told you about him, he's a fat bully and spoiled rotten."

The Weasley boy nodded. "I knew you didn't like him, but I didn't really think..."

Anna sat back and relaxed. "Be patient with him. It's working. More effort than I thought, but there's been progress."

Ron shook his head. "What happened anyway? I asked about coming to see you last week, but your Mom said you were grounded?"

Harry blushed a bit. "It's...complicated."

His friend arched his eyebrow. "If you don't want to say..."

Anna snorted. "He's going to find out sooner or later. Alex is going to be at Hogwarts next year."

Ron seemed surprised. "You got into a fight or something? Who's this Alex? Is he a jerk or something, must be if..."

The red haired girl smirked. "Well, it was definitely 'physical' in nature."

Harry was blushing. "Shut it, Annabelle. Alex is a good kid. He's coming over to visit for a while starting tomorrow. I'll introduce you. It's nothing like that."

Ron cocked his head and tipped back his now signature hat. "Really? Oh. That's good then. Why were you in trouble though? Come on, we're friends."

Harry was uncomfortable, and Anna decided to let him delay things a little. "How was Egypt by the way?"

The red haired boy smiled. "It was pretty exciting. I've got quite a story for you actually." He puffed out his chest. "Bill and I got kidnapped by a bunch of Death Eaters at Gringotts in Egypt. I met the daughter of the Goblin Pharaoh, and there was this mess with an old tomb under the bank."

Ron started his story and told them about how the whole mess began. He hadn't gotten very far into the story when Anna stopped him and grabbed his arm. "Wait a minute. You met who?"

The boy blinked and looked at her. "Huh? What, you mean the professor?"

The girl nodded her head slowly and had very wide eyes. "Professor Henry Jones. He told me to call him Indy. He was a nice guy, and told me this great story about one of the tombs when he was a boy, and a jeweled Jackal Statue. He met some guy named Lawrence and..."

Anna's expression got even more wide eyed and she went a little pale. "You -met- Indiana Jones?!"

Ron seemed surprised. "Yeah. You know him?"

Harry seemed surprised. Dudley had come back from washing up, he'd not only washed his hands, but cleaned up hsi face as well. The boy sat down with them and seemed calm and quiet. "So what?"

Anna flushed as she realized she'd blurted out and gotten a bit more excited about it than anyone would think is normal. "He's one of the greatest Archaeologist that ever lived. He found the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail! The man is an absolute legend!"

The redhead seemed surprised. "Really? He was pretty old I guess. He was really cool though."

Harry shook his head. "Really, Anna. I didn't know you were into that sort of thing."

"Like Noah's Ark?" Dudley looked confused.

Anna looked over at him. "No. Like the box that the Ten Commandments were carried around in. That's the Muggle version of what it is anyway. It's actually a very powerful summoning altar, can bring up some very nasty specters. It's a weapon of war used by ancient wizards. It's a very big deal, it's a major magical artifact."

Ron seemed a bit blank. "Really? Huh. That is pretty cool." He tipped his hat back. "I don't know about that though."

Harry slapped the redheaded boy's arm. "Anyway, what about this story?"

Weasley went on with his tale. Even Dudley was impressed by it all. Anna didn't look that surprised, but stayed interested.

The large boy was a bit wide eyed. "You...gave it back?"

Ron frowned at him. "Of course I did." He reached behind his back and pulled out a folded newspaper clipping. "Here, take a look. This is a picture of me with Nubiti, there's a picture of the glove as well." He paused, the pictures weren't moving and the words looked like gibberish. "Huh, that's weird."

Dudley squinted his eyes. "What?"

Harry jerked his thumb at his cousin. "Dudley is a muggle."

The Weasley boy nodded. "Oh. That explains it. Anyway, this is after we got back." It was a shot of Nubiti kissing Ron, and he had a surprised expression on his face and his arms were spread. The glove was in a smaller photo below it.

Harry took the clipping and peered at it. "This was in the Prophet?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah. I'm surprised you don't know."

Anna shrugged. "Harry's been grounded, and I've been busy with Dudders here. Haven't seen it or watched any broadcasts in a while."

Dudley narrowed his eyes. "I thought you said you didn't have television."

Harry smirked at him. "We don't. We have the Wizarding Network. You can't see or hear it even if we've got it on. It projects in that mirror up there."

The large boy looked a bit disappointed. He missed television. He was having a good time of his visit, despite his whining and tantrums. He didn't seem to notice how much he was annoying everyone else. He was also about twenty pounds lighter, and actually needed his belt to keep his pants on. He was still a very large boy though and anything but slim.

Anna was quite proud of herself, even though she was very weary of him. She was spending all of her time with him, and didn't trust her father enough to leave him on his own at the house, or her friends enough to leave him alone with them. She'd pretty much been stuck at his side.

Harry smirked at his cousin. "So, how has your visit been Big D?"

The tubby boy smiled at his cousin. "It's been wonderful. Sorry I haven't seen much of you."

That caught Harry completely off guard. "Oh. Well, I'm off the hook now." He wasn't really looking forward to the boy's visit at all. He'd never let on, but he was a bit glad that he was stuck in his room on some level. He missed his friends, but he'd spent most of his time meditating, working out, and studying for the next term. Dudley was glad to see him, and not in a mean spirited way.

Anna leaned in. "You're going to have a turn looking after him. Ron is here now, but I've been stuck to his side since he got here."

Harry frowned at her a little. "It was your idea."

"He's your cousin too." Cedric had been hanging around her, but Nori was avoiding her, and Mark and Brian would only put up with him for a little while. Her boyfriend didn't care much for him, but seemed to understand that she was looking out for her family. Marci was hanging out with Noriko most of the time those days. She visited as well, but like Mark and Brian didn't hang out for very long. Dudders stared at her a bit, and it kind of creeped her out. Her family would certainly not approve and she had no interest in dating a muggle. Much less a fat spoiled one, Dudley was trying to impress her, but had failed miserably.

Anna had noticed his crush, but knew better than to try and help him out. If he was lucky, her parents would just curse him. Mark and Brian had noticed as well, and teased him about it a bit, but a sour look from her shut them up before they were too hard on him.

Ron stood up. "Let's go out back for a bit."

Harry nodded and stood up. "Yeah. I could do for some air. I've been stuck in here for two weeks."

Anna relaxed as Dudley stood up to follow. "I'll come along."

Ron seemed annoyed, but Harry motioned for him to follow with a bit of surprise. "All right then."

OooOOooOO

Anna was finally away from her cousin. Harry was looking after him. He and Ron were in the back yard with him. They were talking, Dudley was annoying Ron, but both boys were putting up with him and seemed to be including him.

Lily noticed her walking towards the door. "Going somewhere?"

She smiled. "Harry's looking after Dudley. I'm going to see if I can find Cedric and hang out with him for a bit. I've been stuck with my cousin since he got here."

The woman nodded. "It was your idea."

Her daughter nodded. "I know. I'm just taking a break while I can."

Pansy and Margaret walked up behind the woman. "Hey," said the brunette.

The raven haired girl smirked. "Where's the fat one?"

Anna blinked. She mentally cursed, but it wasn't too heated. She was hoping for a bit of time alone with her boyfriend, but not so much as to drive them off. "Oh. Hey. Melvin along as well?"

Pansy nodded. "We ran into Harry and Ron in the back yard on the way in."

The redhead blinked. "Dudley wasn't with them?"

Margaret smiled. "Yes. I was just teasing. You've been dragging him around lately."

She nodded and sighed. "Yeah. He needs to be watched, and it was my idea to bring him here, so..."

Pansy seemed surprised. "Why?" The boy had been polite enough. He was a fan of the band and seemed glad to meet them. She'd heard stories about him from Anna and Harry though. They both had, and Anna had never explained his presence, and only mentioned that he'd be there for the month.

The redhead shrugged. "It's complicated. I'm trying to train him. I'd rather not talk about it, I've not gotten away from him much and I need a break. Come on then."

The two girls followed her out of the home. "Where are we headed?" asked Pansy.

Margaret smirked. "Over to see Cedric I'd guess."

Anna nodded. "That was my plan."

OooOOooOO

Cedric blinked as he came to his door. "Oh. Hey." He stepped out with them. "What's up?" He took a look around and noticed Dudley wasn't present. "Didn't bring the lump along?"

The redhead swatted at his chest. "Be nice. He's irritating to me too. He's getting better though."

The brunette boy nodded. "I'd noticed. He's still a bit of a pain though. Hi girls."

Pansy and Margaret both nodded in greeting. Both of them looked cheerful.

He looked at the redhead. "What are you three up too?"

Anna shrugged. "I was thinking of heading down to the creek or something. Hang out for a bit, away from my cousin."

The boy shrugged. "Sure. Brian was here earlier, but Nori and Brian have to go with their parents to the Alley for a bit."

Margaret nodded at him and didn't seem interested in him much. She was a bit aloof, but not unfriendly with him. It's just how she was he figured.

Anna grabbed her boyfriend's hand. "Coming along then?"

Cedric gave a nod. "Yeah. Sure."

OooOOooOO

The group ended up wading about in a small clear creek. The water was cool and clean, and they chased about small sprites, and wood fairies. They all caught a few, and released them immediately. The creatures were all playful, and as long as they were gentle, enjoyed the game as much as the children did. Anna got ingredients from them on occasion, fairy dust was useful in a lot of potions. The dust was easy to collect, the creatures emitted it, and it covered their hands just touching them.

Anna had an easy time catching them, and ended up with a small bottle of dust for her efforts. The other children just ended up washing their hands in the creek water. It was only about a foot deep at the lowest points.

Lee Jordan joined them. He'd come looking for Cedric after the Weasley boys caused trouble at home again and he'd had to leave. Mrs. Weasley didn't dislike him, but Fred and George had enlisted him in helping them turn her kitchen utensils into soft rubber leaving them all as limp as noodles. Enchanting them had been easy, but each one had to be disenchanted individually. It would take a bit of time, and she wasn't overly upset with it. It was rather tame by the standards of the Weasley Twins. It would put off the Weasley lunch by an hour at least though, and she was annoyed.

He helped them catch a Water Nymph, and Anna had gotten a few scales from it. It bit and had sharp teeth and fins. They'd let it go after Lee teased it a bit. It was unharmed, but not very happy with them.

They all ran about the wood poking about for wild Snipes, but were unsuccessful in finding any. It was easier with a Snipe detector, and a sack. They'd seen traces of a few, but not caught a glimpse of any.

Anna blinked as she looked around. Pansy, Margaret, and Lee were all about twenty yards away. Cedric was next to her and poking around a small burrow hole under the roots of a tree. It was abandoned though. She took the opportunity to check out his rear while he was bent down over the ground on his hands and knees. "Well, it's a Snipe burrow, but it's been abandoned. They're not easy to catch in the Summer. We're better off trying in the spring really. They're a bit slower after they've been hibernating." He stood up and dusted off his hands.

The girl nodded. "I know. Doesn't hurt to have a look about though. I could use a bit of Snipe fur, but it's cheap anyway."

He smirked at her. "Yeah, not as cheap as catching one."

She looked away with a wry grin on her face. "I know. I wasn't really looking to catch one. It's just fun to run about."

He grinned at her and nodded. "Yeah. It is." She started moving off, but he put his arm in the way to bar her against the tree trunk behind her.

She paused and flushed as she got a little wide eyed and backed into the tree. She looked around and licked her lips as she seemed to realize that their friends were nowhere to be seen. She didn't say anything and relaxed against the bark with a smile starting to form.

He leaned in closer. "We've not been alone in a while."

The redhead nodded once. "I noticed." She darted her eyes away from his and towards the grass and moss on the forest floor.

He held up a mirror that was in his palm and smirked. "I was using this to look around the burrow. You were checking me out."

She turned her eyes to the side. "So I was." He was drawing closer.

"See anything you like?" His grin widened as their noses almost touched.

"Well...I..." He put his lips against hers and cut off her response.

Anna felt her head swim. Her arms reflexively moved up around his neck, and he felt his hand against the small of her back. Her leg bent up behind her as she leaned into him.

They stayed that way for a long moment and he broke his kiss. She gasped and had a bit of trouble opening her eyes. "You're, very pretty." He spoke softly into her ear.

She felt what she once thought of as an 'uncomfortable shiver' run down her spine. It was quite pleasant though. He tried to take a step back, but her arms were still around his neck. "Don't stop now, Cedric dear. It wouldn't do to waste an opportune moment."

He gave a small laugh at that as she put her leg up against his thigh and pulled him in for another kiss.

OooOOooOO

Margaret was looking on as Lee got off his back nearby. He was feeling about the underbrush. "Nothing. If I'd known I'd end up hunting Snipes, I'd have brought my detector along."

The raven haired girl shook her head. "I think Anna just suggested it to run off with her boyfriend for a bit."

Lee was dusting off his back and looked around. "Hey. When did they leave?"

Margaret rolled her eyes and lifted her nose. "About ten minutes ago. They're over that way. I say we let them be."

Lee frowned at her. "What's with the attitude anyway? I didn't say anything about bugging them. I just didn't notice they were gone."

The raven haired girl narrowed her eyes at him. "If I hadn't said anything, the next words out of your mouth would have been 'Let's go take a look'."

If his skin was any lighter, he'd have blushed. He shifted his eyes away. "N-no I wouldn't."

Margaret knew she had him pegged. "You can't leave a situation like that alone. You and those Weasley boys both." She poked him in the chest. "Leave them alone. I know if you go over there, you'd break it up for a cheap laugh."

He didn't look pleased, but wasn't really angry. "No I wouldn't. I might have gone for a peek, but I wouldn't bother them. Fred and George are my friends, and I think they're both a gas, but I'm not like that."

The raven haired girl smirked. "Oh? Like that time you stuck a two foot grass snake in Amanda Tursin's dress pocket? I heard about that you know. She slapped Roger Morrison so hard he had her hand print on his face for hours because she thought it was something else."

Lee chuckled at the memory. "Yeah. That was pretty good. That was Fred though. Even George told him to leave them alone." He looked a bit flushed as he realized she was scowling at him. "I guess he thought it was too good to pass up. He just happened to have the snake..."

She turned her back on him with her arms crossed. "Whatever."

Lee was getting defensive and turned her around. "Hey. I'm not like that. I..."

Margaret arched her eyebrow and smirked. "You didn't stop them either, did you?"

Jordan looked a bit flushed. "Well, no." He turned and narrowed his eyes at her and put his finger up to her nose. "You're not better. Anna does stuff all the time, and you help her out. I know you had something to do with Daphne Greengrass having antlers for three days last year."

The girl arched her eyebrow. "Yes, but I don't like Daphne Greengrass. I bet you don't even know Roger or Amanda."

The boy crossed his arms. "And you do? What do you care?"

She shrugged. "Who said I did? I was just pointing out..."

Lee was annoyed and wanted to shut her up, so he grabbed her arms, and kissed her full on the lips. He broke off and laughed at her expression. "There...now that was funny. Now..."

Margaret was ready to slap him, her arm was cocked back and she had a wild fire in her eyes. Her hand balled up and she slugged him dead in the gut. He grunted and leaned forward a little while holding the spot.

"Ouch. Sorry. I didn't think..."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "No. You didn't." Taking a hand full of his collar, she forced him to stand up, pushed him against the tree, and kissed him again.

His eyes went wide and he waved his arms about with a shocked expression on his face.

"Asshole," she Margaret mutter as she bit his lip for a moment before going at it again. Jordan had relaxed, but still seemed in a bit of a shock. Margaret had a good hold on him and was almost crawling on top of him with his head in her hands.

OooOOooOO

Pansy had figured out why she was on her own pretty quickly. She wasn't angry at anyone, but also wasn't keen on heading back on her own and explaining why she was by herself to anyone.

She looked up and gasped. Harry was looking at her. "Oh. Hi."

The girl stood up. "Oh. Harry. Um..."

She smirked at her and shook his head. "Yeah. I figured it out already. Relax. You're on your own then?"

She nodded. "Yeah. What are you doing here? I thought you were with Ron and Melvin with your cousin."

He scratched the back of his head. "Mom's got Dudley. She took him to get some new clothes none of his pants or shirts fit him right anymore. They're going to a muggle store somewhere. Ron left. The Chudley Cannons are playing, and Dad's watching another match. He likes Wimbourne. Melvin is...with Mark and Brian. Marci and Nori are over there too. I think Brian and his sister just got back, they went to the alley or something."

The girl blinked. "Huh? Why? Didn't he..."

The brunette boy nodded. "Yeah. I sort of mentioned that Anna is...um 'busy' with her boyfriend, and he doesn't want to be anywhere near it." He looked towards the woods. "Margaret is busy too, but I didn't mention that."

She gave a small sigh and smiled. "Yeah. I sort of noticed. I'm just waiting. What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Well, I can tell you're a bit uncomfortable just sitting here. Thought I'd come over and see if you wanted to take off and hang around with us?"

She looked over her shoulder. "Well, I'd rather not. I don't want to have to explain where Anna and Margaret are if I come back without them. They've only been gone a few minutes. I don't think they'll be that long."

Harry gave a small sigh. "Well, to be honest. I don't think they're going to be done anytime soon." He arched his eyebrow. "Um, well, Margaret's going to be a bit."

Pansy looked confused. "Oh. Thanks. I'm fine." She was playing with her hands and blushing. She wasn't mad at her friends, but was feeling a bit awkward about things.

He nodded. "All right. I'll hang around though. I don't want to explain why I came back alone either. I mentioned I was coming to find you guys."

She smiled at him. "All right then. Have a seat." She was sitting on a fallen log near the brook and looking at the water. She had a handful of small stones and was tossing them into the water. "I'm not upset or anything, but it's pretty boring just sitting here waiting on them. Thanks for coming."

He nodded. "Yeah. No problem. I was on my way to Cedric's house. I was thinking you were all hanging out over there. Then, I got near here and sort of noticed...um..." He looked over his shoulder. "I knew about Anna, Margaret is a surprise though. Lee Jordan huh?"

Pansy smiled and put her cheek into her hand. "Yeah. Go figure. I knew where Anna was, but I sort of stumbled across them. I didn't want to bother them, so I came here. I'm sure they'll be along soon." She gave a sigh and glanced back. "Hey. You wanna make out too?"

The boy paused. "Huh?" She was bored, and a good friend of his.

She frowned at him. "Relax. I dunno. I'm just feeling kind of left out. Anna mentioned you've...done it already."

He swallowed. "Um, she told you about that?"

Pansy smirked. "No. I thought you could tell when someone was lying?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Well, I can. Just...caught me off guard."

She nodded. "You made out before? Really? With who? Granger?"

He coughed. "Oh. Yes. Made out. No, wasn't her."

The girl smirked. "You're not being honest. She likes you."

The mouse haired boy nodded. "I know. I wouldn't though. I don't want to hurt her. She's a good friend, and she'd take it badly if I did something like that and didn't mean it."

Pansy nodded. "Oh. That's decent of you." She thought on it. "Wait. I know you're covering something up though. I can tell by the look on your face." She narrowed her eyes. "It was a bit more than just 'making out' wasn't it?"

He found the canopy interesting all of a sudden. "What makes you say that?"

Pansy had a somewhat incredulous look on her face. "Wait. I'm right?" She smiled at him with a huge grin and moved closer. "What did you do?"

He blushed. "Look, I don't really want to talk about it. It's bad enough as it is."

She slapped his chest. "Hey. We're friends right? You can tell me. I won't think any less of you. What did you do?"

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. "Um..."

She put her arm around his shoulder. "I'm going to keep bugging you about this until you say. C'mon. Maybe I'll ask Anna about it? I bet she knows."

He had his hands folded. "Yes, she does."

Pansy smirked. "Out with it then. I'll find out anyway. I want to hear it from you. What did you do? Did you like it? What was it like?"

The boy was annoyed with her. He gave a heavy sigh. "All the way. It's how I got grounded."

She blinked. "Your parents found out?" She gasped. "All the way? Seriously?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It was kind of hard to...hide."

She flushed and moved away a bit. "Did...did you like it?"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah. It was a one time thing though. When I went into the past, and brought Mum and Dad back. I was there longer than I let on."

Pansy nodded. "Oh. So, wait what?"

He blushed. "I got her pregnant. My son will be at Hogwarts next year. She showed up with him this summer, and Mum and Dad found out."

Pansy's face fell. "You're...you're putting me on."

He frowned at her. "You did ask. I might add that you tricked me into telling you." He shrugged. "She did a lot to help me out while I was there. It took a long time to set up what I had to do. Wasn't easy getting to Mum and Dad without them seeing me. I had to get past the security enchantments to our old house. It was easier because of who I am, but there were still a few things I had to figure out." He scratched his head. "I owed her, and she was cute and interested. She knew she couldn't keep me too. So I didn't see the harm in it, just the one time."

Pansy had her hand up against her chest and looked rather shocked. "You...you're serious?"

He nodded. "Yeah. He's coming to visit for a couple of weeks this summer. His name is Alex, I'm sure you'll meet him. He'll be at Hogwarts next year."

Pansy nodded. "Oh." She wasn't sure what to say to that and looked over her shoulder. "How are they coming along?"

Harry shrugged. "They've been at it for about fifteen minutes. I'd say they'll go for about an hour. Just a guess, I'm not like Anna. Can't say for sure."

The brunette girl nodded. "Okay. Come on then." She grabbed his hand and stood him up.

"Huh?" He muttered.

She turned and shrugged at him. "I'm tired of sitting here. I don't want to go back without everyone else, I'm kind of afraid to ask you anymore questions, and you know what you're doing already. Come on. I want to try making out, you don't mind right? I like you, but I'm not really that interested if you catch my meaning."

She pulled him into the brush nearby and grabbed his head to kiss him. He didn't resist. "Are you sure? I don't mind or anything, but..."

Pansy shrugged. "Yeah. Just for fun."

Harry realized she meant it and relaxed. "Okay." He kissed her and she rubbed on his chest leaning into it.

Within a few moments she was sitting on his lap and going at it. After a moment, she shifted, feeling uncomfortable. "What is that?" She muttered as she broke off and shifted off his lap. "Do you have something in your pocket?" She reached down and plucked out a small square bottle. "What's this?"

The boy flushed. "Nothing. Just birth control. Mom makes me carry it around with me ever since..." The truth was, it was poking into his leg as well, but he didn't mind enough to stop. Pansy was enjoying it as well, but the feeling of attachment wasn't there.

She scrunched up her eyebrows. "Really?"

He nodded. "Um, yeah. Don't worry about it. I've only got it because of Mum."

She arched her right eyebrow and peered at the bottle for a moment. "Really? Huh. Never seen this stuff before, but I've heard about it."

OooOOooOO

Cedric and Lee were standing in the middle of the road about forty five minutes later. The girls had all returned back to the Potter home.

Cedric looked at him. "That was awesome."

Lee nodded. "Yeah, it was." He was a bit dazed.

The brunette boy gave a heavy sigh. "Margaret huh?"

The black boy blinked. "Huh? Yeah." He leaned in and slapped his chest. "She swallows."

Cedric got a bit wide eyed and blushed. "You mean she?"

Jordan smiled at the boy. "Yeah."

Diggory seemed surprised. "Huh. Really? I guess you figured out what happened to me and Anna then?"

Lee shrugged. "Yeah. Margaret noticed you. I though she was gonna cream me. I was right, she did, but then..."

Cedric nodded and frowned a little. Not in a disappointed way, he looked more thoughtful. "Well, they certainly are something."

"Yeah. Something..." muttered Lee.

Anna's boyfriend gave a small sigh. He'd gotten a few feels in, but they pretty much just did a lot of kissing.

Lee gave a slow and heavy nod. "Yeah. Both of us." He paused. "How far did you get?"

The older brunette frowned a bit. "Not that far. Are you serious? I mean, she really..."

The black boy nodded at him.

Cedric scratched his head and gave another small sigh. "Yeah. Well, good for you. I think Anna's a bit paranoid about her dad. He shows up if we try anything at her house or at the studio. It's the furthest I've gotten yet." He wasn't aware of it yet, but he was having a very good dream that night. He didn't feel bad about Lee, but he was a little surprised.

Harry walked up to the scene. "Oh. Hey guys."

Both boys looked at him. His clothes were mussed up. Lee looked a bit nervous, but Cedric noticed the state of his clothes.

"What happened to you?" asked his sister's boyfriend.

Harry gave a shrug and looked a little dazed. "Huh? Ran into Pansy Black in the woods. I was coming to find you guys, but um...I noticed you were busy."

Cedric nodded. "You made out with Pansy then?"

The Jordan boy relaxed a little more.

Harry shrugged. "You could say that." He glanced at Jordan and slapped his shoulder. "See you guys later. It's getting close to dinner time, and I guess I should head back." He started straightening up his clothes as he walked away.

Lee Jordan gave a heavy sigh. "Well, I'm heading home. See you guys later."

Diggory couldn't help but feel a little slighted. He knew he shouldn't, he wasn't exactly upset how he'd spent the last hour or so. There was a bit of jealousy though, very slight, but it was there. "Who am I kidding?" He rubbed at the back of his head and grinned. He was very happy with what he had, but still, the fact that Lee made out better, and wasn't even dating Margaret did take him down a slight notch.

OooOOooOO

Anna was in her room and sitting on her bed with Pansy and Margaret. Both girls were being very quiet, and flipping through magazines. The redhead broke the silence with a smirk on her face. "Margaret. I had no idea you liked chocolate so much."

The girl paused and looked up from her magazine. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Pansy glanced over at her. "What do you mean, 'what do you mean'?"

The raven haired girl narrowed her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The redhead looked out of the corner of her eyes. "I'm an empath. I know exactly what was going on in those woods. Both of you."

Pansy put her nose a little deeper into her own magazine. "Yes, well..."

Margaret turned her nose up a little. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. I like chocolate fine, but..."

The redhead put her rag down and rolled onto her side. "I never really noticed before, but thinking on it, it makes sense. You like your men dark."

Her gray eyes snapped around and she opened her jaw. "What? O-of course not. I..."

Pansy cocked her head. "Really? You like black guys?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah. I've seen her checking out Jordan and Dean before. I never really thought about it before, but that's the only kind of guy she notices at all."

The raven haired girl was blushing heavily. "That's not true. I'm not like that..."

Anna blinked and paused. She was getting upset. "Hey. Calm down. What are you thinking? We don't mind one bit."

Pansy seemed confused. "Huh? Margaret? You like black guys?"

The girl was shaking a little and looked a bit afraid. "N-no..."

Anna snatched her magazine away from her and put her into a headlock. "What's with you? What's got you so nervous all of a sudden? You should know better."

Pansy was still not getting it. "Know better than what?"

Anna put her arm across Margaret's shoulder and rubbed their cheeks together. "I think she thinks we'll get upset with her, or act like there's something wrong with it or something. Like it's gross or something."

Pansy scrunched up her nose. "Lee is kind of cute. If you'd left me alone with him and gone off with someone else, I probably would have made out with him too."

Anna arched her eyebrow. "Made out? She went down on him."

Pansy's magazine fell from her fingertips. "Huh?"

Margaret was a deep scarlet and shook a bit. "I...um..."

The brunette was on her knees on the bed with wide eyes and a grin. "Really? I didn't expect..."

Anna narrowed her eyes at her. "Who are you to talk?"

Pansy went red and backed down a little. "Oh. I guess you..."

The redhead nodded. "Yeah. I did notice."

Her raven haired friend pulled her neck into her shoulders. "Come on. I..."

Anna rubbed on the top of her skull. "We don't care if you like dark meat. We're friends, and you like what you like. I just didn't realize you liked it quite that much."

She was heavily embarrassed. "I..couldn't help it...We were alone, and I...It's not true...I mean...I knew it was wrong..."

Anna's eyes went a little flat. "Oh. I think I get it now." She gave a heavy sigh and grabbed her friends hands. "You've been holding back have you?"

Margaret looked up at her with wide eyes and sucked in a quick breath. "What? No. It's nothing..."

The redhead narrowed her eyes. "Yeah it is. You've been trying to ignore it, and when you were alone with a cute guy like Lee, it just all came out at once."

Pansy gave a nod. Margaret was crying a little. "She's right, isn't she?"

The raven haired girl was clearly upset. "Look, it wasn't. White girls shouldn't be with..."

Anna gave her a rap across the back of her head. It was light, but got her attention. "Don't be so stupid."

Margaret was looking at her with wide eyes. "Huh?"

"You know damn well what you want. Stop lying. I can tell, remember?" She gave a heavy sigh.

The girl sniffed and looked at her with wide eyes. "I...um..."

Anna rolled her eyes. "What? Are you afraid the popular girls will tease you? That you won't be able to get into the party? We are the party Margaret. We are the popular girls. Stop it. It's not good for you. You'll just be miserable and end up doing something stupid... Like going down on some guy you barely know."

She lowered her eyes. "What will people say?"

Pansy put her hand up to her mouth and gasped. "Say? Are you kidding?"

Anna looked annoyed. "She's right. What the hell do you care for?"

Margaret glared at her. "Just because you don't care..."

Anna nodded. "This is about your parents isn't it? You're worried about what they would think?"

The girl turned her eyes away. "I was raised..."

The redhead shook her by her shoulders. "So what? Are they going to date your boyfriend, or are you? They're not marrying your future husband, and you know what?"

The girl turned tear filled eyes up to look at Anna.

"He's not white."

The black haired girl blinked. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Anna scrunched up her nose and blinked. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Margaret looked annoyed. "My future husband. You said..."

The redhead cocked her head. "I did?"

The raven haired girl looked irate. "That's not funny. I'm being serious."

Anna shrugged. "About what?"

Her friend put her nose up against hers. "You're faking it this time. I know it."

Anna looked at Pansy. "What did I say?"

The brunette shrugged. "She's going to marry a black guy."

Margaret glared at her. "She said 'not white' not 'black'."

Anna shrugged. "Oh."

Pansy blinked. "I'd date him. What's with you Margaret? Nobody cares about that sort of thing anymore. That is so twenty years ago."

The girl turned very red again. "I...all right fine. I like black guys. Are you happy?"

Anna turned away. "We want you to be. I'm fine with what I've got. You should be fine with what you want."

"I guess you know about me and Harry then?" Pansy decided to try and change the subject.

Margaret looked over at her with wide eyes. "Huh?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "I'm not dating him or anything. Everyone else was making out, and I didn't want to sit there and wait on you. He showed up and we um...kept each other company." She shrugged. "No big deal."

Anna nodded. "Yeah. I noticed." She frowned at her a little. She didn't really like the idea much and she was going to get onto her brother about it. "I don't like it much. He's my brother, and I'm not so sure I like the idea of band members getting involved that way. I can screw up the band if things go wrong." She put her hand up before she protested. "I know you're not. You're also not the first. I'm just saying it's not a good idea. If you really want to chase him, fine, but I'm not recommending it, and I don't want the band to break up because of it. We wouldn't be the first band that happened with if it did. I'm not gonna tell you want to do, but I advise against it. Even if Melvin wasn't a huge disgusting pervert, I'd never date him. He's like a brother to me, and I care about him and all, but no way. Not even if he was ten times cuter and not a huge perverted mess."

Pansy nodded and blushed. "He told me about that. It was just a one time thing."

The raven haired girl frowned at her. "How do you know about what I was doing? You didn't have a vision about that did you? I figured you were busy."

The redhead blinked. "I noticed you when I was heading back with Cedric. I saw you. Didn't want to interrupt though. You were both enjoying it. I've not done anything like that with him. Might give him a hand job or something if he does something that really impresses me. No more than that for a real long time. I'm not keen on putting anything in my mouth that way."

"Why not?" asked Pansy.

Anna thought about it. "Well...um..." She couldn't think of a good reason. "I dunno, I heard it doesn't taste very good." The thought wasn't as uncomfortable as she imagined. "Maybe someday, I want to take it a bit slow I guess. I'm not sure I'd care for it. I know he'll probably want me to, and to be honest, I'll probably give in sooner or later. He's gonna have to really convince me it's worth it though."

Margaret looked away. "It's not bad. A bit salty. I wouldn't say it tasted good, but it wasn't as gross as I'd heard."

Pansy bounced a little. "Really? I'd do it with the right guy. You don't have to let him do it in your mouth or anything. Just tell him to let you know first. Right?"

Margaret shrugged. "I told him to just go ahead. I didn't want to mess up my blouse."

Black looked surprised. "You swallowed it? Was there a lot?"

The raven haired girl shrugged. "I just put it all the way in and he did it in my throat. I thought I was going to cough, but I was able to keep it down pretty easy. I gagged a bit, but it wasn't too bad. It was a bit, but not a whole lot. I dunno, probably fit in the palm of your hand if you caught it all."

The brunette girl got wide eyed. "All of it? I mean, all the way down. Was it big?"

The raven haired girl nodded and held her hands about eight inches apart. "Yeah. I wasn't sure if I could, but I swallowed it. You hold your breath, and swallow it like you're eating something. Took a few tries to get it right." She looked at the redhead out of the corner of her eye. "I'm sure Cedric wouldn't mind."

"You...like him that much?" Pansy was excited and pleased for her.

Anna smirked. Margaret had calmed down quite a bit, she was still a bit embarrassed, but seemed to realize that they were both on to her. "Yeah. Well, I'm not sure about that yet. Not for a while I don't think. I like him and all, but I don't want to go too fast."

The raven haired girl noticed her expression and turned her eyes away. "You're right. All right? Stop looking so smug."

The redhead giggled a little. "Sorry. Come on now. You feel better admitting it, and you know we love you. We'll help you out."

She turned her head away completely. "I'm fine."

Anna giggled again with Pansy. "After the way the two of you badgered me about Cedric? I can tell you like him."

The embarrassed girl growled. "He's in Gryffindor."

Pansy shrugged. "Cedric is in Hufflepuff."

The redhead sighed. "You know you want a date."

Margaret didn't turn to face her again. "You'll...help me out?"

Pansy laughed. "What do you think?"

"Of course," replied Anna.

Margaret glanced over at Pansy. "You made out with Harry then? You know the rule right? Not in the band. We don't want to break up because things go wrong if we're dating."

Anna snorted. "Made out? She fucked him."

The raven haired girl looked at the brunette with wide eyes. "You what?"

Pansy blushed. "I just wanted to see what it was like. He had a bottle of birth control stuff, so I figured why not? It was no worse than making out with him if he had that. Harry and I are friends, I trust him and all, but I don't want to be his girlfriend either. We talked about it first."

Anna frowned at her. "You talked about making out, and jumped him when he told you what was in the bottle. He didn't mind much, but I'm getting onto him about it. He was just grounded for two weeks because of the last time he did it. Mom would blow her top if she found out. Now I've got to refill that bottle."

The brunette girl nodded. "Yeah. I figured it was a sign. I mean, we were making out, and he just happened to have it. So, I went ahead and did it." She seemed a bit embarrassed, but also a little defensive. "Besides, he was good at it. You were right about cock push ups."

Margaret's jaw dropped. "A sign? You slut!"

Pansy smirked at her. She could tell she wasn't being very serious. "Who are you to talk?"

Anna growled. They were all getting a bottle of the stuff whether they liked it or not. "Unbelievable." She hadn't been expecting both her friends to run off and screw the first boy they ended up alone with in the woods just because she sneaked off to make out with her boyfriend. It was irritating, but she didn't want to scold them about it either. "I can't believe you two. Slow down, we're not even fourteen yet. I'm your friend, so I won't scold you, but think about what Uncle Sirius and Aunt Lissa would do if they found out would you?"

They both looked embarrassed.

She poked Margaret in the chest. "And you? After beating your brother around that way? You should think about what you've done the next time you feel like smacking him for being a pervert."

The black haired girl flushed. "All right." She hung her head. "I guess...you've got a point there..." she muttered under her breath a little dejectedly.

She looked at Pansy. "You too. Harry is in enough trouble for what he did as it is. I love you like a sister, but this is... You can't keep him."

Pansy crossed her arms. "I don't want to. You don't think we're old enough? We're pretty mature."

"No, you're not. I'm not either. I'll help you out and I'm not going to go telling on you. Still, I'd rather not have too." Anna was disappointed in them both. "You can still get sick. I don't want to have to be brewing up cures for STDs. They're very difficult, and ingredients are hard to get. I'm not so sure I can do it without someone noticing what I'm doing. They've got to cure for a long time. They're pretty distinctive, anyone who knows a bit about potions would know what it was just looking at it."

They both looked away from her looking scolded.

The redhead sighed. "All right. I'm sorry. Neither one of you is even dating anyone. I didn't think I had to worry about this sort of thing. I just...didn't expect it." She ran her fingers through her hair. "You can tell me anything you know. You're my best friends. Just...be careful all right? I'm just worried a little. There's no taking it back now, just don't go overboard." She grabbed them both in a hug. "Make them work for it. We're good enough that we're worth quite a bit of effort."

They both had small smiles on their faces as she let them go. It was easy to see they could tell she had gotten upset with them. The pair gave the redhead small nods in reply.

Anna had relaxed again and looked up at them both. Harry was going to feel this one in the mornings for quite some time. She was just as upset with him, especially since he'd done it on the same day he'd just gotten off being grounded for the same thing. The Jordan boy was still up in the air. She was considering getting him back, but didn't want to drive him off yet either. Margaret liked him, and she was going to try and help hook the pair up if she could.

OooOOooOO

Dudley Dursley was wiping the sleep out of his eyes. He yawned and looked on in confusion as Harry and Anna both paused in front of him. It was early in the morning, and he'd just stepped out of the bathroom. "Hey. What are you two doing up?"

Anna smirked at him. "We're up this early every day."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. We train in the mornings."

The large boy seemed confused. "Train?"

Anna started down the stairs. "Come on then, Harry. We should get started."

The boy frowned a little. She was a bit impatient that morning. "Why do I get the feeling..." he muttered.

The redhead looked up at him. "You're right. You screwed up. Now come on."

His face fell a little. "Great." He knew he could plan on being extra sore for a few days at least. Despite it, he couldn't really blame her. It was also hard to regret it. Pansy certainly didn't mind. It was her idea to begin with.

"Pervert," she grumbled as he moved by her as she opened the door to the back yard.

"Wasn't my idea." He wasn't really making an excuse.

"Got onto her about it too." She kicked his rear as he passed and shoved him out a little faster.

Dudley staggered down after them both. He was curious and confused. Neither of them paid him any attention and he walked out into the yard after them.

After about fifteen minutes of stretching and jogging about the yard, he had about enough. He was about to go back into the home and back to bed. The pair stopped and moved to the middle of the yard, facing each other. He paused and turned back, taking his hand off the knob. "What?" They bowed to each other, and each put one of their legs back, and their hands up. "Huh?"

The twins began to fight. Dudley stood there with a slack jaw as they started their hand to hand sparring. He flinched and shuddered as the pair clashed, punching, kicking, blocking, and dodging in a blur of motion. It was almost too fast for his eyes to follow. "What?" He felt his knees grow weak.

Harry Potter, the boy he used to push around, the boy he used to sit on his head and pass gas, the same one he tormented and slapped around every time he'd managed to get his hands on him, had just thrown his sister ten feet away by her ankle.

The girl flipped and landed in a crouch with a serious looking frown on her face. Her fingers dug into the grass a little as she shifted her weight forward. Dudley had always had trouble catching her, but she wasn't treated any differently than Harry when he did. He'd rubbed her scalp, given her wedgies, shoved her into the dirt, and slapped her around a few times.

The girl stood up and gave a deep breath as she locked her eyes on her brother. A small smirk formed, and she pulled what looked like a flashlight from her rather odd looking robes. There was a strange snap, followed by a low hum as it turned into a sword with a blade made of red light.

Another of the weapons was in Harry's hand, his gave off a soft blue glow. He controlled his breathing and set himself as she circled him slowly at a distance. All at once the girl blurred leaving a trail of red light in her wake.

Harry stood his ground, but his weapon moved with incredible speed. The girl was moving around him, striking from every direction. The boy moved very little, and gave little short pokes to keep her on the move. His blade stopped every attack she made. It went on for about ten minutes, not moving outside a ten foot area of ground in the middle of the yard.

Harry's defenses were rock solid, and he did little footwork. Anna was moving about like a ping pong ball in a supercharged dryer. She dove down on top of her brother from above with her blade over her head.

The boy moved his weapon up to block and stab at the same time. It was swatted aside, and his sister passed her blade through the length of his body. Harry fell to his knees, his breathing was heavy and he was covered in sweat.

Anna was glaring down at him with the most serious of expressions. Her gaze was cold and merciless. "Huh. You've really taken a liking to form three. It's defensive, but lacking in offensive power."

The boy on his knees looked up at his sister. "I...I could barely hold you back. I didn't have much choice..." She wasn't breathing very hard, and only had a light sweat.

She nodded, her glare not fading. "I know. We're going to be working on that."

He gave a nod and swallowed. "What's happened to you? You seem off. I'm not so sure I like..."

She gave a rough snort. "I don't care what you like. The next time we see Kate Delane, 'Rage' as she calls herself now, she will be far stronger than she was before. You are not the only one in training Harry Potter, and I am not a Jedi. I must be stronger as well, much stronger than I am now."

He frowned at that and stood up, turning his weapon off. "Thought you were upset about Pansy."

The girl narrowed her eyes. "You thought you could use it to your advantage, throw me off. Use my anger to get me to slip up. You are mistaken, and foolish. My power comes from my anger Harry. My rage is my energy, my hatred control. Do not be so foolish, or the next time you meet that girl, you will be the one who is in need of saving."

He scowled at her. "You did no better."

She turned her eyes on him and narrowed them as her face twisted into a deep frown. "I've realized that. I have been holding back for your sake. I must remain in control, but I cannot supress the power I need to defeat her as I have been." She turned her eyes down at her weapon. "I must give in, I have not done so, and it almost destroyed me." She looked up at him and her features softened. "She must be destroyed, or she will only grow more dangerous, and more powerful. She seeks out her master as we speak, and when next we meet her, she will have found him."

He reached out to take her shoulder. "That's a mistake."

She swatted it away. "Neither of us can afford to remain weak. I won't be letting up tomorrow. Be prepared. Today, I gave you but a glimpse, tomorrow, you will feel much worse than you do today."

Harry was winded and still sucking in sharp breaths. He gave a nod and hung his head. Anna had never done anything like that before. He felt fear inside him, worry, concern. He had no idea what to do. He closed his eyes and sat down in the grass. He needed to calm himself down, calm his body, and his mind. He'd never felt like he did now in training, not physically, or mentally.

Anna walked to the door and saw Dudley standing there. His legs were barely holding his body upright, and he was leaning against the wall next to the door. "As for you. I suggest you remember this. There were many times when the only thing that kept me from killing you was your parents. I came close to destroying all of you many times while I was in your home. If I had not needed the protection your home offered because of the magic placed on it to keep us safe, I would have."

His eyes were wide and he shuddered as he fell off the wall and onto his rear. He gave a sharp nod and didn't speak. Tears fell down his cheeks and he backed away from her gaze.

Her features softened. "Stop blubbering. No one will harm you now. Don't expect to be able to bully us around in the future though. You've behaved yourself pretty well, but you should be mindful of what we can do in the future. If I had wanted, I could have cut him in half with my weapon."

He nodded again, unable to speak and terrified out of his wits.

OooOOooOO

Albania...

Three figures walked through the mountains. Two men, and a shorter thin figure covered in a black cloak. A metal mask covered her face, it looked like a featureless face. They were standing on a cliff overlooking a valley.

One of the men pointed to the woods in the valley far below. "There. That's the place you wanted to see." He was dressed in a black leather vest and had a beard. His companion was dressed in scarlet red robes. He had an eye patch on, and a few old scars on his face.

The hooded figure nodded. "I see. You are certain?" Her voice was cold and hard. She knew the answer already. She could feel him his presence was very strong.

The man in the eye patch chuckled. "There is a great darkness in those woods. No one who enters comes out of there alive."

The leather clad man gave her a smirk. "That is why you have come, isn't it?"

She said nothing and tossed a bag of gold between their feet. In silence, she strolled forward towards the path down to the valley.

"Wait," said the red robed man.

The figure paused and turned her head slightly. "I have paid what you asked. Leave now. There is nothing for you ahead but death."

Both men had wands pointed at her. "Maybe," growled the man in leather. "There's a reward on your head. You're wanted for attempted murder, a thousand in gold."

The girl turned her gaze forward again. "Would that I had succeeded." She had paid twice as much to be guided there.

The man in red stepped towards her, keeping his wand trained. "Quite a reward for such a young thing. A little to much to pass up."

She stood still and didn't look back. "Yes. I know. I did not expect the two of you to resist."

The leather clad man was giving her a wide grin. "Come along quietly, and maybe we won't decide to see how pretty you are under that mask and robe after we stun you."

The red clad man was giving a dark smile. "Kate Delane, not even graduated from Wizarding school. Oh, I think we'll find out anyway. Nothing out in these woods to stop us after all, is there?"

The masked girl gave a laugh. "I had no intention of allowing the two of you to return alive." She turned to look at them both. "I was planning on visiting you after the sun had gone down, while you camped."

The man in leather gave a chuckle. "Well, we had something similar in mind. A fresh young girl like yourself, all alone in a place like this?"

The girl shifted her hips, pulling the hood off her head, revealing long dark hair flowing back behind her mask. "Come then. See what awaits you." There was a small metal object in her hand, and glittering sparkles from the gems on the metal bands burned into her arm.

The wizards both thrust their wands forward. "Stupify!" sounded in stereo. There was a flash of red, and the leather clad wizard took both spells in the chest.

Before the man in red could flick his wand again, she was in front of him. Another flash of red light passed in front of his vision. He screamed and fell to his knees. The scream was cut short as his head rolled away after the light beam made another pass at his neck.

Kate took off her mask and smiled at the leather clad man. He could not move, but terror was clear in his eyes. She could feel it rolling off him in waves. It was delicious, satisfying, and she felt herself grow warm as her pelvis tingled. She gasped in pleasure as she shook her hair. "Am I pretty enough for you?" Her skin was a milky white, and her lips red. Two eyes with bright orange irises looked into his eyes. She looked like a vampire.

He could do nothing but stand, unable to move. He should have fallen over, but something was holding him on his feet. His arms were hanging at his sides with his wand still gripped in his fingers.

The girl raised her hand and moved it slowly towards the cliff. The terrified wizard could do nothing, he felt himself being pulled towards the edge of the cliff. Powerless, terrified, he wanted to scream, beg for mercy, but he could not. He could only watch, his terror growing stronger as he drew nearer to the edge. He stopped with one of his legs hanging over the side, his face turned to look at the girl.

She was smiling at him, rubbing at her body in ecstasy. Rage blew him a kiss as she shuddered. "It's wonderful you know. I can feel your terror. It's beautiful, such fear, but if I could make it last a few moments longer. My master is impatient though. I cannot linger. I do hope it was nowhere as good for you, as it was for me. I'm sure of it in fact. Goodbye." She flicked her finger as if tipping over a glass, and he fell over the side, unable to even scream as he plummeted to his doom.

OooOOooOO

No more than an hour later, she stood in the darkest depths of the wood. It was as black as night, despite the sun just turning the sky into a bright orange outside the wood. The girl looked up at the canopy, many dark creatures hidden in the shadows, attracted to the dark power within the wood. The bodies of rats littered the ground, along with half decayed, half eaten remains of other creatures. Including the long dead forms of several unicorns. "Master. I have come! I have found you!"

A voice spoke up from the shadows. "You. You are not one of those who followed me. Who are you?"

She smiled as she turned towards the voice and fell to her knees. "I know your voice well my master! I know your power! I am yours! Your most faithful servant, your student!" She raised her arm and showed the remains of the diadem. "I am Sith, I am darkness. I will do anything to help you destroy her, and her brother!"

Two red eyes were peering at her. "Yes. Rage, my young apprentice. It is good to see you at last. I did not know your face, but I know your voice, my child."

She nodded and smiled at the eyes. "Yes. I will help you Master! I will do anything! We will make those who have wronged you suffer, punish those who hid as cowards and did not seek you out! Make them suffer! Show them that you are still the Dark Lord! Make them understand the power of the Dark Side of the Force!"

The eyes squinted in a dark pleasure. "Yes. You who have found me, you who are loyal despite never knowing me, you who have come to aid me, despite never knowing my face, never seeing my glory. You have faith, you understand, you know the truth."

She nodded and looked at him in amazement. "Yes! I know! I will assist you, be your hand where it is now stayed, be your legs where they cannot take you, be your voice, where you cannot speak!"

The eyes seemed to relax, growing angry for the briefest of moments. He did not like hearing such things, but knew it was true. He could use her, he needed her, it disgusted him. "So be it." He gave a short merciless laugh. "You did well, destroying the two who brought you here."

She nodded. "I never had any intention of letting them leave here alive. I knew their lips were far too loose to allow it." She looked up at him. "I had hoped it would please you."

He chuckled in a malevolent way. "It has. Now come before me my young apprentice. We have much to do."

She nodded and stood to her feet, moving towards him without fear. "You command, and I obey, Master."

The eyes closed in a pleasure not unlike she had attained killing the two men. "I can...feel your anger...your hatred is strong."

She nodded. "I ask only that you make me strong enough to destroy her. Let me have her master, I wish to kill her myself! I know you want the boy, but the bitch, I wish her dead by my own hand."

The eyes narrowed at her a little and seemed to think on it. "So be it." She put her hand up to caress his cheek. He found it repulsive, but did nothing to stop her. It was not adoration in her eyes. It was something much darker. He was the key to the power she wanted, he was the one who could give her what she desired most. "Take me into your arms. My death has made me weak, unable to do more than simply exist. I have had many dark times in this place."

She hissed at him. "Yes. It has made you very strong Master." She lifted him up and carried him like a child, wrapping her cloak around the withered child like form. It was a pathetic creature, with red eyes and a nose like a serpent. Small and decrepit, putrid and foul, the stench from the rotted barely living form was powerful. She did not pull away, she did not look at him in disgust or horror. "I shall help you grow strong again, help you regain your true power."

The thing chuckled, speaking and a raspy tone not stronger than a whisper, yet laced with hatred. "Everything is going exactly as I have foreseen it."

OooOOooOO

"How have you been?" Afina Amanar looked out of the window into London. She was standing in an office, many books lined the walls, and it was lit by small candles about the room.

"I'm all right. Things are going very well. It's been a wonderful summer." Anna was sitting in a very comfortable chair, with another empty chair next to her. She was drinking a cup of well brewed tea and set it down on the small table between the two chairs. Another was there for Afina, but was untouched as of yet.

The woman turned away from the window and smiled. "That's good." She walked over and sat down next to her.

Anna nodded. "How is the vampire therapy business going?"

Afina smirked. "It's not just Vampires. I also see werewolves, and assorted others who have lived many years. It's long life therapy, existing for a long time can be very draining. It has difficulties of it's own. I also offer counseling to changelings, such as werewolves and other dark afflictions."

The girl nodded. "I can understand that."

The woman smirked. "I know. That's why I wanted to see you."

The redhead nodded. "I figured. How is Uncle Remus doing? I heard you were doing this through him. He's the one who convinced Mum to bring me here. Mentioned you asked about seeing me."

Afina frowned at her a little. "I'm not going to discuss him. This is very confidential."

The girl smirked at her. "I meant in general. I've not seen him myself in a while."

The therapist nodded. "He's fine. I speak with him every week on Tuesdays. He misses one week a month."

Anna nodded. "I'm working on that."

Afina got a blank look on her face. "Working on it?"

The girl smirked at him and looked out of the corner of her eyes. "I'm working on a cure for Werewolfism. It's a bit more difficult than Vampirism, an antivenom won't do. I've made a bit of progress, but nothing to get too excited about. He doesn't know it, but I've been using him to collect venom for study."

The woman arched her eyebrow. "How do you get it without him knowing?"

The redhead chuckled. "The Chew Toy. I was honest with him about some of the reasoning. It's been effective and many werewolves use them now from what I understand. It gives them something to gnaw on and can help keep them from ripping themselves up without someone around to bite. Curbs the urge to leave the den, and leaves them feeling better when the cycle is over."

The former vampire nodded. "I see. Yes, I've had several clients tell me about it. They say it is a godsend. I've recommended them to several who were unaware because of it. I had no idea you were the one responsible for that."

The girl nodded. "Yes. The one I gave him is special though. It's got a compartment that draws out his venom and stores it. I have a look at it every few months or so. I tell him that it's to see how it's holding up, so I can figure out how often they need to be replaced. It's holding up beyond my expectations really. I'm not being dishonest about that either, but I just didn't tell everything." She looked quite proud of herself.

Afina nodded. "Yes. Be careful. I'm not so sure it's a good idea to be holding onto something like that."

Anna gave a snort. "Well, I've got experience dealing with substances like that. It's not new to me. Besides, I'm a licensed Potions Master, I'm completely qualified to handle it. It's a side project of mine. I can make it inert, I'm pretty sure I can make it so a werewolf can't infect someone else. I've not quite gotten a handle on the cure yet. I'd offer it as a vaccination, but I'm not sure if it might interfere with a cure once I do get one. His potion works fine, I've been brewing that up for him lately. I made it taste better, which was his biggest complaint. Adding sugar makes it ineffective, but artificial sweeteners work fine, also a bit of cherry flavoring doesn't dilute it."

Afina nodded. "Well. I'd be concerned if it was anyone else. Werewolves are dangerous. Do be careful."

The redhead nodded. "I've not been anywhere near his transformation. I'd like to have a look at it one of these days, but I don't want to make him suspicious. He's difficult about the subject. I understand, but I think he'd worry if he found out I've been collecting his venom. It's volatile stuff, I have to use special jars to store it. It eats through glass and makes a mess in a few months I've found. Quite hazardous stuff."

The woman smiled at her. "Dracula had a cure. I wish you luck. It exists. You know why I'm sure, as you figured out how to cure him. I'm afraid I don't anything about it other than that he had one. I never realized why he bothered. I figured it was in case one became too difficult to handle, or as something to hold over their heads if their human side got too unstable or resistant."

Anna shrugged. "I figured as much. I kind of wish I'd gotten the chance to look through Castle Dracula before it was destroyed. Ron got to it first. I was planning on visiting the place actually. Once I was able to get there on my own that is."

Afina smoothed out her dress and sipped at her tea. "Strange the things you don't realize you missed." She seemed to enjoy it. "I drank five pots of tea after I had it the first time, once I'd turned back."

Anna smirked at that. "I got a letter from the first one I turned back. He said he ate so many apples he got sick, and then ate another dozen after that. He seems to be doing well, told me he'd met his wife again. She was an old woman, and he nearly gave her a heart attack. She'd remarried, and her second husband died. They seem to be getting along well, once he told her what happened. She tried to get rid of him, thinking she was too old for her. He convinced her eventually, he's just as old as she is, just looks young. They're doing pretty well."

The brunette woman gave her a warm smile. "I'm very pleased to hear that. More than you might think. However, you should stop changing the subject. You're not here to talk about others." She sipped at her tea again. "You're quite skilled at turning the subject when you're uncomfortable. I'm afraid I've noticed you're avoiding the real topic."

The redhead flushed a bit. "Well, I'm not really that old."

The therapist nodded. "Yes. You are emotionally very close to your age. However, you're also not as young as you appear. Mentally, you are very different than the child you appear as."

Anna shrugged. "I guess so."

The brunette woman didn't look much older than she did. Afina smirked at her. "How many past lives do you remember?"

The redhead gave a sigh and seemed to relax in her chair. "Two. Though, one was rather less exciting than the other. I was a muggle, I'm not sure there was such a thing as wizards, but I guess I wouldn't really know for sure. It was actually a bit further into the future than this one. I was about nineteen by this year."

Afina looked a little surprised. "Really?"

Anna cocked her head and thought about it. "Yeah. Look, this is gonna sound weird, but you know how I first met my brother?"

The brunette woman blinked. "When you were born I imagine. You were twins."

The redhead shook her head. "Nope. There was a book, several actually, in my past life. They were all titled Harry Potter, and the...and then something having to do with what happened in a particular year at Hogwarts. It's odd, but I wasn't in any of them. He was born a single child, and went to Hogwarts."

The woman blinked in surprise. "That is odd. Are you sure?"

Anna gave a vigorous nod. "Yeah. I know right? It confused the hell out of me. In fact, my other past life, the one before that one, actually had it's own films. It was called Star Wars. I thought I was being cute at first and pulling everyone's leg about it. Then, I started remembering things, things that I couldn't have learned just watching a bunch of films. I've come to accept that it all really happened now, but it was awful at first. Really screwed with my head." Anna noticed the woman's expression. "Don't look at me like that. I'm really serious. I had an awful time of it. I've actually met several people who were just fictional characters in that world."

Afina worked her mouth. "So, you came from another world?"

The redhead shrugged. "Yeah. Two separate universes. Near as I can figure anyway. It's been a bit weird, took me the longest time to figure it all out. I think I've got it now though, a pretty good handle on it that is. There's still things that catch me sometimes, and I've wondered if I'm just crazy, or making it all up, or something. Then I realized, it doesn't really matter if I am or not." Anna realized she'd never been so open with anyone before. "This is all confidential right?"

The brunette woman nodded and looked very serious. "It is. I cannot speak of anything you say to me here. In fact, I've taken the therapists oath, and I've had my lips sealed. I couldn't speak of what you told me if I wished to outside of this office."

The girl nodded. "I see. Well, that's pretty much what I know about the mess. I've had at least two past lives. One, I turned into a megalomaniacal monster who nearly destroyed an entire galaxy, and the other I was just a muggle, and nothing of particular interest happened to me. I was just a regular person living in America."

Afina smirked at her. "An American? My, that does explain a little."

Anna shrugged. "I guess. It used to drive the Dursleys up the wall. Harry and I didn't sound British when we learned to talk. We've adjusted though, but we still have little things in our speech. We had some people in the US thinking we were from there. Most people know we're English by now though."

The therapist chuckled at that. "Well, you're half Irish. Your mother is quite the Irishwoman. I had a few drinks with her when we met before she brought you here. Get a few shots of whiskey into her, and she starts using a bit of Gallic. Remus introduced us, she wanted to meet me first. I told her about who I used to be, and that I taught Defense Against Dark Arts last year. I think she was a little worried at first, but we got along very well."

Anna cocked her head. "I was wondering about that. Dad was home alone taking care of Ivy a couple of days ago. He just told us she'd gone out with some friends."

Afina seemed pleased. "Yes. She was out with me and Remus. How are you getting along with your new sister?"

The redhead shrugged again. "She's a bit young to get along with yet. I'm not jealous or anything if that's what you mean. Harry and I get plenty of attention, more than I'd like at times. I understand, and we both help out as much as we can. We're glad to have her, she's very sweet. A very well tempered baby so far." Anna had something to do with that, Harry as well, they could both send soothing mental energy towards their sister. It was also easy for them both to figure out what she wanted. Anna was not going to train her little sister to be a Jedi. Their parents needed her more than she did. James and Lily didn't think of things that way, but Anna could tell. They had missed a lot of their older children's lives and it had an effect on them. Ivy was a way to not miss out on those things. Jedi training would get in the way of that.

Both their parents were a little surprised to how quickly their children could calm Ivy when she was upset or being fussy. They both spent a bit of time holding her. Neither of them had to actually touch the baby to change her diapers. Anna had yet to be within five feet of it happening, despite having done it herself a few times. The baby was quite pleased with being changed that way, and giggled as she waved her arms around. She wasn't coordinated enough to grab anything yet, but not for lack of trying.

Afina sat back. "Tell me about this past life then."

Anna's face grew dark. "I don't like talking about him. Therapy or not, he's best left undisturbed. It's hard enough dealing with his effect on me. Bringing him up, just makes it more difficult." She gave a heavy sigh. "Look, I realize that sometimes talking about things makes them easier to deal with. Lord Vader, is not one of those subjects. I must remain distant from that memory, it is very powerful, and dangerous as well."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "What about the other?"

Anna seemed to relax. "Well, he was pretty boring. Born in Mississippi, lived most of his life in Florida, moved around a bit when he was a kid. Got along pretty well, made passable marks in school, nothing spectacular. Joined the military, didn't fight in any wars. Had a couple of relationships, a few lasted a couple of years, but never married, ended up a small time musician, and died in a car crash."

Afina nodded and folded her hands. "That's how you knew how to play?"

The redhead nodded. "Not as well as I can now. A lot of the music I write was stuff he just wish he could do. I kept in practice, kept me sane when I was locked up in that closet at the Dursleys. That's where I wrote most of my songs. Most of the lyrics have to do with experiences and memories from that life. People I meet and music I heard there."

The woman smirked. "How much did you actually write?"

Anna shrugged. "Most of it. It sounds a lot like the stuff I heard there, but to be honest, my memory isn't quite that good. I'm sure you'd notice if you heard music from that place, but I can honestly say I wrote what I remembered it being like, and not what it was actually like. I've lifted a lot, but it's not really stealing. It never existed here, and as far as I know, that's how music gets from one universe to another to begin with. I'm far from the only one with a past life, I'm just a rare case of someone who remembers having one or two."

Afina sat back. "I suppose I see your point. Very interesting. I'm glad you're opening up."

The redhead seemed to think. "Well, I think it's done me some good. I feel like I've gotten a bit off my chest, and I don't think it would be a good idea to go around running my mouth about this stuff. I don't want people to think I'm crazy."

Dr. Amanar nodded. "Well, that's our time. I'm glad to talk with you. You'll be seeing me again next week."

The girl paused. "You know, you're being awfully familiar about my Uncle. Dating are we?"

The brunette woman arched her eyebrow. "He's a patient."

Anna smirked. She had her nailed. "That's not a 'no'. You might be a good occlumens, but I'm empathic. You can't stonewall that."

Afina put her nose up and frowned. "None of your business."

The redhead stuck her tongue out at her. "Sure it is. He's my Uncle, I've got every reason to be interested. I can tell you know, you're too flustered for it to not be true. I might not have noticed if you'd called him Mr. Lupin, but you're too formal by nature to just call him Remus if there was nothing going on."

Afina gave a small sigh and looked down at her. She finally smiled at her. "He's good in bed, quite the beast. He doesn't worry about me like he would a normal witch. He knows my past, and that I'm quite used to dealing with werewolves. I still have a measure of power over the beasts, not so much I can fully control them, but I've not lost my scent to them, and they won't attack me unprovoked. I can still drive one off with little difficulty without the aid of a wand or silver."

Anna smiled at her. "That's good. I'm glad he's getting laid. He really needed it, he's been an awful mess every time I've seen him. Always nervous and fretting. A very good man, but a bit of an emotional quagmire. Do be good to him? You don't want to upset me by toying with him. I think better of you than that, but I do think it's prudent to give fair warning."

The woman wasn't expecting such a response, she was thinking Anna to be a little embarrassed and quiet. She flushed a bit and got a weak smile. "I'll remember that. Off with you now. Our time is up, and I've got another patient waiting."

Anna walked through the waiting room. A couple stopped her as she walked by the receptionist. A pretty young woman with slightly pointed ears. A mark of a former vampire. The woman was pleased to see her and gave her a warm smile. Another couple, both with the same signs on their own faces and ears. It was also visible in the eyes, and those recently turned had very clean and bright white eye teeth. The couple greeted her with cheerful grins.

"You're Anna Potter?" asked the woman with a somewhat dumbstruck expression.

"That's right," replied the redhead as she gave a polite smile. They both took her hands and seemed very pleased.

"Thank you, for what you have done." The man gasped and removed his hat, putting it over his heart.

The woman was close to tears. "Yes, we...we never dreamed. It is wonderful to do so again."

The man nodded and let her hand go. "I have been up to see the sunrise every day. It is wonderful."

Anna gave a small nod. "I'm glad to hear that. I wish you the best. Excuse me, I'm afraid I've got people waiting on me. Goodbye."

The pair both moved back to their seats looking pleased. The girl could feel their gratitude. There were several others sitting around the office. Former Vampires were used to having an eternity, and were very patient. They often arrived excessively early for appointments and events. There were about ten people in the office waiting for their session. Afina often found her entire day's worth of clients sitting around already when she came in for her shift.

However, Anna moved out the door quickly. Most of the former vampires in the room were glad to meet her. A few hadn't spoken with her, but upon hearing who she was, were quite pleased that she was there and that they got to see her face to face. At least three of them were resentful though, and there was anger mixed in with some of the emotion from those in the room. At least one wished her dead, and two others would be glad to hurt her given the chance, or at least see her hurt. She turned her eyes towards the one sitting in the furthest corner of the room in the darkness and narrowed her eyes. "Just try it," she mouthed at him as she walked out the door.

He turned his gaze away from her and looked disgusted.

OooOOooOO

Harry smiled as he opened the door to his room. "Hey. You'll be staying in here with me. We've got a spare room, but my cousin Dudley is visiting too. He's staying there right now." He indicated a spare bed across from his own.

Alex blushed as he put his bag down. "Um, thanks, Dad. I guess."

The brown haired boy gave a small sigh. "Just Harry is fine. I'm not that much older than you, and well, I can tell it makes you uncomfortable. It's a bit weird for me too. Besides, you've got a Dad already right? I'm glad to have you and all, but I'm not really old enough to step into his shoes in this."

The black haired boy pushed his glasses up his nose. "Um, okay. Harry then."

The mouse haired boy sat on his bed. "I'll show you around later. Go ahead and get yourself settled in."

His son started unpacking his things and putting them into the dresser by his bed. There was another across from Harry's bed. "How did you meet my Mom?"

Harry laid out across his bed and put his hands behind his head. "Well, you know the story about how Voldemort 'killed' my parents, and I survived right?"

The dark haired boy nodded. "Yeah. Everyone knows that."

His father nodded. "Yeah. Well, I know a guy from the future with a time machine. I don't think he built it, but I talked him into letting me borrow it. I went back in time and turned my parents into vampires before it happened. The killing curse doesn't work on vampires. Anyway, it took me a while to get things set up. I had to get past a few protective enchantments, it was easier because I'm their son, but still took some doing. While I was working all that out, I met your mother. I told her about what I was doing, and why. She didn't believe me at first, but I guess I'm pretty charming so I convinced her. I stayed with her, and she helped me out, helped me stay hidden, and kept me fed. We really liked each other, and she did a lot for me. Just before I had to leave, I said goodbye to her, and well, we got a bit emotional, and one thing led to another."

Alex put his hand up. "That's all I need to know."

Harry nodded. "That's where I was going to stop anyway. You get the idea though?"

The boy nodded and shrugged. "I used to wonder who you were. Mum never talked about you. She said she'd tell me one day, but I'd have to wait until the time was right. She said she'd made a promise, and that she couldn't say."

His father nodded. "Yeah. I asked her to come see me. I told her to wait until after my parents had come back though. I couldn't know about going to the past until after I'd done it. It might cause trouble if I found out too soon. I never knew about you. I left the night after we...um...well, that was the last time I saw her before you both showed up."

Alex nodded. "I see. She's been with Dad, um, you know..."

Harry smiled. "Don't worry. I'm not jealous or anything. I met him too, he was a bit thickheaded back then. She really liked him, but he didn't notice her. I helped her out with that a bit. It was kind of a surprise when she wanted to...um...be grateful. I couldn't really refuse her, what with all she did for me."

The boy nodded. "It's really you though? I'm not sure what to think. I was kind of expecting some old guy. Like Mom, and my other Dad. He's been there as long as I can remember. Mum told me he wasn't really my Dad, but Owen and Milly don't know."

Harry arched his eyebrow. "Your brother and sister?"

Alex grinned. "Yeah. She's four, and he's five. We're all big fans."

The mouse haired boy smiled. "I'd like to meet them sometime. You get along well?"

The dark haired boy frowned a bit. "They're both annoying, but they're my brother and sister. You kind of expect that. I love them though, and I get along all right."

The Potter boy chuckled at that. "Yeah. Believe me, I understand completely."

Alex nodded. "It's like that with your sister too?"

Harry looked over at him. "It's like that for everyone. They won't be so annoying when you get older, but they'll always get on your nerves. My friend Ron has five brothers and a sister."

The dark haired boy got a little wide eyed. "Ron Weasley?"

His father smirked. "Yeah. He's a good friend of mine. My best friend is Melvin Boggs, but Ron is like a brother to me too. We're in the same house."

His son sat on his bad after finishing his unpacking. "What house do you think I'm going to be in?"

Harry shrugged. "Not sure. I'm in Gryffindor, Anna is in Slytherin. All of them are all right, but most of the school jerks are in Slytherin. It's not that bad though, a lot of students might say otherwise. There's some great people in Slytherin. Most of the D is in Slytherin, and so is Ron's sister, and Marci Von Camp, she lives near here. You'll be all right no matter where you go. Anna's boyfriend is in Hufflepuff. I don't really know anyone in Ravenclaw. One of Anna's friends is in that house. Luna Lovegood I think her name was."

Alex nodded and scrunched up his nose. "Dad says the Lovegoods are a bit fruity. They publish the Quibbler. He says it's news in name only."

His father looked over at him. "She's a bit eccentric from what I know, but she's a nice girl."

The Humdragon boy lay across his own bed. "Dad was in Ravenclaw. He says if I get put into Slytherin, he'll disown me. I can tell he's joking though."

Harry smirked at that. "I can understand what he means. Professor Snape is the house head. He's very strict, and a bit vindictive, but he stays within the rules. You probably won't like him much, but there's nothing to be afraid of if you're behaving yourself. Most of the stuff you'll hear about him is just rumors, but some of it will probably be true. Filch, the caretaker should be avoided. He's a rotten old man, and his cat, Mrs. Norris is a part Kneazle, so you should watch out for her too. She'll bring him running if she catches you doing something wrong."

The boy nodded and sat up. "What's it like? Hogwarts I mean?"

Harry started telling him about the school, and giving him little tips about what he'd learned over the past two years.

OooOOooOO

"Harry, who's this then? Another cousin?" Brian grinned as he noticed Alex. Harry had shown him around. The boy had met Dudley, and the large boy seemed agreeable. He learned he was a muggle, and he'd been with Anna. He'd also met her boyfriend, a boy named Cedric, who was keeping her company and playing cards with the both of them. Anna had broken down and decided to learn the rules of Battle Mage herself, if only to have something to do with Dudley besides Gobstones. Exploding Snap required a wand, and Dudley was likely to hurt himself with the cards in her opinion.

Harry shook his head. "No. It's complicated. This is Alex Humdragon, he's...um..."

The boy extended his hand. "I'm Harry's son."

Mark's face turned into a grin. "Ha. Good one. You do look a bit alike."

Harry flushed and scratched the back of his head. "Um, he's not kidding." He wasn't entirely comfortable telling people that, but he couldn't deny it either. Alex didn't seem to mind telling people, and he was pretty sure Anna had explained it to Cedric, considering his reaction to meeting him.

Brian blinked. "Dude? Um, isn't he a little..."

Noriko was sitting nearby. "He's just joking. Right?"

Marci seemed to agree. She was a bit bubble headed, and had already ruined several of Anna's potions in the lab over the summer. However, even she wasn't buying it.

Alex shrugged. "It's true. I guess it's pretty cool that he's my Dad and all. It is a bit weird though."

They all looked towards Harry. "It's got to do with that time machine I used to save Mum and Dad."

The blond boy seemed to accept it. "Oh. So you're like, from the future?"

Mark got a bit wide eyed. "Really?"

The black haired boy shook his head. "No. I'm not."

Harry leaned in a bit. "I went into the past. He's from now, I was the one who was from the future when it...um...happened."

Noriko seemed to think on it. "Oh. I get it. Hasn't happened yet, right?"

The Potter boy shook his head, looking even more embarrassed. "No. I remember doing it. It happened when I went back to save Mum and Dad. I'm not saying any more than that though." He was a bit surprised that Alex was telling anyone.

His son was pleased. "So, you're Dad's friends?"

His father leaned in. "Just Harry is fine. Really."

Alex shrugged. "I dunno why, but that's even weirder than calling you Dad. I think I'll stick with that. What, are you ashamed of me, or is it my Mom?"

Harry frowned and realized that his son was annoying him intentionally. "No. Of course not. Your Mom is a total babe, and if she wasn't married, I'd do it again." He looked at his friends and thought to himself. "Well, he must get it from Dad's side of the family."

Alex had a completely straight face. "Naw. Mum is too old for you now. It wouldn't work out."

Harry gave a snort. "I never said I'd marry her, just that she's hot, and doable."

Noriko's face fell. She looked disappointed. "So, you're not a virgin then?"

The brunette boy hung his head a little. "No. I'm not."

Mark and Brian both got wide eyed. "Dude!"

"What was it like?" asked Mark.

Brian looked like he wanted to know, but didn't want to admit to not doing it before himself.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going to talk about that stuff in front of my son. You perverts."

Noriko looked scandalized. "What? They're perverts?"

Marci shrugged. "I would. You told me you would too. He's cute."

The white haired Asian girl whirled around and put her hand over the blond's mouth. "Shut up."

Alex looked pleased with himself. "Yeah. I am too then. We look alike, don't we?" He was a year younger than both girls. They had started at the Academy the previous term. "I'm going to be at Hogwarts with him next year."

They both gave him sour frowns and turned their noses up, both of them were blushing a little. Neither one said anything.

Alex looked very pleased with himself. He was enjoying teasing his Dad.

Harry looked at him. "Well, you did get your looks from your grandfather's side of the family. It seems you got some of his personality too."

Brian nodded. "Is he a Wizard?"

The dark haired boy frowned a bit. "I just said I'll be at Hogwarts next year. What do you think?"

Mark grinned at that as Brian's face fell as the older boy muttered. "Oh, yeah."

The younger brunette boy looked at the pair. "Does he play Battle Mage?"

Alex shrugged. "Left my deck at home. I've got my Chocolate Frog Card collection with me though. We could do a few trades. Check this out." He pulled out a small plastic square out of his pocket. He unfolded it several times and ended up with a large book with clear plastic sleeves for cards in it. None of the cards were folded or damaged. "My other Dad got it for me. The one that married Mum. It's a wallet sized card protecting book."

Brian arched his eyebrows. "I've seen those. They're new, hadn't heard about anyone who owned one yet. They don't damage the cards or anything?"

The dark haired boy shook his head. "Not at all. Look, see?"

Mark looked at it with the others. "You've got Gregory the Smarmy? I've been looking for him. Got an extra to trade? Harry's got one, but he won't trade."

The Potter boy shrugged. "I've only got the one." He looked at his son. "I'll show you later. I've got almost the complete set. I'm just missing two of the newest ones. Do you have either of mine? I've only got two so far. Ron's got a couple too, I heard he's got a new one from that mess in Egypt this summer. I've already told him to get some extras. I'll make sure to get one for all of you if you'd like."

Alex slapped his shoulder. "That's great old man!"

OooOOooOO

Ron was sipping on a soda and sprayed it across the room in Abbey Road Studios. Fred and George were frozen with their jaws hanging down. Percy and Ginny were both looking on from bean bag chairs. Melvin and Margaret were less surprised, and Pansy seemed to have a dawning on her face.

The brunette girl spoke up first. "Oh. So this is how your parents found out then?"

Harry looked over at her and nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much."

Lee Jordan was chuckling at it. He was sitting with Margaret, the girl wasn't touching him, but was leaning towards him. They were about as close to touching as they could get without doing it. Anna had warned Margaret about the virgin alarm on the house.

Dudley was sitting with them all, looking amazed. He'd refused the candies Fred and George had offered him, and Anna had scolded them and threatened to make them leave if they tried it again. He was quite and looking at Harry with wide eyes. "Huh? He's who?"

Alex looked over at him. "I'm Harry's son. Alex Humdragon, nice to meet you all."

Cedric sat down and nodded. "Anna mentioned it to me earlier. I thought she was joking, but he does look like you, and I know you've only got one cousin."

His sister was in the sound booth laughing her ass off. No one could hear her, but Harry could see her bent over the equipment with her hand on the glass with a red face and her other hand on her belly. She stepped out wiping tears from her eyes, she'd heard the admission from inside the booth. "Oh. You remind me of your Grandfather dear."

Lee Jordan was wide eyed. "You're...not joking?"

Harry glanced over at him. "Why do you think I've been grounded? His Mum showed up with him a couple of weeks ago. He's visiting all week. He goes home the same day Dudley does, right after our birthday."

Alex grinned. "That's what the old man said." He jerked his thumb at Harry.

Fred and George spoke up first among the Weasleys. "Wait...you mean he's serious?" they passed it between each other.

"Yeah." Lee was wide eyed and leaning towards him.

Ron shook his head. "No way. Harry..." He had a black eye and was holding his soda against it.

The Potter boy gave a heavy sigh. "No, he means it. It's true."

Ginny gave a small squeak. "Seriously?" she was red as a beet.

Anna put her arm across her shoulder. The girl was a bit disappointed, but not so attached to Harry as to get upset about it. "I'm afraid so." She narrowed her eyes at her brother. "The stupid pervert. Here I was thinking Melvin was bad."

The drummer shrugged. "What can I say? I knew I liked him for a reason." He raised his can to Harry and grinned.

Harry rolled his eyes at that and then looked at Ron. "What happened to you anyway?"

The boy gave a heavy sigh. "Parvati saw that picture of me with Nubiti in the paper. I was wondering why she hadn't written back. I ran into her at the Alley, and she's pretty upset." He scowled a bit. "What was I supposed to do? Slap her? She's a princess, those Goblins would have killed me."

Anna smirked at that. "You didn't break up did you?"

Ron shook his head. "No. She chased me around the Three Broomsticks with a stool though. Almost brained me, gave me a good right hook too. I had a heck of a time calming her down. She's still a bit upset about it, so please don't bring it up. I don't think she'll attack me, or break up. She's still a bit mad at me for it, but I think she gets that I couldn't just shove her off or anything."

Percy shook his head. "Really, Harry. I thought better of you than that."

The mouse haired boy shrugged. "I thought I owed her. She helped me get Mum and Dad back when I was in the past. I couldn't really say no, not that I minded. I have to admit she was really cute, and she's a mega babe now. I'm almost sorry she's married."

The eldest Weasley boy frowned. "Well, I suppose you're still young. That's no excuse."

Ron snorted. "Well, I'm not arguing mind you, but girls can be scarier than I thought. I'd rather face down that Cyberdemon again than piss Parvati off like that again."

Percy blinked. "Cyberdemon?" He went a little pale. "What do you mean?"

His younger brother looked up at him. "That's what kind of demon I had to fight to get out of hell. I looked it up last year."

Percy shook his head. "I know what it is. No way, Ron. We learned about those last year going over demon types in Defense Against Dark Arts. You must have gotten it wrong. Those things are unbeatable. High level demons, the only instructions we got for encountering one of those things is 'run'."

His brother shook his head. "No. There was a picture of it in the book. I'm sure. Shot rockets out of it's arms and everything."

Percy scowled at him and narrowed his eyes. "You're putting me on."

Anna looked up at him. "No, he's serious. He killed a Spider Mastermind too. I'm the one who gave him the book. It's from the restricted section, but I had permission to access it because of Divination. We cover a bit of Demonology, because if a reading is done the wrong way it can sometimes lead to summoning a demon. Usually incorporeal, but if you're really stupid or have no idea what you're doing, sometimes minor corporeal demons. It's near impossible to screw up badly enough to summon something like that though. Though, I'm to understand it's possible to do it on purpose if you're a real idiot. Most Dark wizards wouldn't be so dumb. They're not the type who is very interested in negotiating over a soul. More likely they'll just blow you to bits and drag your soul back by force."

Percy frowned at her. "Well, still..."

Anna shrugged. "He described it pretty accurately before he ever saw it. Both of them actually, he saw most types of demons while he was there. There were a couple he hadn't seen, but the worst of the worst came after him apparently. It's not that surprising, considering he blasted his way out."

The girls in the room were all giving Harry varying levels of sour frowns for his earlier comments about Mrs. Humdragon. He looked about. "What? I could do much worse."

Alex frowned back at them. "Look, you might think he's cute and that you missed out or something, but I'm certainly glad he did it."

Pansy relaxed. "I can't argue with that."

"For your own reasons," grumbled Anna under her breath. No one noticed though. She looked at Percy. "I hear you're going to be Head Boy this year. Congratulations."

The eldest redhead puffed his chest out a bit and smirked. "That's right."

Ron seemed pleased and nodded. "Yeah. Mum and Dad are really proud of him."

Fred and George spoke up, passing another sentence between them. "We're not, he'll be even more annoying now."

He scowled at them both. "Don't give me a reason to, and you won't have to worry about it."

Ron looked at Harry. "What electives are you taking next year? I'm taking Ancient Runes, Language Studies, and Magical Artifacts."

Harry blinked, that was a surprise to him. All of the elective courses he mentioned were known to be very difficult. "Well, I'm taking Languages as well, Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination. I probably won't do as well as Anna, and I may switch to something else next year depending on how it goes. I figure it won't hurt. You're not taking Hagrid's class?"

Ron shrugged. "I'm going to be an Archaeologist. I'll need all three of those courses to do it. I like Hagrid, I'll visit him for sure. I just can't make his class without being in two places at once. I hope he doesn't mind. I only had three slots to fill though." He looked thoughtful. "I wonder what Hermione is taking?"

Fred chuckled. "Careful Ron, who knows what Parvati might do if she finds out..."

"...you're thinking of another girl?" finished George in amusement.

Pansy rolled her eyes at that. "I'm taking Divination, and I'm going to be in Care of Magical Creatures too. I'm taking Muggle Studies also. We spend a lot of time around Muggles because of the band. I know a bit about them already."

Margaret nodded. "I'm certainly not going outside for Care of Magical Creatures. I'll be in Divination though, and Muggle Studies, as well as Ancient Runes."

Anna shrugged. "Ancient Runes, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, and Languages."

Percy blinked and seemed surprised. "Four classes?"

She looked up at him. "I get to drop Potions. If I wasn't a student still, I could teach it. I'm literally qualified for it. I wrote the textbooks every student will be using this year."

He nodded after a moment of thought. "Oh. I see."

The older students were all sticking with what they had taken the year before. None of them bothered to pipe in, as everyone assumed it.

Dudley was lost and quiet. He also did whatever he was told, with no complaint or whining since the day he'd seen Anna and Harry practicing in the yard. Anna didn't even have to prod him any longer. He was a bit nervous around Harry, but didn't think he'd hurt him. Anna terrified him now, but she was nice enough when he was behaving. Which was whenever she was anywhere near him.

Anna stood up and dusted off her hands. "All right D, up. We're here to work after all." She smirked at Harry. "Time to show your son what you do for a living."

"Har, har," muttered Harry with a sour frown. "It is to laugh."

Everyone was pleased with the idea, and they went about messing around and recording a few songs for their next album.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next Time: The End of Summer.

AN: I almost went all the way there this time, but figured this was long enough.

A few notes about the Indiana Jones Chapter with Ron. A lot of people seemed to think that the old man in the chair was Henry Jones Sr. from Last Crusade. It wasn't, it was Indiana as he appeared in the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television show. The man pushing him around was 'Mutt' from Crystal Skull.

Also, while I did play Fallout 3, 'Anything Goes' was in fact a nod to Temple of Doom. It's the song Willie Scott was singing in the opening to the film in Chinese in the club for the main titles. [She's also mentioned to be the one singing it in the radio broadcast that was playing in the Weasley home.]

Rock -is- the blues with a faster tempo. Anyone who says otherwise needs to take a music history lesson and listen to some Elvis, Beatles, and Led Zeppelin. Rock came out of the blues, it's it's direct ancestor. You may not hear it in the modern rock of today, but that's exactly what the origins of Rock are. Metal, Alt. Rock, and other offshoot music may not resemble it anymore, but they aren't 'Rock'. Even if it's modern descendants now differ a lot more, what is just known as plain old Rock is indeed the blues with a faster beat.

Also, don't bother writing in complaining about religion or what the Ark is, or the Holy Grail. What you believe is real is irrelevant. This isn't real, and Christianity does not mesh well with Harry Potter's world. It may be true in reality, I'm not commenting on that either way, [Find a message board about it if you want to talk about it, there's lots of them] but it wouldn't make sense as something that is real in the universe of Harry Potter, which is fiction to begin with.

In other words, as far as this fiction [and in all honestly, the Harry Potter books] are concerned Christianity is bunk and magic and Wizards are both real, and both good and evil. Christianity says it's all bad, and satanic and whatnot. Your personal beliefs or what is or is not reality here means nothing in this fictional world. Just accept that this is a fantasy world where Jesus never existed and the God of Abraham is imaginary and forget about it. It's not relevant to yours or anyone else's real beliefs. Any comments about it will be promptly ignored.


	42. Chapter 42

A Matter of Force

Part 43

Book 3: Harry Potter and the Master of Dreams.

OooOOooOO

It was a warm summer's day, the sun was shining brightly overhead, and the sound of freely running water filled the air. Harry potter was surrounded by green, high above large glass panes made up the ceiling. There were lots of colors dotting the green all around him. It looked like a jungle if one did not look down. The floor was concrete, heavy pots and rows of dirt filled troughs made isles that thousands of plants filled. "Wow. This is really something."

Neville Longbottom grinned. He was rosy cheeked and smudged with dirt. "Yes. I've been helping Gran out all summer. It's a lot of work." He was standing beside Harry showing him about and telling him about the plants that surrounded them. "The greenhouse has most of the plants that need the most care. The garden is really impressive as well. Most of the plants in here require a tropical climate, it's the most impressive. There's three smaller greenhouses as well. One for plants that grow in grassland, one for desert plants, and another for tundra plants."

Harry smiled at him. "Yes. It's more impressive than I'd thought. Seems like it would be a bit of work to keep it all up. You must stay pretty busy in the summer."

Neville nodded. "It's not bad. There's not a lot of people around here. I like working in the gardens and greenhouses." He was quite pleased to have Harry over. The Potter boy was quite polite and listened to him. He was asking questions about the plants he was showing him and really seemed interested in what he was being shown. "Thanks for visiting." The pudgy boy blushed a bit as he said it.

"No problem. It's been pretty interesting. Anna will be a little jealous when I tell her about all this I think." Harry smirked at the thought of it.

Neville blinked. "Y-you think so?"

The brunette boy gave a nod. "Of course. You know how she is about Potions and all. Most of these plants are for use as ingredients right?"

The Longbottom boy nodded. "Yes. That's right. Some of them don't need to be prepared in potions though. There's quite a few magical plants here as well. All of them can be used as ingredients, but some of them have other uses as well."

Harry looked over his shoulder "Hey. That's Devil's Snare isn't it? Had a run in with this stuff a few times before. Dad made a bathroom mat out of it over the summer to prank my sister. I had to help mom get it out of the bathroom. It covered the walls and floors pretty quick when we tried to move it. Had to do a bit of pruning."

Neville seemed pleased. "Yeah it is. I've gotten stuck in it a few times before. It's not dangerous, but Gran had to cut me out. She was pretty cross with me. She's always telling me to be careful." He turned a bit pink. "Your sister could have come as well. Gran wouldn't mind."

Harry didn't look directly at him. Neville had a bit of a crush on her, but it wasn't anything serious. "Maybe next time she'll come along. She's at home with our cousin right now. He's a Muggle and he's not allowed to come to a place like this. He visits us for a month every Summer now, and she's stuck keeping an eye on him."

The pudgy boy nodded. "Oh. Gran was pretty mad at her after that mess with the Vampires." He grinned at his company. "Then she made a couple of really big orders, and now she's forgiven her."

The Potter boy chuckled at that. "Yes. She's got a way with people I suppose." Anna had a way of making bad first impressions on people, and then making up for it later. It got her into a bit of trouble at times. "What sort of order? I hadn't heard about that?"

Neville shrugged. "Ingredients mostly. She bought up half our last harvest. That's quite a bit."

His friend seemed to think on it. "Yeah. She spends a lot of time in the lab at home. She's been brewing stuff ever since we got home from the tour."

The tubby boy nodded. "Thanks for the tickets. Gran wouldn't let me go to the show though. We were too busy here, and I didn't have a way to get there."

Harry looked at him. "It's all right. You'll see us at school. You know we're going to be doing a few open practices. We'll probably play at our birthday party as well." He grinned and slapped him on the shoulder. "You'll come for it?"

Neville seemed a bit pensive. "Well, I'd like too. I'm not sure if Gran will let me."

The Potter boy nodded. "We'll ask her before I leave. If she's too busy to bring you, I can have Mum or Dad come pick you up or something. I'm sure I can get you a ride to the show and back next year as well."

Longbottom nodded. "Thanks, Harry. I'd...I'd like that."

The brunette boy seemed pleased with himself. He noticed they were nearing what looked like a very large fenced in area with a heavy padlock on it. "Hey. What's that?"

Neville turned a bit pale. "Oh. Those are dangerous plants. Carnivorous and poisonous plants. Some of them will even come after you if you're not careful. Gran says no one who can't use a wand is allowed in there. It's not safe, some of them can grab you or shoot poison darts."

The Potter boy nodded. "Oh. Well I suppose we shouldn't get too close then." He looked about. "This is the most impressive greenhouse I've ever seen. Of course, it's also kind of the first. I wasn't expecting it to be so big." The whole complex took up about five acres of land. Outside and all around the home was an impressive garden that was just as large. There were several areas that were fenced off with various local plant life as well. As well as an impressive hedge maze and flower garden with a large fountain just outside the back door to the small mansion. The front grounds of the home had a very well kept lawn of impressive size as well.

Mrs. Longbottom walked up to the pair. She had a very formal smile on her face and a stern air about her. She wasn't unpleasant, but reminded Harry of McGonagal in her mannerisms a bit. "Ah. There you are boys. Come along and have some tea."

Harry looked surprised. "Oh. Is it tea time already? I didn't realize I'd been here that long."

Neville smiled at him. "I'll show you the pond after. We've got an impressive aquatic garden as well. There's an underground viewing area. It's like an aquarium, but with no fish. Well, there's a few, but they're only the types that are good for the plants."

The brunette boy seemed pleased to hear it. "That does sound interesting." He'd seen the pond on the grounds at a distance already. It wasn't near the size of the one at Hogwarts, but was still far from small.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter had a grin on her face as she sat with Afina and Remus at a long table in the back yard. "So, you'll be at Hogwarts this year?"

The man nodded, he was cheerful and seemed to have a bit more color about him than before. "Yes. I'll be teaching Defense Against Dark Arts this year."

There were a lot of people surrounding them. It was the twin's birthday party, and it was mostly over with. The band had played, gifts had been opened, and now the guests were sitting about talking while the children in attendance ran about. The party had been held in the Potter family's back yard again, and there were a few more people than the last year.

The weather was beautiful, and the sun was getting low on the horizon, but it wasn't growing dark yet.

The redhead smiled at her Uncle. "I guess I'll have to get used to calling you Professor then. You should be careful. The job is cursed you know."

His face fell a little. "I'm only doing it for this year. Dumbledore called in a favor I owe him." He was holding the former vampire's hand and leaned into her. "Don't give me too much trouble. I've heard about you. I can't play favorites you know."

The girl nodded and seemed amused. "I wouldn't expect it. Your special order is ready by the way. Just ask Mum about it before you leave tonight and she'll give it to you."

He nodded at that. "Oh. Thank you. It still tastes awful, but I'm very grateful you've found a way to make it more bearable."

Anna grinned at him. "It's working out well? You've not noticed any after effects because of the flavoring have you? Thanks for volunteering to test that by the way."

He shook his head. "Nothing I've noticed. I've taken a liking to cherry soda since then though. I didn't used to care much for it."

The girl cocked her head. "That's good. I didn't think there would be any problems. Let me know if you notice anything. I'm thinking of marketing it, and I'm working on one that's chocolate flavored as well. I'm going to have to put it through with the ministry for proper trials and all first though."

He nodded as she stood up and walked away. Afina was leaning on his shoulder looking contented. "She's quite an interesting girl."

Remus looked at her. "She is that. I'm not so sure I'm looking forward to being stuck in a classroom with her."

The woman chuckled at that. "She was a good student. Don't worry. She wasn't at the top of the class, but I doubt she'll give you much trouble."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was relaxed. It had been a good day all things considered. He was surrounded by friends at the table he was sitting at and had a large grin on his face. Ron and Melvin were sitting on either side of him. Dudley was sitting beside Melvin, and Neville and Alex were across from Harry, with Hermione between the pair. They all had plates with crumbs and melted ice cream on them sitting in front of them. Things were winding down and settling. A lot of guests were on their way out.

"Great party. old man," said Alex as he grinned at his father.

Hermione frowned at him a little. He seemed like a nice enough boy, and looked a bit like Harry. It was her first time meeting him, he'd been hanging around with the group for the party and kept calling the Potter boy 'old man' and 'pops'. It was also her first time meeting Dudley, but he'd been rather quiet. He'd eaten quite a large slice of cake and a huge pile of ice cream. It wasn't much of a surprise given his size.

Alex noticed and looked at her. "What? Do I have something in my teeth?" He rubbed at his mouth with his sleeve.

The girl shook her head. "Who are you? I know everyone else. Are you a friend of Harry's?"

The Potter boy sank in his seat a little. "Well, you could say that..."

The black haired boy grinned at her. "I'm Harry's son. I look like him, don't you think?" He struck a pose and puffed out his chest.

The girl didn't seem to believe him. "Right. Cute. I guess you do kind of look alike." She'd noticed it of course, they looked close enough that she suspected he was a relative. "Are you his cousin or something?"

Alex was enjoying himself. "No. That's Harry's cousin."

Dudley raised his hand and grinned. "He's not my brother. I'm an only child, and Aunt Lily is my only auntie."

Melvin nodded. "He's not joking. It turns out he's as much a pervert as I am."

Harry blushed. "I wouldn't go that far."

Hermione seemed a bit upset. "Don't say that!"

The Potter boy hung his head and gave a heavy sigh. "He's not kidding. I really wish you'd stop that." He gave his son a small frown.

"What? You're ashamed of me? My own dad! Oh, how cruel!" the boy mocked being upset.

Christina Milan was looking on with wide eyes and looked to not believe it either. "Really, Harry. Isn't he a bit old?" She was sitting with Anna's friends, the redhead was off talking with some of the adults nearby. Margaret and Pansy were stifling chuckles. The blond girl glanced at them. "What's so funny?"

Pansy wasn't finished chuckling as she spoke. "Seems our little time traveler had a bit of an adventure while he was in the past, eh Harry?"

The boy rolled his eyes and gave a sigh. "I guess I can't deny it. He's not joking, he's my son. I know a guy who has a time machine. It's how I got Mum and Dad back, remember?"

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows a little. "So, he's from the future then?" She still looked skeptical, thinking it was some kind of inside joke she just wasn't getting.

Alex shook his head. "No. He's the one who was from the future silly girl. See, that's my Mum over there." He pointed to a pretty woman with long curly brown hair sitting with a man of about her own age with blond hair and broad shoulders. "That's my Dad with her, my other Dad I mean. He married her when I was very young."

Harry looked over at them. He'd not met Alex's father yet, he was at the party though, and he didn't have the nerve to approach him. Alex had come with his whole family, and his brother and sister were running about, the youngest pair at the party.

Ginny gave a small sigh. "It is a bit weird." She poked at her plate with her fork and had her fist in her cheek.

Ron nodded. "Tell me about it."

Alex shrugged. "I think it's pretty cool."

"I noticed," grumbled Harry a little sourly. "You know, you keep getting on my nerves like this and I'm going to get you back."

His son nodded. "Yeah. Grandpa said he'd help me out with that. He says you're too serious, and that you need to lighten up a bit. I promised I'd help him with that."

Hermione looked a bit worried. "Well, this is all very funny. Come off it though. Harry wouldn't...I mean...he'd never..."

The mouse haired boy shrugged at her. "I did. It's a bit annoying dealing with it since he's being a prat about it and announcing it to the world, but I really can't say it didn't happen either. She was really hot, and I owed her. She looked out for me while I was working on getting past the enchantments to my old house so I could help Mum and Dad." He avoided looking directly at her and seemed to have the senses to be a bit embarrassed about it. He looked at Alex. "I'm going to get you for this later."

The frazzle haired girl had a rather blank expression on her face.

"Yeah, that's what I said," grumbled Ginny.

Marci gave a nod and Noriko looked to agree as well.

Alex looked pleased with himself. "Girls always look so disappointed. It's hard to resist."

Hermione scowled at him. "I'm not. I'm just, surprised." She turned towards her schoolmate. "You're not pulling my leg, are you?"

Harry gave another sigh. "No. I'm not. I'm not really sorry or anything, but still."

Parvati walked up to the scene with Padma beside her. "Oh! There you are, Ron. I was just looking for you."

The red haired boy looked back at her and gave a smile. "I'm just hanging out with the guys for a bit."

The girl nodded and took note of who he was sitting with. Padma seemed cheerful and gave Harry a small shy wave. "I see."

Hermione smirked at the expression on his face. She'd kept in contact with Parvati over the summer, they'd become friends since she'd started dating Ron. "I was wondering where you'd run off too."

The brown skinned girl smirked at her. "I was playing Battlemage over with Anna's boyfriend and a few of the guys from the neighborhood." She put her hands on her boyfriend's shoulders. "I owned them all, except for that boy Mark. He's really good. He beat me twice."

Harry gave a nod. "He's the best in the neighborhood. He and Lee Jordan have a rivalry going, but Lee's back a few games last I heard."

Anna walked up. "Harry. Hey." She smiled at her friends. "Hi, guys. Enjoying the party then?"

They all gave muttered positive responses in reply.

The girl pulled on her brother's sleeve. "Hey, come on. There's someone who wants to meet you."

The brown haired boy seemed confused and felt a few butterflies in his stomach as he realized where he was going. "Oh. I see."

Roland and Alyssa Humdragon greeted him as he found himself shoved up to them by his sister. The boy flushed a little. "Oh. Hi."

The blond man gave a nod. "It's been a while, Harry."

The boy nodded. "Yeah. Hey, Roland. You've grown I see."

Mr. Humdragon nodded. "Yes. You've not though. It's a bit odd seeing you now I have to admit."

Harry nodded, his sister had dumped him off and ran. She went over to drag her boyfriend and the rest of the neighborhood kids over to sit with the rest of the children. "Yeah. No hard feelings or anything?"

The man chuckled at that. "Oh. I see. That's what it was. There was, but I got over it years ago. He's a good boy, and I love him like my own."

Alyssa gasped and took a light swat at his chest. "Really, Roland."

Harry gave a small shrug. "I wasn't sure what to say. It's a bit strange seeing you two again as well." He managed a smile. "I'm glad to see things turned out well for you."

The man nodded. "You as well. I see you succeeded in your mission. To be honest, I had a bit of trouble believing it. Then I saw you on the Broadcast, and well. It still took me a bit to get my head around it all." He seemed cheerful, and Harry could tell he was being honest.

The young rock star seemed to relax a bit more. "So, how have you been?"

Alyssa flushed. "It's been wonderful. I couldn't be happier." She looked over. "I'd like to introduce you to my two youngest. They've really been looking forward to meeting you."

The boy nodded. "They don't know? I mean, about Alex?"

Roland gave a heavy sigh. "Alex won't shut up about it. He's a good lad, but he's got a strange sense of humor. All his friends think he's joking because he looks like you."

Harry nodded. "Oh. Well he gets that from his Grandfather I'm afraid."

The man chuckled at that. "It's nice to finally know where it comes from. He doesn't take after you then?"

The mouse haired boy shook his head. "No. I'm the serious type. That's what I'm told anyway. I take after my mother it seems. Anna got a bit of it though."

OooOOooOO

Harry had two small children by the hand and walked over to the table with a smile on his face. "Here, this is my sister."

"Annie!" chimed the four year old girl. She had a huge grin on her face and wide eyes as she pointed with excitement and jumped up and down.

"Cool!" exclaimed her brother, a year older than her in much the same manner.

The brown haired boy grinned at his sister. "This must be Owen and Millie? Your brother and sister?" She looked over at Alex.

The boy nodded and smiled at her. "Yeah."

Anna had turned around on her seat and hefted the pair onto her legs as if she was Santa Claus. "Well, you can both call me Auntie Anna then. It's nice to meet you."

Cedric smirked at her as she cooed over the two excited children. "Anna is good with kids."

Harry nodded from beside him. He took the only open spot at the end of the table. "Yeah. She's always been that way."

Margaret sitting with Lee beside her and was holding hands with him under the table. "Ugh. Just keep them away from me. I'm not the motherly type."

Lee leaned in to her a little. "They're cute though. Look at them." It was obvious he was teasing her a bit.

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't push it. I don't like being teased." He leaned in and whispered something in her ear that caused her to blush. She gave a fake looking frown and leaned into him again. "Well, maybe a little."

Pansy and Christina had gotten up to help fawn over the children with Anna. Harry had the boy's attention and now had him on his lap as well.

Alex gave a sigh. "Man. I never thought I'd want to be in my little brother's shoes."

Melvin nodded. "Tell me about it." He slapped him on the shoulder and grinned. "You're all right kid."

Parvati looked at her boyfriend out of the corner of her eyes. "You're not jealous, are you Ron?"

The redhead blinked and turned his eyes away from the scene. "No. They're cute kids." He purposely didn't look back.

Padma giggled behind her hand.

Hermione rolled her eyes a little. "Why can't I have normal friends?"

Parvati arched her eyebrow. "I'm normal."

The frazzle haired girl nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for that. You're about the only one though."

Anna chuckled and looked over her shoulder. "What? As if you're normal."

"What?" cried the girl in irritation.

The redhead smirked at her in an evil looking manner. "You're a genius. You're just as weird as the rest of us you know. What's so bad about being one of us anyway?"

Christina giggled at that. "She's right. Don't pout."

"Easy for you to say," grumbled the nerdy girl. She had buck teeth, frazzled hair, and oily skin. All the girls sitting around her were perfect. It was annoying and left her feeling inadequate.

The blond pop star smiled at her super hot red headed friend. "Hey. Are you guys doing something different with your hair?" She looked over at Pansy and Margaret as well. "It looks great. Who's your stylist?"

Anna blinked. "Huh? Yeah. Kind of." She pulled at it and rubbed on her ponytail with her fingers a little. It wasn't something she thought much of.

Pansy giggled. "You've not tried it yet?"

Christina looked confused. "Tried what?"

Margaret smirked. "Anna's line. We all use it now."

The blond girl frowned a bit. "You use your own line?" She was a bit confused. She had a product name that used her name and face in advertising as well, but she never used it. It was a little cheap, and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't professional level beauty products either.

Anna nodded. "Yeah. It's my formula after all."

"Formula?" Hermione seemed confused. "What, you mean that shampoo and makeup stuff I've seen on television?"

The redhead nodded. "Well, yeah. I didn't sign an endorsement contract. It's my product. I'm a Potion's Master remember? That's really mine, I own the company, all the products use my copyrighted formulas. Even the muggle version of it is up to my standards. No cheap stuff or fillers."

Christina blinked. "Wow. Really?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the blond girl. "You don't use yours?"

The blond flushed a bit. "Well, no. I'm just a paid spokesperson. I have to use it before a shoot for legal reasons, but normally I use professional stylists, and they wouldn't touch the stuff. It's not bad or anything, but it is kind of cheap."

Anna shrugged. "Well, my line isn't exactly cheap. It's expensive, but you get what you pay for too. You're not paying for my name. I'm directly involved with the manufacturing and formulation. I own a hundred percent of it."

Christina looked impressed. "Huh. That's really cool. I don't know how you find time for all this stuff."

Harry gave a snort. "She spends at least an hour in that lab of hers every evening. If I can't find her, that's the first place I'll look."

Anna glanced at Hermione. "Hey. You girls want to do a makeover?"

The frazzle haired girl blushed and looked around. All the girls around her were looking at her. "Hey...wait...I..."

Harry blinked in surprise. "Well, that's something I never thought I'd hear her say."

OooOOooOO

"What is this?" grumbled Hermione as she frowned at the bottle she'd been handed. She was in Anna's bedroom with a towel over her hair and was wearing a bathrobe. She was a bit uncomfortable, but had relented under the peer pressure from the other girls.

Christina, Margaret, Ginny, Noriko, Pansy, Marci, Parvati, Padma, and Anna were all sitting around her. The girls were flipping through magazines and messing around with makeup, applying it to themselves and fawning over her as they did the same thing.

The redhead smiled at the Granger girl and chuckled. "It's magic braces. It'll fix your teeth just like muggle braces in a few seconds. It's permanent too, so you don't have to worry about taking it all the time either."

"Huh?" muttered the girl as she looked at it.

The redhead took her shoulders. "What? You don't trust me? Have I ever done you wrong before?"

Hermione frowned at her. "No, I don't trust you." She gave a small sigh. "I don't think you'd tease me like this though." She squeezed her eyes shut and downed it. It was sour and bitter, horrible tasting stuff really. After a moment, she gasped and coughed. "Ugh. That's awful."

Anna nodded. "I never said it tasted good." She went about dabbing a creme on her face and rubbing it in. The girl flinched, but didn't resist. Ginny was painting her nails with a nail polish that shimmered violet, red, and pink.

Pansy took the towel off her head and went about brushing her hair and blow drying it clean at the same time with a magical brush that blew hot air through the bristles. The girl grinned. "Hey, took the frazzle right out of it."

Anna nodded and held her head in place. "Hmm." She brushed at her cheeks with a makeup brush and then pulled out a lip pencil and lipstick. "Yeah. It looks good."

Ginny lifted up a heavy blue eye shadow. "How about this?"

The redhead scrunched up her face. "No, it's too much." She moved from her lips and started penciling in eyeliner. "Hand me that blue gray one."

The brunette girl scowled a little. She was starting to suspect she'd come out looking like a prostitute. "I can't wear too much makeup. My parents don't like it."

Anna nodded. "You'll be fine. The trick is to make it look like you're not wearing any." She accepted the small container from the younger redhead.

About ten minutes later, Hermione still hadn't seen herself in the mirror yet. She was anxious, but the girls were all having a good time of it. It wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been initially, but they were all purposely preventing her from seeing herself in the mirror. "I want to see what you've done."

Christina smiled at her. "You'll like it. Just relax, it's better to wait and be surprised. Come on, we've got to find something you can wear that suits you." She didn't know the Pop star very well, but she'd been nice to her. She gave in and decided to trust her.

About four minutes later she found herself in a pale yellow dress that hung loosely off her shoulders, yet still clung to her figure. It stopped at the knees and kept her cleavage covered.

Anna nodded as she looked her up and down. "There." She put a hairband on top of her head pushing her bangs back and letting her hair fall loose behind her back. "Perfect."

"Great," grumbled the brunette girl in irritation. "Can I see now?" Despite herself, she was having a good time of it. The other girls had played around with the makeup as well, and they all looked good. None of them had overdone it, not even the younger girls. The older girls in the room had helped them out with it. They'd been messing around for at least an hour and a half, and had washed Hermione's face and hair in the bathroom sink.

Pansy gave a small sigh. "It looks good, it's too bad you wear different sized shoes though. I guess she'll have to find a pair to match it later."

Margaret nodded. "I have to admit, I didn't think she'd come out this well."

The group walked her over to a full sized mirror that they'd covered with a sheet to keep her from 'cheating' as they'd put it. They pulled it away and Hermione froze with wide eyes.

She looked good. Her hair was straight and had a shine to it she'd never seen before. Whatever they'd put on her face had cleaned up her oily skin and it looked soft and smooth. The lipstick was a neutral pink, not to flashy, and there was a light shade over her eyelids. Her cheeks had color, but not an unnatural looking red, and the dress made her look slim and hid her smallish chest a little. "I..." She didn't know what to say. She flashed the mirror with a grin and covered her mouth with her hand at the sight of it. Her teeth were straight and perfect. "That's...me?"

Anna put her head on her shoulder and looked at the reflection with her. "Heh. I always knew there was a babe hiding in there."

The girl looked at her with wide eyes. "I um...I guess it looks good. It does doesn't it?"

Christina nodded. "Yeah. Great job girls!" she pumped her arm.

Pansy giggled at her schoolmate's expression. Ginny, Noriko, and Marci were also done up a bit and also looked pleased with themselves over it. Margaret had a cool expression, but nodded despite it. "Yeah. Seems our work here is done."

Anna pulled on the brunette's arm. "Come on, let's go show off."

Hermione flushed and pulled back a little. "Wait. I don't want to get your dress dirty. Let me change first..."

The redhead shrugged. "Keep it. It never looked good on me anyway."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter stood with his eyebrow arched. "Her-Hermione?"

The girl looked uncomfortable. She had her hands folded in front of her and her head was down. "Yeah."

Ron whistled in approval. "Hey. You look good. What happened?"

Christina looked proud of herself. "We gave her a makeover."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. You look good. Really good."

Parvati narrowed her eyes at Ron for a moment. He turned his eyes away and scratched at his head. "What? You want me to tell her she looks awful?"

She put her nose up and took his arm. "Don't overdo it."

The redhead saved himself in a manner more brilliant than he realized. "Hey. You did yourself up too? Looks really good."

Margaret had left to find Lee in the back yard. A lot of the guests had left by that point, but there were still a lot of friends and family still around.

Anna smirked at Harry. "Where's Junior?"

The boy shrugged at her. "He left with his family about a half hour ago."

The redhead noticed the fat lump snoring on the couch. Dudders was partied out and out of the way, so she left him as he was. He would be returning home the next day, but his visit had gone surprisingly well. Even Harry was getting along with him more than she'd been expecting. Her father still didn't care much for him, but her mother had taken to him a little once he'd started behaving.

Cedric walked in through the back door. He paused as he noticed Hermione and the other girls. "Oh? All finished then? Looks good."

Anna smiled and walked over to him. "You think?" Her eyes were a little narrowed at him.

He looked away with his eyes. "Well, she's not as cute as you. Still, she's very pretty."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I like it. It's a good look for her."

Hermione frowned at him. "Yeah. Don't get used to it. This shampoo is twenty five pounds a bottle."

Anna seemed surprised at that. "I'll send you a few cases, free of charge."

Hermione flushed at that. "You don't have to. I mean..."

The redhead shrugged. "I own the company. It's no big deal, just make sure you put in a good word for the line if anyone asks you about it." She got a catish grin on her face. "I can write it off as advertising. All my friends get it for free."

Noriko, Ginny, and Marci all gasped. "Really?"

Anna shrugged. "Of course. Just let me know what you want and I'll have it sent to you. Like I said, just make sure you put in a good word if anyone asks you about it."

Ginny pumped her arm and looked pleased. Noriko and Marci had similar reactions.

Hermione looked a bit guilty. "Oh. Thank you...I guess." She'd never been all that nice to Anna, she was such a strange and difficult girl. Still, she'd always treated her as if she liked her despite it.

Her parents walked into the room and looked about. "Hey. Have you seen Hermione?" Her father was looking about the group. "It's time we got going."

Her mother grabbed his arm and got a grin on her face as she pointed the girl out.

The man blinked and flustered. "Hermione? What happened to you?"

Christina smiled at him. "We had a little makeover party. She looks good doesn't she?"

Her mother was impressed. "Oh. She's beautiful." The girls seemed to know what they were doing at least.

"Not that she wasn't anyway." Her father seemed a bit confused. "Well, that's...something." She looked very good.

Noriko grinned and nodded. "Yeah. It was Anna's idea."

Lily Potter arched her eyebrow while drying off her hands with a towel after coming out of the kitchen. "Was it now?" That was certainly a surprise, her daughter was a hopeless tomboy at times. Still, it seemed she had her moments as well.

Anna blushed a little. "Yeah. I thought it might be fun. Just us girls and all." Her tone softened a little.

Hermione gave a small sigh. "Yeah. Thanks. It was...fun." Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

The redhead smiled at her and nodded. "Don't worry about it. Any friend of Harry's and all that."

Hermione forced a smile on her face, but felt rather awful. She'd helped turn the girl into a boy, and she'd said all sorts of nasty things about her. Sure, she'd teased her a bit, but it was never bad. Harry had always spoken for her, and now it seemed he was right all along. Even that was a little annoying and didn't help her mood any.

Her parents took her by her shoulders and led her to the door. James was taking them home by apparating them back to the Granger home.

As soon as they were gone, Neville Longbottom walked in with his Grandmother holding his shoulders. He walked up to Harry and blushed. "Thank you for inviting me to your party. It was fun."

The old stern looking woman nodded at him. "Yes. It was very pleasant."

The mouse haired boy nodded and smiled at them. "Sure thing. I'll see you at school next year then? We'll have to get together next summer as well. Those gardens were really something."

Mrs. Longbottom nodded at that. Harry was very well mannered and behaved in his last visit. He'd even helped Neville with a few of his chores. "It was a pleasure having you young man. Perhaps we can make arrangements. You'll have to bring Anna along as well." She got a tight lipped smile on her face as she said it and squeezed her grandson's shoulder.

The redhead nodded at that. "Yeah. Harry tells me it's really something to see. I'd like to see it myself next year."

Neville flushed a bit at that. "Thank you for inviting me."

Anna smiled at him. "No problem, Neville."

With that, the pair left.

Within the hour, all the guests had left, leaving the home a bit messy, but quiet and serene. The houselves were quite content, having plenty to keep themselves busy for the rest of the evening.

OooOOooOO

Anna smiled as she stood in the Dursley's living room. Dudley was sniffling a bit, both glad he was home and sad his visit was over. The redhead was once again surprised by it, but smiled at his parents.

Vernon was frowning at her, but seemed subdued. Petunia bawled as she latched onto her son. "Dudders! You're back!"

Anna smirked at the scene. "See, just as good as when he left. Just like I said." Better condition, but she didn't bring it up.

The woman ignored her and hugged her son. "Poor Dudley, it must have been awful! Did they treat you well? Were you tortured? I bet you they had you doing all the housework."

Anna bristled a bit at that and growled under her breath.

Dudley pushed her back a little, but not off of him. "No. They've got elves for butlers. I didn't have to do anything. It was great. We did all sorts of stuff. They brought me along to listen to them record a record! I met all their friends, and Aunty Lily is really nice. There's all sorts of trees and fields, we ran about playing games and..."

"What? That little criminal dared show back up here! We'll call the police right away!" cried a familiar voice from the kitchen as the door opened.

Anna's face fell as she turned towards the hefty purple faced woman who stormed in the room. "Aunt Marge."

"That's right! I heard all about you, kidnapping your poor cousin!" blustered the woman as she shook her cane at the redhead.

Anna caught it with a casual looking air as the woman tried to rap her across the skull with it. "How...nice to see you." The girl didn't seem pleased.

A familiar woof sounded and an old and normally foul tempered bulldog bounced around the woman's feet.

Anna slapped her knees and grinned. "Ripper! Who's a good boy!"

The dog's tail thumped on the ground as it's tongue hung out and it ran around in circles showing how pleased it was to see her.

Marge looked on with a disgusted frown. "What? Ripper, come here! You bad doggy!"

Anna had her arms around the animal. It had confused Marge for years. Ripper didn't like anyone, but seemed to absolutely love the twins. Anna had little difficult keeping the dog friendly, and Ripper was like a puppy in her presence. He was on his back as she rubbed on his belly. "There's a good boy! Who's a good doggy!"

The woman scowled. "We'll have the police here shortly!"

Anna snorted at her and looked up. "Oh come off it. Dudley had a wonderful time visiting us, didn't you Dudders?"

The boy looked uncertain, but gave a nod. "It was nice. Really. I'm fine."

His mother looked at him with her jaw hanging a little. "I won't hear it. You're home now, and you'll forget about all those awful things."

Vernon was turning a bit red. "Petunia, shut it. There will be no police. We sent him off to visit his Aunt and Uncle."

Marge gasped and her jowls quivered. "What?"

Anna narrowed her eyes at the woman. "Well, I suppose it's nice to see you're well."

The hefty woman scowled at her, forcing the girl to catch her cane again. "I tell you, if there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pups."

Anna shoved the offending object away. "Well, I guess I came from good stock then. I mean, I am the richest woman in the world after all. Things worked out nicely for me since you last visited. Seems they found my parents on a deserted Island, they survived the plane crash and are perfectly fine. I've won several Brits, and Grammies, and I've got multiple platinum albums. Harry's doing just as well. How have you been? Is the dog breeding business doing well?"

Marge went blank. "What?" She looked at her brother. "I thought you said it was a car crash?"

The man was pink and looked about ready to blow his top. He dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief. "What's the difference? She doesn't live here anymore. Out of our hair for good."

Anna grinned. "Well, mostly anyway."

"I hear you're off to St. Brutus?" commented Marge.

The redhead blinked at that. "Really? News to me. I got sent off to Hogwarts."

Petunia and Vernon gasped and got wide eyed. Marge didn't seem to notice. "Hogwarts? What is that, some sort of Mental Institution?"

The girl shook her head. "No, it's very exclusive. I told you, I'm rich now. I could pick any school I wanted."

The woman seemed to consider it. "Do they use the cane at this 'Hogwarts'?"

Anna considered it for a moment. "Yeah. Sure." She supposed they might on occasion. At least if Filtch or Snape ever had their way. There was a possibility they might have on occasion.

"Excellent," said Aunt Marge. "I won't have this namby-pamby, wishy-washy nonsense about not hitting people who deserve it. A good thrashing is what's needed in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. Have you been beaten often?"

Anna shook her head. "Of course not. I've been in the top ten percent of my year for the last two years, I'm on the sports teams, and I've won several awards for my academics. Why on earth would they beat me?"

Marge narrowed her eyes at that. "I won't have such sass from you, young lady."

Anna pushed the cane away yet again. "Stop that." She waved her hand. "Why don't you have a cup of tea or something and calm your nerves? I'm just here to drop of Dudley. He's been visiting us this summer. It's nothing of interest to you."

Petunia scowled as she saw what happened. Marge wandered into the kitchen with a frown on her face, giving the girl the evil eye. "I suppose I could use a spot of tea. My nerves need it. Awful girl." Dudley's mother clutched her son a little tighter at the sight of it.

The redhead gave a small sigh. "Finally."

Vernon turned towards Anna and shoved a letter into her chest. It was opened, and she took it from his hand. "You...you did this?"

The girl looked at it for a moment and didn't take it out. "Yeah. I did. It's paid in full. It's his birthday present." She handed it back. "What? Is there a problem?"

The man shook his head. "No." He balled up his fist, crinkling the letter in his grasp.

Anna smiled at it, he was on the verge of saying more, but couldn't get the words past his mustache. "Well, he was very well behaved. We're looking forward to having him next year. Don't go and not have a party on my account. If you're going to be paying, you might as well take advantage of the benefits you know. If you don't throw Dudders a birthday party next year, I'll show up and do it anyway." She turned and waved over her shoulder as she walked out and left them in their home. "See you later, Big D."

"Bye!" called the boy as he waved cheerfully, much to his Mother's horror.

"Vernon! They've brainwashed him! They must have been horrible to..."

The man flopped down in his chair. "Dudley is fine. Look at him, happy as a pig in shit."

The boy cocked his head. "I'm fine, Mum. It wasn't bad."

The woman scowled, she'd been fretting about his return since he left. Watching out the window, saying nasty things, talking about how she'd sue them. How he'd come back half starved and covered in bruises.

Dudley did look smaller, but he was also a bit stockier in an odd way. He'd been getting a lot of exercise and eating healthy meals almost exclusively. He looked better than when he'd left, but neither of his parents really noticed it.

Vernon looked at the letter in his hand. He took it out and seemed to slump down as he pulled it out of the envelope and glare over it.

Petunia frowned at it. "What is that anyway? You've been glaring at it for days." She had calmed a little now that her son had returned safe and sound. She was still clinging to his shoulders, and wouldn't let him wander off. Dudley didn't seem to mind, as he was used to being coddled by his mother.

Vernon looked up at her. "It's for Dudley."

The boy blinked. "It's for me? What is it?"

The man handed it over to his mother. "You've been accepted into Eaton."

Petunia gave a gasp as she looked over it. "What? Eaton?" Her eyes darted across the page. "Paid in full? A Scholarship?!" She looked amazed and elated. "Our Dudders is a genius! He's been accepted into Eaton on a scholarship!"

Vernon briefly considered telling her. Their niece had pulled a few strings, paid his tuition, and gotten him into the school. Neither one of them knew it, but it was as much to get him out of the home as anything else. She knew Dudley would come back as fat and stupid as before if she just left him. Sending him to a boarding school like Eaton, would still allow him time with his parents, but also keep him from going back to his old habits. He would be staying in the dormitories, eating healthy meals, and be under a measure of discipline while there.

Despite her ulterior motives, it was a top rated school. One of the best of it's kind in England in fact. It was not something the Durleys would turn down. Just having a child attending was something both of them could brag about for years.

As it was, Vernon decided it was best to just keep his mouth shut. Let her believe what she wanted. He knew better, but Petunia was difficult about the subject of her extended family. He on the other hand, had been on the very edge of thanking her. He just couldn't get it out of his mouth.

There was a new car in their driveway, the once homey building was now completely repaired, and they were considering going on holiday to Jamaica over the Christmas holiday. In another year or two, if things kept going as they were, they would be living in a new and much larger home. As much as he hated to admit it, as much as it grated him, he knew damn well who he had to thank for it.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, the little brat was making good on her word. He didn't care much for it at all. Petunia simply would not accept it, she was getting more and more short tempered on the subject. Not that he liked bringing it up, he never did if he could help it.

Still, he wasn't sure how many more of the girl's little visits she could take. He wasn't sure how much he minded that either. It left a sour taste in his mouth to be sure, and he didn't like it one bit. It left him wondering though, how much he really cared one way or the other.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was standing in front of the mirror in the living room of her home. She had a deep scowl on her face as she balled up her fist and glared at the projection.

Harry stumbled into the room with a worried looking frown on his face. "Anna? What's going on?" He paused as he noticed his father standing behind her, he looked like he'd just walked up as well. His arms were crossed, and he didn't look pleased.

"Damn it," growled the man. He lowered his eyes.

"James? Is something wrong?" Lily walked out of the baby's room with Ivy in her arms. She was holding a pacifier in place with her finger as she looked on a the scene. The mirror caught her attention. Their daughter had frozen it in place.

The little redhead growled audibly as she glared at the screen. "Pettigrew."

Harry frowned and looked up at the broadcast that was paused. "Escape from Azkaban. Peter Pettigrew." An image of the man was beside a wizarding newscaster's head.

Anna sat down on the couch with a scowl on her face. "That bastard. I warned him."

That caught her father's attention. "Warned him?"

Harry walked up to the pair. His mother didn't look pleased either. "I doubt he'll be stupid enough to come here. Anna scared him half to death when she turned him over to the Aurors. He wouldn't come near us."

James nodded. "Not if he knows what's good for him."

Lily scowled at that. "We should call Sirius and..."

Almost in answer to that, there was a knock at the door. James went to answer it, and Sirius and Remus were in the room with them a moment later.

Sirius was particularly upset. "That ruddy rat. I'll hunt the bastard down."

Remus gave a sigh. "We'll all do everything we can."

Anna scowled at them from her seat. "You bet we will."

James narrowed his eyes at her. "You stay out of this. That man is dangerous. I don't want you anywhere near him."

The girl sucked through her teeth and turned her eyes back at the screen. "We don't need to hunt him. Sooner or later, his old boss will cross paths with us again. The rat will be along on his own."

Sirius nodded. "I don't intend to wait."

The girl snapped her head around and stood up jabbing her finger at him. "You'd better think before you act. You've got a family to think of now. Don't forget how your last attempt to corner that rodent ended up."

The man turned his glare at her. He stepped back as James put his hands on the man's shoulders. It didn't take much to push him back and get him a little calmed.

Anna walked up to the group. "None of you has any business running about the countryside searching for that coward."

Sirius didn't look pleased at all. "I spent..."

The girl cut him off. "I know that very well. I had nightmares about it for years. You don't need to find him, looking would be pointless. Believe me, sooner or later, he'll turn up. As scared as he is of you three finding him, he's more afraid of his master."

Lily slapped her across her face, causing Ivy to begin crying. "That's enough young lady."

James growled. "I hate to put it like this, but I think she's right. We'll talk about it later, but running off and chasing shadows all over the place isn't an option. If we're lucky, we won't have to bother."

Remus nodded. "He's right Sirus. You've got a wife and children to think about now. We'll do what we can, you know that. Going about it like we did last time won't help anyone. It didn't turn out well as you recall."

Anna seemed calm, but unhappy. "You won't find him, no matter how hard you look. He's gone to find his Master, and he'll be at his side before either of you can get close to him. You must wait, and bide your time. He'll come about on his own. When he does, I'll be waiting."

James grabbed her shoulder. "You'll stay out of this."

She looked at him with a white eyed stare. "That man's destiny, lies with me, James Potter."

The three men all seemed to calm. "That's not going to work." Her father seemed frustrated.

"She's not faking," said Harry. He looked quite serene about the whole affair and had his hands in his pockets. "I don't know about all this, but I can tell she's not kidding about that. Regardless of what you might be trying to do, You Know Who is not after any of you. He means to kill Anna and me. We're involved with this, whether any of you like it or not. You can't protect us from being targets, and out of everyone in this room, that man is the least threat to myself and Anna."

Lily frowned at him as she tried to shush Ivy. She was mostly successful, but the baby was giving dissatisfied grunts. "He's a trained wizard."

Harry nodded. "I know that. I've got no intention of looking for trouble, and I doubt Anna does either. Still, she destroyed ten fully trained wizards at once. As young as we are, we're the strongest people in the room." He looked over at them. "Don't go looking for trouble. It won't end well for any of us. If he comes for any of us, it will be Anna and me. Either one of us is more than capable of dealing with it if it happens. I doubt he'll be that dumb though. Not after what happened the last time he met her."

The girl nodded. "He's right. I know you want him, but you've got other responsibilities. He's no threat to any of us. Just a coward on the run, and it's not worth chasing him down for. If we wait, and be patient, he'll be forced to stick his neck out sooner or later. When that time comes, I'll be ready. Peter Pettigrew's destiny lies with me. I am certain of it."

Harry frowned at that, but nodded. He noticed she seemed aware of what she'd said this time.

The adults looked uncomfortable, Sirius had calmed, and Remus seemed confused. The werewolf had never seen the girl like that before. She looked older somehow, but also very firm and focused.

Lily waved her hand. The image on the screen vanished. "That's enough. You three, take it to the bar. Harry, Anna, off to bed with you both. I'll have no more of this talk in my home." She whirled to face Sirius. "As for you. If I hear one word of you running off, I swear I will help Lissa track you down and chain you to your house. Do you understand me?"

He rubbed at the back of his head and nodded. "Yeah." He seemed admonished and blushed under her scolding.

James gave a heavy sigh. "Come on. We could all use a drink."

Sirius gave a small smirk as they walked towards the door. "Haven't seen her like that in a while."

Remus nodded. "Yeah. I don't envy you two. She's never yelled at me that way."

James just shrugged. "She'll be fine. I think Anna got her worked up is all. I'll have to keep an eye on my daughter though. She's cocky, and it's gotten her hospitalized more than once." He looked over his shoulder. "Don't you dare tell Lily I said so, but I'm not that worried about Peter meeting up with either of them. I wouldn't say it to his face, but Harry is right. If he was serious, I doubt I could beat either of them."

Remus frowned at that. "Be serious. She could get hurt."

Black glanced over his shoulder. "He is serious. You've never seen them 'practice' before have you? You'll be at Hogwarts next year. Go and see it for yourself some morning. Dumbledore told me they practice in the Great Hall an hour and a half before breakfast every day. I've seen it myself when they were staying with me. I doubt Peter would last more than a minute if he tried something with those two. First rounds on me I guess."

Remus blinked. "I'm not so sure of that."

James shrugged. "Trust us, have a look for yourself some time. They do it every day, even here at home. Anna is positively militant about it, but Harry doesn't seem to mind much. He'd do it without her I think."

With that, the trio apparated to the bar.

OooOOooOO

Anna smiled as she held out her letter with her brother at her side doing the same thing.

"What's this then?" asked James as he seemed suspicious of them both.

"Permission slip for Hogwarts. So we can visit Hogsmeade," replied his son.

James took a look at it and signed his son's promptly. Then he took Anna's and paused. "Hmmm."

The girl narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"

He leaned forward. "I'm debating whether or not I should sign this for you?"

She put her hand on her hip. "Why wouldn't you? It's Hogsmeade, not the whole of England. I'm not going to be running about after criminals there you know."

The man was amused. "I don't know. You're more apt to cause trouble."

She crossed her arms and put her bottom lip out at him. "You can say that if you want, but I'll remind you that I've not gotten anyone pregnant."

Her father nodded. "Yes, but there is the third House Elf wars, and the mess in that back alley last year." He looked contemplative.

She sat down next to him and put her arm around his shoulder. "Let me ask you something, Dad."

He turned his eyes towards her with a suspicious frown. "Yes?"

"If your parents didn't sign that permission slip, and all your friends were going off to Hogsmeade without you, what would you have done?"

His eyelids drooped a bit. "I'd...stay at Hogwarts and study while they were gone."

The girl put her head on his shoulder. "You're lying through your teeth. Everyone says I take after you. It's quite a reputation to live up to. I would remind you, that I know that you know about more than one passage out of Hogwarts. I already know where they are and everything.

James signed it and handed it off to her. "All right, you've made your point." He grabbed her head and kissed her temple. "Just be careful all right?"

She smiled at him and skipped away. "I will. Thanks, Daddy."

He found himself wondering if that grin was going to be worth the trouble he might have just caused.

OooOOooOO

Anna and Harry were in Diagon alley, both of them looking at the new Firebolt in the window of one of the shops. "That's impressive."

A square jawed wizard was standing with another man looking on. "Just came out, prototype," he commented to his companion.

"It's the fastest broom in the world, isn't it Dad?" squeaked a young boy who was swinging off his father's arm.

"Almost," said Anna with a chuckle.

The boy looked about to squawk at her, but his face fell as she grinned at him. "What?"

"Harry and I have the fastest brooms in the world. They're both custom Firebolts," she commented.

The Shop Owner was standing outside with them with a grin on his face. "Irish International Side has put in an order for seven of these beauties. They're the favorites for the World Cup."

Harry read the sign out loud. "Firebolt. This state of the art racing broom sports a stream lined superfine handle of ash treated with an transparent adaluminum polish and hand numbered with its own registration number. Each individually selected birch twig in the broom tail has been honed to aerodynamic perfection, giving the Firebolt unsurpassed balance and pinpoint precision. The Firebolt has an acceleration of 160 miles an hour in ten seconds and incorporates an unbreakable breaking charm. Price on request." He whistled. "Impressive."

"Wow! It's Harry and Anna Potter!" cried the boy with his father as he pointed after finally breaking out of his silence. Everyone turned to look at the pair.

The twins looked about. The Shop Owner rubbed his hands together. "Would you two be interested in having a closer look?"

Anna shook her head. "No thanks, we've already got a couple. Our brooms are custom Firebolts."

The square jawed man arched his eyebrow. "What's Adaluminum?" He was more interested in the broom than the children.

The shop owner seemed confused. "Huh? Already got them? How? This is a prototype."

Anna nodded. "Yeah. I know. It's based off the brooms Harry and I have already."

Her brother arched his eyebrow. "Huh? Really? I didn't know that."

The redhead looked at him. "I made a deal with the company. The coating they used is something I developed. They were working on some sort of diamond coating. Then I went and invented adaluminum. It's harder than diamond, it can also be made transparent easily, and it's just a bit cheaper to manufacture than diamonds, though not by much. The primary ingredient is aluminum. Adamantium is expensive and very rare. It requires a skilled alchemist to manufacture, which I happen to be. It's also lighter than diamond coating would have been. Heh. I'm such a genius." She flipped on pair of shades. "Soon, all the world will know that Lil' Anna Potter is the Greatest Potions Genius in the Universe! !"

Harry put his face into his hand as her two puppets tossed confetti about from her shoulders while calling praises to her. "I really wish you'd stop that."

The girl nodded and ignored him. "Anyway, our brooms go can reach a hundred and seventy five miles per hour in about ten seconds. They also have black birch twigs, it cost a little more, but it's just as light, and sturdier than regular birch twigs. So, actually, our brooms are the real prototypes. This is the template for the production model though. Thats why our broom handles have letters on them rather than numbers. They were going to be AA and AB, but I just had them put our initials on them instead when they made them."

The boy frowned at her. "You mean we've been testing experimental brooms?"

She shrugged. "What? It's worked out pretty well don't you think?"

He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Never mind. Just come on, we've got to get our things for School."

The pair walked over to the book store and found several large cages in the window filled with the book Hagrid had gotten them both for their birthday. "Hey. They've got a lot of them." Harry looked a bit surprised. There were pages fluttering about from within the cages as the books grappled with each other.

The twins walked into the store and found a haggard looking older man behind the counter. "Hello, Hogwarts is it?" The manager of Flourish and Blotts walked up to them. He started pulling on a pair of gloves and had a gnarled walking stick in his hand. He started towards the cages.

Harry tugged on the man's robe. "We've already got one."

The man got a relieved look on his face. "Thank goodness. I've been bitten five times this morning."

Anna seemed amused, but had enough sense to hold back her giggle.

Harry frowned at her. "Hey. You know there's a trick to that book right?"

The man blinked at him. "Huh?"

Harry looked over his shoulder. "Open the cage up and I'll show you. It's pretty easy to get them to calm down."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Those books are dangerous. You might lose an arm."

The boy grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "If I do it's my own fault. I've had one for a while now. It's pretty easy, really."

The man nodded and walked over to the cage. "All right. Be careful. I'll try anything now. I hope you know what you're doing." He opened the cage and stepped back.

Harry reached in and stroked the two nearest books along the spine. It immediately calmed, and flipped open. The boy shut it and it stayed relaxed. "See, easy. Just stroke the spine, and it calms down. It's the only way to read it."

The man arched his eyebrow at that. "Well, that's good to know. I suppose I should pass that along then."

Harry and Anna bought their books. Harry had gotten his at a twenty percent discount because of his tip. He was pleased with himself. "I'm glad you told me about that. I never would have gotten any studying done if you hadn't."

"Harry! Anna! Over here!" called Ron from nearby.

Both children turned and found a group sitting outside Flourean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Ron was sitting with Padma and Parvati, with Hermione sitting across from them.

They both walked over to the group and sat down.

"Hey," said Harry.

Ron glanced around. "Melvin isn't with you?" He seemed a little surprised.

Anna shrugged. "One of Pansy's Aunts is visiting. They came last week. It's just the two of us this time."

Hermione nodded and flushed. "Thanks for sending that stuff." Her hair was still shiny and lustrous and she was wearing a hint of makeup as well. Nothing outlandish, but she looked better than plain.

Anna shrugged it off. "No big deal." They'd gone by a couple of salons that had it in the windows. It seemed to be selling well, but it wasn't cheap stuff either. "Have you got all your shopping done?" She noticed Hermione had four bags of books. "Seems like you've got quite a bit."

The girl nodded. "Yes. I'm taking a lot of subjects."

Ron seemed surprised at that. "How did you manage that? I thought we could only pick three? I'd have taken Hagrid's class too if I could have."

She blushed and seemed a bit shifty. "I was at the top of the class last year. So I was allowed to pick up a few extra courses."

Anna smirked at that. "Well, that's good. I think I'll do well enough with what I've got."

Parvati rolled her eyes. "I don't see how you can do that. I've been reading up, and I'm going to have my hands full this year as it is."

Padma agreed. "Yeah. I'll say. I'm in Ravenclaw, and I'm impressed."

The brown haired girl glanced at Ron. "I'm surprised at you. We'll be in Ancient Runes and together. You're on your own for the rest."

The redhead shrugged. "I'll be all right."

Harry chuckled at that. "I'll be in language studies with him. I can help him out there if he needs it. I'm pretty good with languages as it is. Shouldn't be too much trouble."

Padma looked at him. "Really? Are you bi-lingual?"

Ron chuckled. "Boy is that an understatement."

The boy smiled at Parvati's twin. "I've got a gift for language you could say," he spoke in perfect Hindi. "It's pretty useful."

Parvati seemed surprised. "Wow, that's very good."

"Yeah," agreed Padma with wide eyes and a grin on her face. "You speak Hindi?"

"We both do, just don't ask us to read it," commented Anna in Hindi as well. "I'm taking the class too. We shouldn't have too much trouble with it."

Hermione rolled her eyes and Ron looked confused. The redhead looked at his girlfriend. "What about you?"

"I'm taking Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies." She seemed pleased.

"The same," said her sister. "Lavender Brown is taking the same things as well. We picked our classes together."

Hermione gave a sigh. "I've still got one more stop to make. I've got ten galleons still, and I really want an owl."

Parvati smiled at her. "They're really useful. I got one last year. I used her all summer to stay in touch with Ron."

Padme nodded. "Yes, I've got the twin. They're very useful."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Our owls are useful too. They're a bit weird though. Don't get snow owls, ours are trying to take over the world."

The children all gave him odd looks and mostly shrugged him off.

Harry shrugged at Hermione's expression. "Take over the world? What?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah. Weird right?"

Anna frowned at him. "Carrot is useful. He designed those machines I used to storm the House Elf fortress in the third House Elf wars."

Hermione shook her head. "I...I'd rather not know."

Ron gave a snort of amusement at that. "Well, that's a first."

The girl kicked him in the shin under the table and gave him a small frown. "That's just weird."

The redhead scratched his head. "I'm getting an owl myself. Mum is talking about getting another one also. You've seen Errol, it's about time he retired. He might not like it though, he tries so hard. It's kind of pathetic, and I can't help but feel bad for him." He put his hand on his cheek. "I think he's afraid we might eat him when he's not useful anymore. I'm not really sure, but I think Fred and George might have something to do with it."

Anna chuckled at that. "I wouldn't put it past them."

Hermione spoke up in a low tone. "Have you seen the news?"

Harry frowned at her a bit. "You mean Pettigrew?"

Padma and Parvati gasped a bit.

The girl nodded, Ron was scowling a little. "Mum is pretty upset about it. She's still really angry at Scabbers."

The brunette girl nodded. "Well, I'm glad. We should be careful though. He might want revenge."

Anna rolled her eyes. "He's a coward, and not that stupid. Believe me, this is about the last place he'll show up. Even if he does, I'll have his head and I'm pretty sure he knows it."

Parvati looked pensive. "Well, you shouldn't act so tough. He's dangerous, a murderer."

Anna nodded. "We've met. It didn't go well for him. He's a bit dangerous, but he's fat, weak willed, and slow. No threat to me or my brother."

Harry frowned at her. "Well, I wouldn't say he's no threat. I'm not too worried about him myself though. I doubt he'll come anywhere near Hogwarts. Everything he's most afraid of is here. He's probably gone looking for other Death Eaters to hide out with. Maybe even looking for You Know Who."

Ron looked a bit surprised. "Huh. You usually call him by his name."

Anna nodded. "It's not fear that's keeping us from using it. It was fine at first, but then I found out his name is cursed. If you say his name, he knows about it, and where you are. He can even tell what you're doing. It's not just because people are afraid of him that they won't say it."

Parvati got a bit wide eyed. "Huh? I've heard about that. It's an old spell, and it's forbidden. It's not unforgivable or anything. I don't know the details, but I think I read somewhere that you have to do some nasty and pretty illegal things in the incantation."

Padma agreed. "Right. I don't remember the book, but I remember that. I don't think it gave any details. It did say you had to do a few illegal things though. It requires you to curse a certain number of people."

Anna nodded. "Right. In any case, this is the last place Pettigrew would show his face. I don't think we have anything to worry about. Though, I'm not so sure the Ministry will realize it."

OooOOooOO

A short time later Harry was walking with the same group out of the pet store. Hermione was blushing as she hefted a large ginger colored cat.

Ron shook his head. "I can't believe you bought that thing." He didn't seem upset about it, but it surprised him. The cat was a huge orange fluff ball, and much larger than a normal cat, with short stubbly legs that were crooked a bit. The redheaded boy had a cage of his own, with another large gray owl in it. Both his and the one Harry was carrying were bigger than either of the Potter Twin's owls. They were both Great Gray Owls, one of the largest owls in the world. The two birds had about four foot wingspans.

Anna was beside the girl. "I think it's part Kneazle. He should be really smart." It's face was squashed up and it looked rather grumpy. Despite that, it was purring in it's new owner's arms.

Harry had a cage with a large Gray Owl inside of it in his hand. The rest of their things were being toted by bunnies behind them. Anna left hers at home, but there were always a bunch bouncing about Hogsmeade willing to carry things for anyone who bothered to ask them. They were minions, and would follow any instructions given to them by anyone. They would go about their business once finished with the task until the next wizard handed them something and told them to follow. Bunnies in the area were the equivalent of wizarding shopping carts. There wee quite a few that hung around Diagon Alley as well. "Really? It reminds me of the cats old Mrs. Figg used to show us."

Anna nodded. "Yes. She's a licensed breeder as I recall."

Harry did a double take. "Huh? She's a witch?"

Anna shook her head. "No. She's a squib. She's known about us from the start."

The boy seemed to consider that. "Really? She always did seem like she was trying to not be too nice to us."

The redhead nodded. "She was smart enough to realize that if the Dursleys found out we were having fun over there, they'd never let us visit."

Harry nodded. "It was better than the Durleys."

Hermione frowned at them. "What are you talking about? Mrs. Figg?"

Anna looked at her. "A nice old lady that used to watch us some times. She bread Kneazles. You've got to have a license to own one, but Crookshanks here is only part Kneazle. He's probably a very smart cat, but you don't need a license for him or anything."

"Oh." The girl looked at Harry. "Really, you shouldn't have, Harry. It's too much."

The boy shrugged. "It's no big deal. It will make it easier to keep in contact with you over the summer."

She nodded. "Still. You didn't have to do that." She still had her ten galleons in her pocket. He'd paid for both animals.

He lifted his nose up. "I insist. I wouldn't have passed half my classes over the past two years without you helping me out. All that excitement would have gotten to me, and I'd have fallen behind in my studies because of it. Not to mention, all the help you gave me dealing with it all. Besides, we're friends, and I can afford it easily."

She gave a nod and blushed. "Thank you." He felt like he owed her she guessed in her mind.

"Of course I do. You can never pay your friends back enough though. Don't worry about it." The boy smirked at her furious blush as she glared at him. "I'm not friends with you just because I think I owe you, or because you're useful."

"Cut that out!" she grumbled.

He gave her a smirk. "Well, I've warned you about that before you know."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter smiled as she opened the door to her home. "Hello, Professor."

Albus Dumbledore was standing there with a serious but very slight looking frown on his face. "Ah. You said you wished to speak with me regarding a matter of interest to me? Something about assistance of some kind?"

The redhead nodded. "Yes. I need you to accompany me to recover something that I'm sure you'll find very interesting." One of her bunnies was at her side and cocked his head at the old man. She stepped aside and motioned for him to enter. "Come in. I wasn't expecting you to reply so fast. I haven't had the chance to explain things to my parents yet though." She'd sent the letter not even an hour before. It was a few days before the train ride to Hogwarts still.

James Potter stood up and smiled as he greeted Dumbledore. "Ah. Professor. What brings you?"

The man gave a slight cock of his head. "I'm not certain just yet. I your daughter requested my assistance with something."

The girl's father blinked at that. "Anna?"

Lily Potter walked into the room with her youngest daughter in her arms. She was feeding her with a bottle and smiled. "Professor! It's good to see you! What brings you? Oh! I'll have Kreacher or Dobby make tea!"

"Coming right away, Mistress Potter!" chimed Dobby. He and Kreacher almost stumbled over each other.

Dumbledore looked at the pair and smiled. "Well. I see you're all doing well?" He'd met Dobby when dealing with Lucius Malfoy in the past. The house elf looked in far better health than he'd been before. Kreacher as well, but he'd not seen him in many years.

OooOOooOO

A few moments later, they were all sitting about while the house elves served tea. The adults made polite small talk for a few minutes, while Anna sat quietly as they started drinking tea and talking.

Dumbledore caught up with the pair and looked over at the patiently waiting Anna Potter. "Now, young lady. Would you mind telling me why you've summoned me here?" He started to take a sip of his tea.

"I know where the stone of life is," she replied simply. "I'd like you to help me recover it."

The old man almost choked on his tea. He blinked and thumped on his chest for a moment. "Pardon me dear, did you just say...?"

The girl nodded. "Yes. I've found the last of the Deathly Hallows. I know exactly where it is, but I need your help to recover it. There is magic protecting it I'm not sure I have the skill to get past, and I doubt my parents would let me go alone anyway. It's a fair distance away. I bought the property that holds it, so it's legally mine anyway. I can't get to it though, and I'm aware you've got an interest in it. You've been studying them for years now, that's why you had Dad's cloak."

Anna looked at her parents. "I was going to talk with you about it before he got here. I wasn't expecting him to reply so quickly though."

James looked at Lily. "Well, I um...what?"

The girl shrugged. "We won't be gone long. I doubt you'd find it interesting. There's a few enchantments protecting it. Nothing he can't handle, and I've got no intention of trying it on my own. I'm not a good enough witch, it's not the sort of thing a potion will do much good against. Only a person skilled in charms can get past them. He's actually overkill, but I know he's got an interest in this."

Lily frowned at her. "There's more to this than you're letting on."

The redhead nodded. "Yes. It's not my place to betray the trust of another. He has personal reasons for his quest, and I'm not going to talk about them. I've seen many things with my gifts that I would not speak of for the sake of others."

Dumbledore frowned at that, but gave a nod. "It seems you have my attention my dear."

James scratched his head. "I'm not so sure about this." He didn't look that worried.

Anna smirked. "I realize you don't trust me completely, but I think you trust him." She nodded at the headmaster. "I need to be there. It will make things safer and easier since I'm the legal owner of the property, and everything in it."

Lily gave a sigh and nodded. "All right. If it were anyone else."

James also relented. "I suppose she'll be as safe as she can be with you."

Dumbledore nodded. "I assure you, her safety will be foremost on my mind."

OooOOooOO

A half hour later, Anna stood next to Dumbledore with one of her bunnies beside her. Because she was there, they were able to bypass several enchantments on the Gaunt house. It was a small worn shack in the middle of nowhere. She also owned the nearby Riddle Manor on the hill.

The prize was hidden beneath a floorboard under a rug. It was enchanted to keep anyone from noticing it or tampering with it. It was a minor booby trap, and it only took a few moments for the old wizard to open it.

Anna stood opposite him and peered into the floor. "Wait. There's something I need to tell you before we open that box." There was a small dusty wooden box covered with a cloth sitting under the floor.

Dumbledore glanced at her. "I suspect, this is a Horcrux?"

Anna nodded. "I didn't want my parents to worry. So I didn't explain. I also know what you want the stone for." She looked down at it. "It won't give you what you want. I suspect that you suspect that, but I'll not stop you from indulging yourself.

The old man nodded. "It will need to be destroyed then."

The redhead nodded. "Yes. If I use my lightsaber, it might destroy the stone. You can use the Gryffindor artifact to destroy it without causing permanent damage. It should still work even if it's cracked or cleaved. You can have the stone, but not the ring. The ring is cursed, and while I'd trust you with my life, I don't trust you to not give into the temptation of trying it on." She smirked at his expression. "If you wish to end your life, fine. I don't want to have a hand in it. We'll remove the stone from the setting, and you can have it. I intend to destroy the ring completely. Once the Horcrux is destroyed, my interest in this ring and that stone is finished. It's better for both of us if no one knows it's been found. I'll speak with my parents and make sure they both understand that when we return. It's best if this stone remains a legend, though, again, I suspect that is your intent anyway."

He gave a silent nod. "Very well." He wasn't that surprised. She had him pegged pretty well.

The box floated out of the floor and opened itself. Inside were a few worthless trinkets and mildly valuable stones. Sitting on top of it all, was a ring with a small white stone with an insignia carved into it. It looked like a family seal of some sort.

Dumbledore closed his fist around the hilt of a silver and gold blade that appeared in his hand. He swung it down, and red sparks flew. A faint scream could be heard for a moment. The remains of the ring floated into the air, the split stone separated from the ring and floated into Dumbledore's hand. He had an odd look in his eyes as he opened his palm and looked at it.

Anna turned to her bunny, who pulled a sealed cauldron out of his mouth and set it on the floor. The lids with wards on it lifted off, revealing a dark violet bubbling ooze. The girl never touched the ring, but it floated over and dropped into the ooze. "Vile thing." She snarled and scowled at it as black smoke rose from the substance.

"What is that?" Dumbledore asked as the lid resealed itself. The bunny put it back in his mouth. It resembled several substances, none of which were less than extremely dangerous.

"Cured Basilisk Venom," commented the girl. "Very dangerous, it would eat through the cauldron in a matter of minutes if not for those wards."

The old man nodded. "Ah. I see. I suggest extreme caution. I suspect you know that. I'm not entirely comfortable knowing that a girl your age has it despite your qualifications."

Anna nodded. "It's valuable, but caustic. I'm familiar with handling such things. Not so dissimilar to Werewolf venom, just more potent really."

"I suppose I can accept that." If there was anyone who could deal with a magical substance that was as toxic as that, he supposed it was her. There were very few Potions Masters who could safely deal with it. It now seemed he knew three such people, which he supposed was rather extraordinary. "We are finished here then. I shall return you home."

Anna closed the hole in the floor and covered it with the mat without touching it. "There is one thing I'd like to offer you. Call it payment for helping me out with this." She looked up at him.

The Headmaster looked at her. "I have a suspicion...that you know more of me than I am entirely comfortable with."

The girl nodded. "That stone will not give you the answer you seek. I can. I warn you, I will not hold back for the sake of kindness. If you want to know, I can tell you. I cannot promise it will be what you wish to hear. I can only offer honesty. Think carefully."

Albus hung his head and clenched the stone of Life in his fist. "I wish to speak with her."

Anna nodded. "Yes, but first, you wish to truly know if you killed her or not. The stone of life can resurrect her, but it will not truly be her. Just a shell, empty and distant, cold and hollow. I can answer, but I can bring her back to speak with you." She blinked at that. It hadn't come out as she'd intended. "Wait, what?" The girl fell to the floor in a heap.

Dumbledore looked on for a moment before rushing over and falling to her knees. "Anna!"

He was not expecting a fist to come up and slug him in the jaw. The redhead sat up and glared at him. "Albus, you asshole! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The old man worked his mouth. "Young lady. I.."

She slapped at his hand, knocking the two stone halves across the floor. "Do you think this is what I wanted?" She grabbed his shirt. "Look at you! Trying to drag my corpse back? 'I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to kill you!' It's disgusting. How many years are you going to do this for!?"

The old man looked on in a sort of fascinated horror. "Ar...Ariana?"

The girl turned her back to him, looking at the floor. "It doesn't matter. You're an old man."

"I killed you." He said as he hung his head in shame. "I know you can't forgive me."

"So what? If you hadn't, he would have." She spoke in a soft tone and turned to face him. She still didn't look happy with him. "I didn't know you were trying to kill each other. I figured I'd just get an irritating curse, or maybe a little injured, and you'd both stop. I jumped between you, it was my fault. I didn't realize things had gone that far." She looked up at him.

Dumbledore was still in shock and fell to his knees. There was no mistaking it. The tone of her voice, her mannerisms, her movements. There was no way, even with the gift of sight that the Potter girl could mimic her so well. "Ariana. Please, if I could trade my life for yours, I'd have done it decades ago. I'm sorry." Tears were running down his face.

She looked at him with tears of her own flowing down her cheeks. "I forgave decades ago, Albus. I was never angry at you. I've moved on, I did long ago."

"I know it was my spell. I deserved to be punished. I never was. They called me a hero. I hated him for it."

The girl crossed her arms. "Here I thought it was because you thought he was cute and he turned out to be a jerk." She twisted her finger in her ear and flicked the wax of the end of her pinky. "Yeah. I was dead before his spell hit me. Ya know what? I still wouldn't have gotten out of the way in time if you'd missed. I was dead either way. All because of your stupid duel with your new boyfriend."

The old man looked up at her still in tears. "I.."

She shook her head. "Knock it off would you? My feet were already in the grave to begin with. You know that."

"I can't forget." he pounded the floor with his fist.

The girl shook her head. "I know. I don't want you to forget me. Just stop thinking about how I died. Can't you remember me for how I lived? Don't you know that's not what I wanted? I jumped out there because I wanted to protect you, to stop you from hurting someone you cared about. Instead, you ended up mortal enemies. What a screw up that was." She sat on the floor and a few tears fell down her face. "That's what I regretted most, not that I died. That I failed." She gave him a tearful smile. "Albus, don't ever forget me, just, move on. Find yourself a boyfriend, do something useful. Stop looking for ways to bring back my damn corpse. I've got no intention of getting back in that useless husk again. I've left it, and I don't want to come back."

He looked up at her as she put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "I'll be waiting for you, but there's no hurry. When you arrive, we can become one with the Force...together."

He looked confused as she spoke. "One with the...Force?" The girl hugged him around her neck, and he returned it. He paused as he realized she'd gone limp. He pulled her off his chest and looked down.

His sister's voice spoke into his ear. "This girl, there is a darkness that sleeps within her. It is stirring, growing ever stronger, be wary, dear Albus."

Anna looked a bit ill and was holding her head. "Man. I feel so funky. What happened? That was so weird." She staggered to her feet and he helped her. "Never felt like this before. I think I'm gonna hurl or something." She was feeling queasy and her legs were a bit weak.

Dumbledore hung his head for a moment. "Are you all right?"

Anna sat down in an arm chair and sent up a cloud of dust. She coughed a bit and nodded. "I'm fine. That was so weird." She looked at him. "Did you find out what you wanted to know?"

He nodded and looked about. "The stone..."

"Huh?" muttered Anna. She looked around. "You dropped it or something?"

He nodded. "Yes. I think it's best we don't just leave it lying about the floor. I no longer intend to use it, but it should be put someplace where it will not be disturbed."

Anna closed her eyes, and both halves floated into her palm a moment later. "All right. Here you go then." She turned them over. "I guess we're done here. You should take me home, and I don't care what you do with that stone. So long as it's out of You Know Who's reach."

The both of them were both a little weary as they stepped out of the rickety home.

Anna froze and Dumbledore with her at what they found.

Kate Delane was looking at them with a smirk on her face. "Well, what have we here?" A blade of light shot out of the metal cylinder in her palm. "A pathetic old man, and the Headmaster's pet. How fortunate."

Anna's face went hard as she pulled out her own weapon. "Rage."

There was a broomstick leaning against the fence nearby.

"Potter, take my robe in your hand," Dumbledore spoke quietly.

Kate snarled at him. "No, you'll not be escaping so easily." She waved her hand and the portkey Dumbledore had been clutching flew away into the yard. "Now, the time has come to end your lives. My Master will be most pleased."

"Got a backup plan?" growled Anna.

"Don't bother trying to apparate away. These grounds have been sealed. If you think you can make it to past the house on the hill or the edge of the graveyard before I kill you...well, you're welcome to try." Rage was quite confident as she set herself and put her blade up.

Anna glanced at the old man. "The only way out, is through her then."

Dumbledore gave a grave nod. "Be careful. I will assist you." He readied his wand.

"Do your worst old man," chuckled the crazed Sith.

He nodded. "You leave me no choice." He raised his wand and the tip grew red.

Anna charged forward and the pair's blades locked. The sky overhead began to glow orange. Small balls of flame began to rain down on the grounds surrounding Dumbledore. They exploded on impact.

Anna and her rival clashed blades, hacking and slashing as they moved about at high speed. The weapons crackled and popped as they came into contact. Dangerous sounding hisses filled the air.

Both of the Force powered combatants danced between the falling flames. Anna and Rage took slashes at them, knocking them towards one another on occasion. It was ineffective, but kept a bit of distance between them for a few brief moments between clashes.

Dumbledore flicked his wand and a shield of energy formed around him. His lips moved as he continued to mutter and closed his eyes. Small sharp spikes of ice began to fall from the sky mixed in with the balls of fire.

The two girls continued to clash. Anna hacked at her opponent and parried with greater speed and dexterity than their last clash.

Kate chuckled. "You've grown stronger. Your skill has improved. So has mine!" Her speed doubled in an instant, making Dumbledore's attack basically useless. Neither one stayed in one spot long enough to get caught by the onslaught.

Dumbledore began shooting bolts of lightning from behind his shield when Rage moved away from the redhead in brief clashes of the weapons that were almost too fast to follow.

Anna snarled as she focused, using the Force to dodge both her opponent and the magic Dumbledore was using. He was preventing the magic from focusing on her, but she still had to dodge a few of the fireballs and ice shards.

Kate growled as she took a moment to glare at the old man. The ground at her feet had become a huge patch of mud, swallowing her legs up to her knees.

Anna jumped in to attack by hacking down at her from above while she was stuck. "You're overconfident!"

"No, you just don't realize how pathetic you are!" screamed the girl in rage. She jumped straight up to meet her. The weapons clashed and Rage pushed up with greater force. Anna was thrown back onto the ground on her back and forced to roll away from the falling magic ice and flames.

Kate took advantage of the momentary distraction and charged Dumbledore. She stabbed at him with her lightsaber. The blade penetrated his shield, but stuck in place before stabbing his gut inches away. He narrowed his eyes at her and waved his wand. She released her weapon as several large stones flew off the ground at her and backed away. "I see."

The old man gasped as she became a blur of motion. "What?" His wand was stuck in the mud trap he'd set before he realized what happened. She appeared beside him and back handed him in the face.

"You've become bothersome old man." The Sith snarled as she grabbed her blade again after his shield failed. With a flick of her hand, his wand tumbled off into the darkness, even farther out of reach. She glared at him. "I think it's time I stopped playing with you." She raised the red blade of light over her head and prepared to stab down.

Another blur of motion appeared in front of her, and her strike was stopped cold. Anna spoke over her shoulder. "You're no good without your wand. Get clear, I'll take care of this one."

Rage jumped back and cackled. "You? Take care of me? Pathetic fool, your anger is nothing, you lack hatred! I've been holding back and toying with you."

Anna stood in front of Dumbledore. He was staggering to his feet and stumbling away. He moved off in the direction his wand had vanished.

Kate snarled. "No you don't." She blurred again, moving at a speed that was almost too fast to follow. She slid to a stop and hacked with her weapon blocking the strike as the redhead appeared before her.

"I've been holding back as well." Her eyes had changed, her once golden irises had become a bright orange and yellow. She shoved back hard with her weapon. Kate flipped in the air and landed in a crouch about ten feet away. Her expression was one of surprise.

Anna stood before her with her weapon held down in a relaxed position. She brought it up in front of her. "Rage, now you will learn of the true power of the dark side of the force!" She screamed it with a barely controlled anger in her tone.

Kate grinned. "You. You're nothing."

The redhead shook her head. "No, foolish girl. I am a Lady of the Sith. You're nothing but an apprentice. I have held back, not given myself over to the Dark Side for the sake of those I care for. No more. Now, you face the true power of the Dark Side of the Force."

Kate's expression changed from one of confident arrogance, to shock in an instant. The ground shook as Anna glared at her. She felt something rise up in her throat, a cold sweat formed on the dark haired girl's brow. "What? What is this?"

Huge stones erupted from the ground, forcing the apprentice to jump back and away. "You! You're doing this."

"Figure that out did you?" Anna's voice came from behind her.

Kate spun around and brought her weapon up just in time to keep her head on her shoulders. She staggered back, parrying desperately under the young redhead's assault.

Anna looked anything but calm, but her anger was under control, her hatred was focused. She pressed her attack forcing the girl to her knees.

Kate glared at her and gritted her teeth as she kept her blade upright as her opponent pounded on it like a jack hammer. She screamed and shoved up, forcing the younger Sith to stagger back for a moment. Rage tried to thrust and take advantage, but Anna was too fast and blocked it with ease.

Kate Delane was shaking. "You bitch! I'll make you suffer!"

Anna simply stepped back and pointed her weapon at the ground.

The apprentice gasped as stones the size of watermelons began flying at her from every direction. She staggered as they struck at her back as she hacked and tried to force them back with her own power. Anna pushed through it like it was nothing.

Rage spun around, her ribs cracked and her body bruised. She thrust her hand out and sent bolts of power at the redhead.

Anna merely lifted her hand and caught it. "You still have much to learn, my young apprentice." The redhead grinned at her in a malevolent manner.

Kate looked on in shock. "What?"

"Everything is going exactly as I have foreseen it." The younger girl chuckled.

"I do not serve you!" Rage snarled at her and set herself by crouching lower with her weapon held forward in front of her.

Anna gave another cold laugh. "Pathetic, truly pathetic. Do you not understand? Do you think he trained you? Did he give you your anger? Did he take everything away from you and replace it with hatred? Did he make you what you are now, or did I?"

Kate's knees hit the ground. It was now covered in mud from the melted ice, and filled with small craters from the exploding flames. "What?"

Anna chuckled. "You actually think that half dead cretin is the architect of all this? Pathetic delusional fool. I am Sith, I am Lord Vader, I am the true Master here." She put her weapon behind her back.

Kate gasped and screamed in rage and pain as she fell to her knees. The smoking remains of her arm fell into the mud, still clutching her weapon. The jewel encrusted tiara cleaved in half. She gasped with wide eyes as the tip of the red blade of light pointed at her throat. She was gasping and swallowing, unable to catch her breath.

Anna shut down her weapon and grabbed her throat, lifting her off the ground. "Now, my pathetic young apprentice. Go back to your 'Master'. Accept his punishment for failure." The terrified disarmed Sith apprentice gasped and choked as she was lifted off her feet. "Serve your purpose, and I may be kind enough to not destroy you and replace you when this is finished. Only the strong survive, that is the way of the Sith, that is our way. There will be only two in the end, a master, and an apprentice, and I will be that master." She threw her onto the ground.

Kate struggled to rise to her knees, and a moment later, her lightsaber landed under her nose. It was still gripped in her severed hand.

"Take it and go." Anna turned her back on her. "Enjoy my hospitality. I own the house on that hill, do not be so foolish as to think I do not know that is where that pathetic worm is hiding. I've known all along. You, and that pathetic rat as well. Go back, serve him, and when the time comes, he will be destroyed. If you survive, perhaps you will be of further use to me."

Kate was in tears, white as a sheet, and shaking with fear. The pure pressure of the redhead's power was overwhelming her. She didn't even feel the pain from her limbing. She staggered to her feet, took her arm into her hands, and stumbled off into the darkness.

Anna calmed herself and closed her eyes as she shut down her weapon. When she opened her eyes again, they had returned to normal.

Dumbledore appeared out of the darkness, his wand gripped in one hand, and the portkey in his other. "Anna!" He looked relieved. "Thank Merlin. She is gone then?"

The girl nodded. "I kicked her ass. I doubt she'll try attacking me that way again. She barely got away with her life."

Dumbledore gave a grave nod. "Then it is over then?"

Anna nodded and commented "For now, yes," but thought to herself, "No. It is only the beginning." There was only one Horcrux left, and Bethesda Bagshot was still alive. Voldemort had not yet created his last Horcrux.

The old man seemed relieved. "Very well. Come along then. It's time I got you home."

The pair both grasped the portkey and vanished.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next Time: Return to Hogwarts, again.


	43. Chapter 43

A Matter of force.

Part 43

The Dementors.

OooOOooOO

The train station was bustling with activity. People milled about and rushed to board their cars all around the rather large group of wizards that moved to the entrance to the hidden platform. The Weasley family, the Potter family, the Black family, and the Humdragons were all ushering a heard of children towards the wall that would lead them to the platform that served the Hogwarts express.

"All right, all right," chimed Molly Weasley. "Come along now, heavens, we've got quite a group. We'll go in pairs now."

Harry had a grin on his face as he stood with Alex, Melvin, and Ron. Percy was in front of them smartening himself up as best he could. He kept rubbing his sleeve on his Head Boy badge as if to keep it shiny. It was already polished to a mirror like sheen.

Fred and George had gotten their hands on it, and it had said 'Big Head' at the moment. Percy didn't seem to have noticed yet. None of the younger boys seemed to want to inform him, and stifled chuckles about it on occasion.

Ginny, Pansy, and Margaret were chattering and giggling a little about it as well. Anna was with them, but seemed to be standing off a little from the rest of the group.

Margaret was giving Pansy a little scowl at the moment. "I like Hogwarts, I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to class again though. I mean, it's nice there and all, I suppose it's a bit of fun, but it's still school you know."

The brunnet scrunched up her nose. "I guess so. Still, I'm looking forward to it. Right Anna?"

The redhead glanced at her. "It's going to be a difficult year."

The pair went quiet and noticed her serious expression.

"I something wrong?" asked Ginny.

The redhead's face softened a little. "You'll be fine. I'm just worrying about things I shouldn't." She glanced at her brother.

Harry had walked up beside her. "What's with you? You've been quiet ever since you ran off with Dumbledore."

She glanced at him with her frown returning. "There's one Horcrux left, and it will be the most difficult and dangerous to destroy. This year, it will be finished."

He seemed surprised. "That's good isn't it?"

She gave a nod and didn't cheer up any. "A matter of perspective I suppose. This year will be hard on the both of us."

The boy frowned at that as she walked forward through the entrance. He went through with Melvin just after her. She had been acting strange, she hadn't spoken to him, and had told him to start training on his own. She still trained at the same time, but ever since she'd returned from her trip with Dumbledore the week before, she'd left him to his own devices. She hadn't told him he'd be fine, or not to worry, or given any reassuring words. What she'd just said to Ginny was the closest she'd come to it. That was unusual, and he'd noticed it. "Something is up with Anna, but I'm not sure what."

Melvin looked over at him. They'd just come through the other side onto the platform. It was crowded as usual. The band was all wearing disguise glasses to keep them from getting recognized. It would have made slipping into the secret entrance to the platform difficult. The black haired boy shrugged. "I'm not sure. She's not said much of anything. She's been pretty quiet lately."

"Harry! Ron!" The Potter boy smiled as he noticed Hermione waving her arm nearby.

"Hey. How have you been?" She looked much less frumpy still. Her hair had a nice shine to it and wasn't frazzled, and her skin was still clear and clean looking. Not that she looked dirty before, but it was a noticeable difference. "Enjoyed the rest of your Summer?" He'd not seen her since they'd gotten their school supplies.

"It's been all right," she gave a small shrug. "Hey, Ron."

Parvati was with her and moved up to take his arm. "Ron darling! I missed you."

The redhead seemed pleased to see her again. "Hello. It's not been that long. A couple of days. You make it sound like I've been gone for weeks or something."

"Ron, who is this?" Molly Weasley looked on from behind them.

Percy was next to her with his chest puffed out. "Huh? That's right. You've not met yet have you. That's Parvati Patil, Ron's girlfriend." He scanned the crowd and got distracted. "Oh! It's Penolope!" He rushed off to meet his own girlfriend.

The woman got wide eyed. "Girlfriend?"

Parvati smiled at her. "You must be Mrs. Weasley. It's nice to meet you."

Arthur looked at his wife with a small frown. "You didn't know? Fred and George have been teasing him about it since last year. I thought you knew about it already or I'd have said something."

Ron blushed and nodded. "We met during that mess with the Vampires at Hogwarts. She was one of the ones who was with me."

She looked at her husband. "You knew?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

The woman seemed a bit flustered. "It's nice to meet you." She didn't look entirely pleased.

Parvati took her hand with a bit of caution. She seemed to notice the slightly dark look in her eyes. "Yes. He saved my life. We've been together ever since."

Harry chuckled at the scene as Ron took the opportunity to pull his girlfriend away. "Don't worry about her, she's...overprotective I guess."

Parvati gave a nod. "I see. I'll meet her again. I hope I make a good impression."

"Man, poor guy," commented Melvin.

Alex shrugged. "He could do worse. She's cute, even if she's a little scary."

Harry gave a nod. "Come on, we should find a seat before it gets too crowded." He noticed Neville standing nearby with his Grandmother. "Hey! Neville! Over here!" He dragged the other two boys over with him.

"Harry. It's good to see you!" said the boy as he saw him run up. He seemed flushed and surprised.

The Potter boy grinned at him. "Come sit with us then? We're going to find ourselves a compartment."

"Can I?" asked the rotund boy with wide eyes.

"Sure, come on then." He looked up at his Grandmother. "Hello. It's good to see you again, Mrs. Longbottom."

The woman gave him a small smile and chuckled. "You as well, Mr. Potter." He was certainly enthusiastic, and it was good to see Neville was making friends. He was such an awkward boy, and got picked on a little. He always spoke highly of Harry though, and from what she'd heard, the boy looked after him.

OooOOooOO

Anna looked up at her mother as she took her by the shoulders. "All right dear. Try to stay out of trouble?"

Pansy and Margaret were standing nearby.

James winked at her. "Yes. Do try to not start any wars this year?"

The redhead gave a weak smile. "Yeah. I'll see you at the Holidays." She turned and left with her friends to board.

"Anna!" called Cedric as they started to get on. "Hey, I've got us a seat." He jogged up and grinned at her.

She gave a smile in return. "Hey, thanks." She took his arm as he pulled her on board. "It's on this car. Come on."

The girls all followed after them and piled into the car where Lee Jordan was sitting. "Lee!" said Margaret as she almost skipped over to sit with him.

Pansy's face fell a little. She'd never seen the girl act like that before.

"Hey, babe," said the tall black boy as he put his arm around her. "I see you've found them." He glanced over at Cedric.

Ginny looked around. "Have you seen Marci?"

Cedric nodded. "She's four doors back. She's got a seat saved for you already."

"Okay. See you later," said the redhead as she turned to meet her friend.

"She's a cute kid," commented Cedric.

Anna leaned into him a little. "Hey. I won't be able to hang out with anyone much this year. I don't want to seem like I'm pushing you guys away."

Everyone in the compartment looked at her. Lee was the only one who's face didn't fall a little.

Anna gave them a weak smile. "There's something I have to do this year. It's going to keep me pretty busy, and I'm afraid I won't have much time to hang out."

"We'll help then," said Pansy.

"Of course," agreed Margaret.

Anna smiled at them. "No. I have to do this on my own. I don't want you guys to worry, or think that I don't want to hang round you or anything. I just, can't this year. It's very important, and no can help me. I can't really say what it is, but...I'd rather none of you got involved."

Cedric frowned at her. "What? That sounds a bit strange."

Margaret narrowed her eyes at her a little. "What's with you? You've been depressing today."

Pansy nodded. "Yeah, you make it sound like someone is going to die or something. You've been really quiet. Every time that happens, there's all sorts of trouble."

She nodded. "This time, it's trouble of a personal sort. I'll...I'll deal with it. There isn't really anything any of you can do to help me out. Not this time. It's going to have my attention for a while, and I don't want you to think I've forgotten about you or anything. It's, really important though, and I've got to do it. It won't last forever, but...I'm not going to have much time to hang out this year. I just wanted to let all of you know while I had the chance."

Cedric shook a little. "I see." He wasn't sure what to make of it. He certainly didn't like the way it sounded, but it seemed to be why she was looking so depressed. "Well, we're all together now. You should enjoy it while it lasts."

The redhead gave a nod. She didn't look it, but she was near to tears. "I wish I could," she thought to herself.

OooOOooOO

As Harry boarded the train, they found a very strange sight. Luna Lovegood was standing off against a tall dark haired girl from Hufflepuff. They were glaring at each other in the middle of the train with serious expressions. Several students looked on from their seats.

"Pickachu! I choose you!" cried the blond girl.

"Butterfree! Go!" chimed the other as they both opened small round red and white balls in their hands. Each girl was wearing a bet with about ten of the balls on them.

"What on earth?" muttered Harry in confusion.

Two animals appeared out of the balls. One a giant butterfly, the other the yellow rodent creature Luna had been showing off.

Ron looked at him. "You haven't heard about this?"

"About what?" The rodent sent a few electric sparks at the butterfly thing. It was shocked, and fluttered about in the air. After the initial attack, it fluttered over the rodent and shook some sort of dust at it. The yellow thing fell to the ground asleep, and the butterfly rammed into it with it's head.

"Drat!" cried Luna as she pointed her ball at the rodent. It was pulled back into the ball. "I summon, Squirtle!"

A small turtle like thing with a squirrel like tail appeared from the next ball she pulled off her belt. "Squirtle!" it cried as it raised it's arms and stood on it's hind legs.

"No. Should I have?" muttered Harry as the turtle thing shot a jet of water out of it's mouth and sent the butterfly thing to the ground.

The dark haired girl pulled it back into a ball and hung her head. "Drat. Another time Lovegood."

Luna put her fist into the air. "Ha! I am the world's leading expert on Pokemon! The true Pokemon Master!"

The redhead tipped his hat back. "They're saying it's on it's way to being more popular than Battlemage. All sorts of people are getting into those things. Your sister..."

Harry put his face in his hand. "Right. I should have known. She's the one selling those little balls?"

Melvin nodded. "Yeah." There were a lot of students wearing belts with them on them on the train. "It's a bit weird, she doesn't have any Pokemon of her own, but she manufactures and sells the equipment. Those little computer things they use too, and some sort of candies for the animals. There's some sort of device you put the balls in that heals them as well. There's a couple of special Gyms and Centers with those machines she's building in a couple of places."

Harry hung his head. "Really?"

Neville grinned. "I've got one as well. It's called a Bulbasaur."

They found a compartment that was mostly empty and paused. There was an adult sitting in it, one Harry was familiar with. "Uncle..."

The man grinned at him. "I'm afraid it's Professor Lupin from now on Harry." He was dressed in neat and pressed clothes, and had a new looking trunk poking out from under his seat. He looked tired and yawned a little.

The brunette boy scratched his head. "Oh. Right. Sorry. Habit I guess." The group climbed into the car with them. He noticed the man was not dressed as shabbily as he'd seen him in the past. "New clothes?"

The man gave a tired grin. "Afina has been spoiling me."

"Who is this?" asked Neville in confusion.

Ron recognized him. "He's Harry's Uncle, right?"

"Right. We've met a few times briefly," commented Hermione.

The man gave a nod. "Well, I'm an old friend of his parents. I'm not actually related."

Harry looked over at Neville. "He's the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. Professor Lupin."

"Oh." Neville sounded a little nervous after hearing it. "It's nice to meet you."

Alex sat down across from the man. "Right. I remember you. You were at Harry and Anna's birthday party."

The man nodded. "Yes. Alex Hundragon right? I've heard about you as well."

The youngest of the boys smiled at him. "Yeah. I'm his son." He still had a lipstick mark on his cheek from when he'd said goodbye to his mother.

"A pleasure," muttered the man sleepily. "Forgive me, I think I'm going to nap on the way." He settled down and took off his coat, rolling it up to use as a pillow as he leaned against the window.

The children all settled in talking together, but keeping it at a low volume to not disturb the sleeping man. Within a few moments, the train started to move, and their trip to Hogwarts began.

Hermione looked out the window from her seat for a few moments. "Harry, that man has been all over the papers. Pettigrew, no one knows how he escaped from Azkaban. There have been no leads either."

The boy nodded. "I'm not worried about him much. I'd rather not run into him, but I doubt he'll be much trouble for us. He's a bit of a coward, and I don't think he'd get anywhere near Dumbledore, or Anna for that matter."

The girl scowled a little at that. "I see. Still, we should be on guard. Someone has tried to kill you every year so far. I'm kind of glad Professor Lupin is teaching this year. We know for sure he won't."

Ron gave a snort. "Maybe it's Snape's turn. He hates him."

Harry shook his head. "I doubt it. I don't expect him to be any nicer, but I don't think he's got any interest in seeing me dead."

"Who's this Snape?" asked Alex.

Ron rolled his eyes. "He's the meanest teacher at Hogwarts. I wouldn't go bragging that you're Harry's son around him. He's the head of Slytherin, and he doesn't like Harry at all, or anyone else for that matter, except maybe Malfoy."

"Malfoy?" inquired the boy.

"He's a student in our year. You'd best avoid him. He's a bully, and nothing but trouble," said Hermione. She glanced at Ron. "Where did Parvati go?"

The boy glanced at her. "Huh? She said she wanted to sit with her sister. They don't see much of each other at school. I'll see her again when we get there."

Harry arched his eyebrow. "I guess I can understand that. They've got a few classes together this year though. Shouldn't be too bad."

Hermione gave a shrug. She was the only girl in the compartment. It didn't bother her, but it was nice to have another girl around. She was constantly outnumbered by boys since she started attending Hogwarts. "Oh. Well, I'm looking forward to visiting Hogsmeade this year. They say it's the largest and only all wizarding settlement in Britain."

"Yeah. I think," said Ron nonchattingly.

"I've been there a few times. I'm looking forward to visiting a few of the shops myself." He smiled at her.

Ron smirked. "Yeah. Have you been to Honey Dukes?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I was planning on stopping by there."

"What's that?" asked Hermione with a confused frown.

"Only the best sweets shop you'll ever see," replied Alex with a grin on his face. He looked towards Harry and Ron. "I can get you to pick up a few things for me when you go?"

Neville looked pleased. "Right. I'm surprised Gran signed my permission slip so I could go."

Harry smiled at him. "Right. We'll all hang about together when we go."

Alex's face fell a little. "I wish I could go."

His Dad glanced at him. "Well, I'm afraid there's not much we can do for you. I'll pick you up a few things. You know what you want right?"

The boy nodded and cheered up a bit. "Yeah. I'll make you a list before you go."

It began to rain as the train moved towards the countryside. The children continued to chat, Neville showed off his pokemon. It was a squat looking creature that looked like it was part plant. There were two vine like tentacles on it's back and a flower like growth on it's back. It looked a bit like a small dinosaur despite it's plant like traits. He put it away after the group had a good look. Harry bought a load of sweets and passed them around as well.

The rain grew worse as they lounged about inside the compartment. Harry froze up suddenly with wide eyes, the boy clutched at his chest. "Huh?" He felt something, something horrible, and familiar.

Hermione was the first to notice. "Harry! Are you all right?"

"Hey. What's up?" said Ron as he became alert.

The Potter boy looked up at him. "I...feel something...bad." As soon as the words left his mouth the train started to slow down.

"Great." Ron stood up. "I'm looking forward to the feast. I'm starved."

"We're nowhere near Hogwarts," said Hermione. The window outside was black and there was no visibility.

Ron furrowed his brow. "Then why have we stopped?"

Harry remained in his seat with his hand on his chest. "Azkaban..."

Hermione looked confused. "What?"

The lights went out plunging them all into darkness, a moment later a soft hum and a low blue light lit the compartment for them. Harry had his lightsaber extended to wand length.

"Thanks," muttered Ron as he moved back to his seat. He'd almost stepped on Hermione.

"What's going on?" muttered Alex as he glanced around. His eyes fell on Harry's wand. "Whoa! That's the coolest thing I've ever seen. What is that thing?"

His father glanced at him. "My wand. Quiet down, there's something boarding the train."

Hermione gave a nod. "I think I saw someone outside."

"Ron! There you are, what's going on?" said Ginny as she fumbled her way to the door. Marci was beside her looking pensive.

"It all went dark," muttered the blond girl.

"Come inside," said Hermione as she pulled them in. "Sit down all right. We're not sure what's going on. We've stopped."

Lupin was awake. "Pipe down kids." He looked alert and noticed Harry's wand. "Keep that thing in check."

The children all went stone cold quiet. "What?" muttered Harry. He went stark white, and a cold sweat formed on his brow.

Something had just appeared in the doorway. It was wearing a tattered black cloak, and gripping the doorway with it's hand. The skin was pale, clammy, slimy looking, and scabbed. As if it had drowned to death weeks before and just crawled from the water.

Harry set himself and looked at it with wide eyes. He put his wand up and extended to blade length as he held it between them. He was shaking terribly, gasping for breath. His eyes became unfocused as a scream sounded in his head, but it was distant. "Focus. Peace." He closed his eyes and felt his muscles become relaxed. Sensing the darkness in front of him. "Get back." He said in a commanding voice.

There was a hiss as the thing moved closer.

"I said get back!" commanded the boy again. He took a step forward and opened his eyes.

The dementor raised it's hand and paused.

The boy glared at it. "None of us is hiding Pettigrew in here. Now go! I won't ask again."

Lupin was looking on with wide eyes.

The dementor seemed to consider it, turned it's head to scan the compartment, and backed away into the shadows of the hall again.

Harry let out a breath, his wand shut down, and he fell to one knee gasping for breath. His hand went up to his chest, and his heart was pounding. He had one hand holding his torso off the ground, and he felt very weak. "That thing...it..."

A silvery light filled the compartment. Remus was looking down at Harry. The man had one hand filled with a grayish flame, and took him by the shoulder with the other. "Come on boy, have a seat." He took out a large bar or chocolate and began to snap it inside the wrapper with his free hand after he got him up.

The other children were silent and looked shocked. "What was that thing?" muttered Hermione in horror.

"A dementor," replied Ron. He looked a bit pale himself. He was rasping a little, but not on the same level as Harry. "I've never seen one before."

Remus handed him half the chocolate bar, and gave Harry the other. He slapped the Potter boy on his shoulder. "You did very well to stand against that thing the way you did." He glanced at Ron and smirked. "You as well, I thought you were going to pass out."

The redhead nodded. His head had become filled with familiar screams he'd hoped he'd never hear again. The tormented in hell had echoed through his mind again.

"Both of you, eat that. It will help." Remus stood up and looked about the compartment. The other children were frightened, but Ron and Harry were clearly the most effected.

Harry munched on his. "I've been to Azkaban, not inside, but...I felt the presence of those things. Very unpleasant." His heart ached a little at the thought of what it must have been like for Sirius Black.

"You all, wait here. I've got to talk with the driver." Remus started to stand up.

Harry dropped his bar of chocolate on his seat and jumped up. "Anna! What?"

"Harry! Wait!" called the man as he tried to grab him before he rushed out into he hall. He stumbled after the boy and moved after him as he rushed down the hall away from the engine. "Where is...what on earth?"

OooOOooOO

Anna was sitting and chatting with her friends when the lights went dark. They had managed to cheer her up a little, but she was still quiet and reserved. She was leaning against her boyfriend's chest and looked almost like she was napping.

"What's going on?" muttered Pansy in confusion.

"Are we there yet?" Lee commented.

"I doubt it. It's kind of romantic though," said Margaret softly. There was a wet smacking sound a moment later.

Pansy gave a sigh. "Whatever. I can't see anything, and it's too soon for us to be at Hogwarts."

"We're nowhere near it," said Anna. She stood up.

"Hey, are you going somewhere?" asked Cedric.

The compartment was bathed in a red light a moment later. "Something just got on the train."

"Not again," grumbled Cedric. "What is it this time? Zombies or Werewolves?"

His girlfriend shook her head. "No. Dementors. They're looking for Pettigrew." Her voice sounded cold and hard. "Wait here."

"Where are you going?" said Pansy in confusion.

"Just stay in there. I'll be fine, and you don't want to meet them." The girl looked back over her shoulder with a scowl on her face. Her wand was in her hand at blade length.

"Hey, Anna, we should all stay here," said Cedric as he poked his head out.

Pansy was behind him with her hand over her mouth. She looked shocked and confused. "Anna?" She'd never seen an expression like that on the girl's face. She looked more than just angry.

"Get back in there and sit down." Her voice was commanding and cold. "I've got something to say to these...things."

Cedric jolted a little. "You don't look like you're planning on just talking to them."

She turned away. "I'm not so foolish as to attack them. They're here representing the Ministry. Just get back inside and wait. I'll be...just fine." She had a hint of cruel amusement in her voice as she started walking down the hall.

"Potter, where are you going? We need..." started Percy's voice as he noticed him walking by his own compartment and moved out to try and pull her out of the hall.

She put her hand up and he reacted as if he'd run into a wall. The girl continued past him, and he stepped out after she'd gone by rubbing at his forehead. He was confused and disoriented.

"Hey, Potter...that will cost you House Points if you don't have a good..." He trailed off and staggered back, fumbling for his wand. The older boy ended up on his rear and finally grasped it, shoving it forward with a shaking hand.

Three tall dark hooded figures loomed over the girl. Another was moving up behind them. The things surrounded the girl. Everyone nearby was looking on in horror at the scene. The hooded figures all surrounded her, looking down at her as she stood among them without fear.

She snapped at them. "Why are you wasting time? That scum is not fool enough to be so near me. He knows what I will do if I find him." She glared at them all and looked around.

The creatures all bowed their heads and moved back a little. There wasn't a lot of room in the hall. Anna walked up to the fourth. "You're in charge of this group are you?" She hissed at it and put her hand on it's chest. A mad grin crossed her face. She took the thing by it's cold clammy hand.

"Anna!" called her brother's voice from down the hall.

"Harry! Wait...what the?" cried another familiar voice. Remus staggered up behind her brother.

The girl turned to look at the pair, and the slid to a halt. Both of them looked completely shocked.

She was holding the creature by the hand in a gentle manner. With her other hand she reached up into the cloak and caressed it's face in the shadows.

It leaned down towards her, moving it's face close to hers.

The others bowed even deeper, seeming to lean in towards her. The Dementors were excited and clawed their hands at her. Each brushing their hands across her body. It was as if they were not certain she was real. They gave low cold hissing noises in quick repetition.

The girl spoke in a sickly sweet tone as she caressed the lead dementor's face. "When you find him, make sure you give him a big kiss for me." He laughed in a cruel way that was not quite a giggle. "What?" she replied to something no one else could hear. "Forget about them. I ask this of you. Give in to your desire, and take him. He's such a pathetic creature anyway. They won't be very upset."

The thing stood tall as her hand fell away. It seemed to consider it and nodded, giving a small bow as it did so. The others all appeared to be bowing to her, on one knee before her as they hissed and reveled in excitement.

"What the hell?" muttered Harry. His jaw was hanging and his eyes were wide.

"I have no idea," replied Remus in the same manner. What he was seeing was impossible.

The dementors all turned towards Harry. The boy took a staggering step back. "N-no..."

His sister spoke to them. "Leave my brother alone. I know he's tempting, but you've got other concerns. Leave this place, you'll not find that scum here. I assure you, if he was anywhere near here, I'd have found him and destroyed him myself."

The things all turned towards her and hissed.

"I'd rather you found him. I do hope I get the opportunity to watch if you kiss him. Doubtful, but I'll settle for hearing word of it if I must. Now, off with you. Pettigrew is not so stupid as to draw to near to me. He knows what awaits him if I find him." She gave the leader a gentle shove.

The thing turned, bowed it's head a little, and slid towards the nearest exit, along with the others.

Anna turned and looked at Remus and Harry. Without a word, she strolled back to her seat.

"Anna..." called Harry in a weak voice. "What?"

She paused and didn't look back. "I told you before, I am Sith. Those creatures, they are of the Dark Side of the Force, and I am a Master of the Dark Side. I can control them as easily as I controlled the Dursleys. Go back to your seat, the excitement here has ended for now."

Harry stepped forward. "Anna wait! What? What is this? What's wrong with you?"

Remus grabbed his shoulder almost as a reflex. He did not want to draw any nearer to the girl, it was instinctual more than something he considered. "Anna?"

"There's nothing wrong with me. I am as I should be." She continued on her way.

Lupin looked at Harry. "Are...are you sure that's your sister?" He'd never seen anything like that, and he almost didn't recognize the girl.

Harry frowned at him and balled up his fist. "No. No I'm not." He hung his head. Anna had calmed down again. She turned back into her compartment and left them both standing there.

The man looked confused. "What?"

Harry rubbed at his scar as a reflex. "It's nothing. She's been acting weird lately."

The man stood up. "Harry, that was more than just weird."

"I know. I'm going back. I just...I don't know. I don't know what to say, and I don't know what to make of that. She's..." He glanced towards where she'd gone. "...I don't know."

The man nodded. "All right. Go back to your seat. I'm going to have words with the conductor."

Harry was walking at a sluggish pace. He paused as a familiar voice spoke up. "Well, how does it feel to know you're all alone, Potter?" Draco Malfoy was giving him a smirk as he leaned against the door of his own compartment. Crabbe and Goyle both gave crude laughs at that. "Shut up," growled Malfoy as he looked back to glare at them. They both went silent very quickly.

Harry glanced at him and said nothing. He continued on his way to his seat.

Malfoy moved up beside him keeping pace. "You know what needs to be done."

The Boy Who Lived stopped and frowned at him.

The blond had a cocky grin on his face. "Aw, what's with that look, Potter? You know exactly what I mean."

"Do I?" muttered Harry as his eyes turned to the ground.

"If she's not destroyed, she'll kill us both eventually. You could say the same of me, but really, which of us is really the bigger threat?" He had a dark grin on his face. "I can help you. I'm the only option you've got. You don't really think that mudblood and a Weasley are going to do you any good, do you?"

Harry looked at the weapon that was still in his hand. He frowned and then hooked it back onto his belt. "I don't trust you."

Draco nodded. "You don't trust her either, do you? Not anymore. Not after that."

The Potter boy turned his eyes away. "I've no plans to destroy her."

Malfoy clicked his tongue and turned away to go back to his own seat. "Well, when you change your mind, I'll be around. I don't think you're so stupid as to not realize that at the moment, I'm the lesser evil."

Harry looked back at him. "Are you?"

Draco put his hands into his pockets. "Maybe not. Still. I think you'll be considering my offer."

Potter shook his head. "No. If I must face her, I will do it alone. I have no need of your help, Malfoy. I'm not a fool. You want both of us dead."

The blond boy frowned a little but continued walking. "Suit yourself. I'll be around if you change your mind." He waved his hand over his shoulder as he turned back into his compartment.

A moment later, Harry stepped into his own. The lights had come back on, and the train was moving again. He slumped down and gave a sigh while hanging his head.

Everyone looked concerned. "Harry, are you all right?" asked Hermione.

"Jeez, you're a mess," commented Melvin with a concerned frown of his own.

The boy looked up at her and forced a smile. "That took a lot out of me. I'll be fine. I just need to rest a bit."

"What happened?" asked Alex. Ginny and Marci looked concerned as well.

"I'd rather not talk about it," replied the boy. A hunk of chocolate landed in his lap.

Ron shook his shoulder from the seat across. "Hey. Eat that. Professor Lupin was right, it helps."

Harry nodded as he broke a chunk off and shoved it into his mouth.

"I feel so depressed," grumbled Melvin as he put his hand on his stomach. "Those things are awful."

The redhead tugged on the brim of his hat. "Never though I'd find something I hate more than spiders."

Neville looked confused. "You're afraid of spiders?"

"He's not afraid of anything!" snapped Ginny a little crossly.

The large boy flushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."

Ron gave him a weak smile. "Not really. I don't like them though, the give me the shivers. All those legs, and the way they move is just disgusting to me."

Neville seemed to consider that and nodded. "Yeah. I'm the same way with Slugs. They aren't scary, but they're gross."

Lupin walked back into the compartment. "All right. We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes." Ginny and Marci made for the door, but the man stopped them. "Hold on. Everyone will be needing some chocolate. It will help with the effects of the dementors." He pulled another bar out of his pocket and handed it out. "All right then. You should all get ready. We'll be arriving shortly."

Harry looked sullen and tired, but still seemed to have plenty of energy despite it. Lupin noticed. "Everything all right then, Harry?"

The boy looked up at him. "I'm not sure. I'm not ill or anything, but I guess I've got a lot on my mind."

Remus nodded. "Try not to overdo it." He patted his shoulder and started gathering his own things.

OooOOooOO

Anna went back to her compartment and sat down.

"What happened?" asked Pansy. "We're moving again."

The redhead shook her head. "It's nothing. There were a few dementors on the train. They seem to think Pettigrew might have sneaked on board. They're gone now, everything is fine. We'll be arriving shortly."

Percy appeared in the doorway. "Potter. What just happened?"

She looked back at him. "I can control them, call it a gift."

His eyes went wide. "What?"

Cedric frowned at the boy. "Everything seems fine to me."

Percy returned his frown. "All right. I'll forget about it this time, Potter. Try something like that again, and it will cost you House Points."

She nodded and sat down with her boyfriend. "I'll remember that."

He narrowed his eyes a little. "Good."

"What was that about?" asked Cedric.

Margaret looked annoyed with the Gryffindor Head Boy as well. "What a jerk."

"I brushed him off in the hall. Don't worry about it." She leaned into her boyfriend's chest again. "Well be there in a few minutes."

Cedric jolted a little and put his arm around her. "Anna, you're freezing!"

She scrunched up her face a little. "I'm fine. Just an after effect of getting too near to those things. Very unpleasant creatures."

He rubbed on her arm. "Well, try to warm up a bit before we get there. You could catch cold."

She closed her eyes and relaxed a little more. "I'll be fine. It's not uncomfortable or anything."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter got off the train and looked around. He was feeling better, but still had a bit of a frown on his face.

"First years, o'er ere," called Hagrid.

"Woah, that guy is huge," muttered Alex.

His father gave him a gentle shove. "Go on, you'll be fine. You'll like Hagrid. He teaches Care of Magical Creatures."

The half giant waved at them. "You three all right then?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all waved back. Melvin walked up behind them and looked around at the crowd with his hands in his pockets.

The first years were looking a bit nervous, but a lot of them were looking back at the three boys and having trouble paying attention to Hagrid. Alex wandered into the group and looked a bit pensive himself.

Neville scratched his head. "I guess we should go find a carriage then?"

The Potter boy gave a nod. "Yeah." He was distracted as his eyes scanned the crowd for Anna.

They moved up to the wrought iron carriages and climbed inside. Neville, Ron, Hermione, Melvin, and Harry all squeezed into one together. The Boy Who Lived could sense there was a horse spirit pulling them along, and could almost, but not quite see it. It kept his attention for part of the way. As they approached the great gates, with pillars with winged boars on either side, he felt a chill run down his spine. Two more towering dementors were guarding it on either side. He sank into his seat and shivered.

"I hate those things," grumbled Ron as he did much the same thing. "I feel light headed around them." He had his eyes squeezed shut and looked a bit pale. The smell of damp straw within the carriage didn't help any, but it passed and both boys felt much better after passing the gates.

They disembarked on a path that lead to the great oak doors into Hogwarts. The air was chilled and damp, causing the students to swarm up to enter. Most of the students had their cloaks pulled tight.

Draco Malfoy stepped out of his own carriage with a smirk on his face as he glanced at Harry. "You all right there, Potter? You look a bit pale. You as well, Weasley."

The pair gave him a small scowl. "Didn't know you cared, Malfoy," commented Ron.

The blond boy kept grinning. "Oh, I don't. It's fun to watch you both squirm though." He looked up and smiled as Professor Lupin stepped out of the carriage behind them.

"Is there a problem?" asked the man.

"No," replied Malfoy without a hint of fear. "We've not seen each other since last year. Just a friendly greeting." He turned away and moved off towards the gates flanked by his two lackeys. Both of the larger boys seemed confused at his behavior. "I didn't mean that you idiots," he grumbled at them.

Remus looked at Harry. "A friend of yours?"

The boy didn't look very upset. "Call it a rivalry I suppose. Nothing I can't handle."

The teacher nodded. "Fair enough. Come on then, this weather is dreadful. You two hurry up and get inside."

They entered the hall together, Harry still hadn't seen Anna. He couldn't sense her in the crowd, which struck him as odd. He wasn't worried or overly concerned by it, she could take care of herself, and he didn't sense danger. "Maybe something to do with the dementors?" he muttered out loud.

"Huh?" said Melvin in confusion.

His friend looked at him. "It's nothing. Just thinking out loud."

"Potter, Granger, Weasley, a word with the four of you. Yes, I mean you as well, Annabelle," called Professor McGonagall's voice.

The four of them all looked towards it at the same time. Harry blinked as he looked over his shoulder and saw his sister standing with her usual group of friends a short distance behind them.

They all walked up to the woman and she looked at them sternly. Harry didn't get the impression they were in trouble. "Come along, to my office."

The group moved after her. She motioned for them all to sit down. "Professor Lupin sent word that you two boys took ill on the train."

Harry nodded and started to reply. Ron looked a bit flushed. "It's not like we passed out or anything. Just got a bit light headed."

A knock at the door prevented the teacher from paying attention to Ron. It opened and Madam Pomfrey walked into the room. "Oh. This group again? Nothing broken I hope, it's good to see they're all conscious at least."

McGonagall nodded. "It was the dementors, Poppy." The two women exchanged a dark look.

Pompfrey clucked her tongue at it. "Setting dementors around a school. They won't be the first ones to collapse."

Anna frowned a bit more at it. "We're all fine, none of us collapsed."

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at the girl and frowned. "Yes. I'd heard."

The nurse looked the two boys over. "Oh, they're all clammy. The effect they can have on people who are already delicate."

Harry cracked a small grin at that. "Delicate?"

Ron looked annoyed. "What do you mean delicate?"

Hermione giggled at the reactions a little. A look from McGonagall silenced her chuckles though. "Have a look at the girl as well. The word is she actually touched one of those horrid things."

Pomfrey guffawed at that. "What? They put their hands on one of the students?"

The redhead shook her head. "No. I touched it. I can control them. They are mindless, they act in instinct alone, they ministry can control them to a limited extent, but they're just puppets in rags to me. Weak willed, and subservient." She spoke in an even tone and didn't smile. "I don't need any medical attention. Professor Lupin already gave Harry and Ron some chocolate. They should be fine. I had a bit of my own, I knew it was coming anyway." She did, but she hadn't seen the need to bother with eating it. "I hope they find that rat, but I'm certain he's not stupid enough to go poking his nose about here. He wouldn't dare get so close to Professor Dumbledore, and he knows I'm here."

The two women went quiet and both looked at her. McGonagall's lips were tense and she gave a nod that the children barely noticed. "I see." She cleared her throat. "That is precisely the concern."

The redhead gave a humorless chuckle. "They think he might want revenge? How foolish, he knows what I'll do to him if we meet again. He's not so stupid, and far too cowardly to try. He's terrified of me, with good reason. Hogwarts is the last place he'd dare draw near."

"I suggest that you take care young lady," said the teacher firmly. "I won't put up with such speech from a student. You should be concerned with your studies, not finding some criminal. Vigilantes are not looked upon with kind eyes by the Ministry."

The girl gave a nod. "You misunderstood me. I have no desire to find him. I wouldn't be bothered with chasing him about. He'll avoid me, there is no danger of him trying to sneak into the school, especially now that his secret is out. He can't hide as a rat anymore. The dementors here are useless, and a waste of resources. They would be better served searching elsewhere, rather than guarding the last place that fool would dare set foot in."

Hermione frowned at her. If she wanted to get herself into trouble.

Pomfrey didn't look pleased, but nodded. "I suppose I can agree with that. Horrible things, no place here at all."

Harry was looking at her, but remained silent. Hermione looked nervous and felt a bit out of place. Ron seemed to agree with her. "She's right, Scabbers is a worthless coward. I had him for long enough to know that much about him."

McGonagall gave a small sigh. "Very well." She looked at the nurse. "What do they need? A night of bed rest?"

The woman shook her head. "They should all have some chocolate at least."

"Had some already. Professor Lupin gave it to us on the train," replied Ron.

Hermione nodded. "Yes. He gave a bit to all of us."

Pomfrey looked impressed. "Well, it's nice to know we've another decent teacher in the position. I was worried Miss Amanar would be difficult to replace."

McGonagall gave a nod. She kept in contact with the woman since she left. They had become friends during her tenure, and she was aware of the relationship between the pair. "She spoke highly of him. I think we'll be all right." The woman looked at the students. "You three, wait outside. I'd like to have a word with Miss Granger in private."

Madam Pomfrey went back into the hall with them and went towards the Hospital Wing immediately muttering to herself and looking pensive and cross about the creatures.

The trio walked outside the office. Harry looked at his sister. "What's up with you?"

"I'm doing what I must. No more." She didn't look at him and spoke in a matter of fact tone. "Concern yourself with your own troubles. I told you already, it's going to be a difficult year, and you can't afford to worry about me."

Ron didn't speak up and frowned as she moved a few steps away from them. It was clear she wasn't interested in talking. "You two have a row or something?"

"Not that I know of," replied Harry. "I'm not sure what's up with her. It's been bugging me for a while now."

"Maybe...it's...you know?" Ron whispered as he leaned in. "That time for girls..."

Harry shook his head. "It's been going on for too long. This isn't something so simple as that I'm afraid."

Hermione came out looking pleased. The boys noticed as she almost skipped up to them. "All right then."

A short time later, McGonagall left them in front of the doors to the Great Hall. They went in together and Anna moved off to her own house table. She sat with her own group and seemed to wave off questions with a few comments. None of her friends looked insulted or upset with her answer.

Hermione noticed all the seats were filled. "Oh. We've missed the Sorting!" She looked a little disappointed.

"Well, there's nothing to be done about it, come on." Harry motioned for them to follow. He paused as he noticed Alex sitting with the Gryffindor first years and stopped long enough to pat his shoulder and give him a grin and a wink.

"See, I told you. He's my Dad," said the boy's voice from behind him.

Harry's head slumped a little at that. "Great. I suppose the whole school will know soon."

Hermione scowled. "Maybe we can whip something up to shut him up about it?"

Ron frowned as he glanced over his shoulder. "It must be annoying." He was on the other side of the table moving towards where his girlfriend was sitting.

Harry nodded. "I suppose it is a little. Still, let him be. I did it, and I should own up to it. He's my son, and it wouldn't be right for me to shirk any responsibility for it or deny it."

Parvati and Neville had both saved their spots with the third years.

Ron and Harry plopped down across from each other. Hermione smiled at the dark skinned girl. Harry glanced down the table, he got several waves and awed looks from younger students further down. The second years were used to him and gave him friendly silent greetings. The first years were mostly wide eyed, and Ron was getting looks from them as well. The Boy Who Lived noticed a lot of first years were craning their necks about the hall to get a look at Ron and himself. Anna and the rest of the band as well. There were younger Slytherin students almost standing up on the bench to get a good look at her.

"Great. It's almost time to eat. I'm starved," muttered Ron.

Professor Dumbledore stood up as McGonagall took her seat at the staff table. Hagrid gave him a small wave as he caught his eye and winked from his own seat. He looked quite pleased and proud to be sitting there with the other staff as a teacher. Harry smiled at that and seemed to relax. He felt better being at Hogwarts, and sitting in the Great Hall to start another year seemed to lift a great weight from his shoulders.

"Welcome. I have a few announcements to make before we are all befuddled by our excellent feat." He looked about the room and his smile faded a little. "As I'm sure most of you are aware. The school is presently playing host to some dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry business." He cleared his throat and gripped the podium a little tighter. Harry took note of it and realized he was most displeased with it. Most of the staff seemed to be of that mindset, even Professor Snape expressed mild annoyance at the announcement. "They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds. While they are with us, I wish to make plain that no one is to leave without permission. Dementors will not be fooled by tricks or disguises, or even Invisibility Cloaks. "It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors,"

Percy puffed out his chest and looked about from a few rows down. Ron rolled his eyes, and Fred and George snickered at him. This earned the twins a small frown from their older brother, and the calmed. Lee Jordan was with the pair, and put his hand over his mouth.

"On a lighter note, I would like to welcome our two new teachers to our ranks this year." Dumbledore's smile returned. "Professor Lupin, who has generously agreed to take the position of Defense Against Dark Arts this year."

Harry's group all gave a great cheer, as well as a small section of Slytherin's table. The rest of the room was a bit tepid, and seemed confused at the two small groups enthusiastic cheer.

Ron smirked a little afterwards. "Look at Snape."

Harry noted the man was glaring daggers at the new teacher, and did not look pleased to have him there one bit. He narrowed his eyes a bit at it. The man was giving him more than a look of dislike, it was loathing, hatred was coming off of him in waves. He was a little surprised at it, there was jealousy as well, but Snape was very upset with him for something. "I wonder what that's about?"

Dumbledore continued. "As to our second new appointment. It pains me to inform you that our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Kettleburn, has elected to retire to spend more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his position will be filled by our own Rubeus Hagrid, who will be taking the position along with his gamekeeping duties."

Once again, there was an excited cheer. Much larger than Professor Lupin's from the tables. Most of Slytherin gave tepid applause, but Hagrid was well known amongst most of the Houses, and the news was good for a majority of the students. It was a surprise, and a lot of the confusion about the choice of the text book had been cleared up at the announcement. It wasn't full blown enthusiasm though, as a few students were annoyed by the monstrous book they'd been forced to buy for the current year's studies.

Dumbledore cleared his throat again. "As a final announcement, there is a New Addendum to the school rules this year. There are no Pokemon Battles to be held in the Halls. While, possession of the creatures is indeed within the rules, they can be quite destructive. Any and all Pokemon Battles are to be held on the grounds outside at least a hundred meters away from the Castle. No exceptions. Also, for those interested, Miss Lovegood is forming a league with the help of our new Care of Magical Creatures instructor. All interested inquiries of joining should be made to either of them." He paused and smiled. "I believe that is everything of importance. Let the feast begin!"

The children all ate their fill and enjoyed ever moment of it. As soon as the call to return to the dorms was made, the Gryffindor group all went up to congratulate Hagrid, who heartily thanked Harry for his role in it. The boy flushed a little and smiled at him. With that, they all returned to their common area.

OooOOooOO

Harry felt like he had returned to a second home again. The events and troubles of the past few days were all but forgotten. He walked into the Gryffindor common area and paused as he found himself facing a wall of girls. Each one with a scowl on their faces. "Huh?"

"It's not true! Is it Harry?" cried one of them. She looked to be a second year.

"This jerk! He's spreading rumors about you." chimed another.

"Well, we won't let him, will we girls?" agreed another.

Alex looked like he'd wave at him, and had a sheepish grin on his face. He was currently tied to a chair in the middle of the rather angry group of girls. "Um, hey, old man. A little help please." A few of them were jabbing at his sides with their wands, and several more had them pointed at him.

Hermione had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from giggling at the scene.

Ron shook his head. "That's what you get for running your mouth. You should have known better."

Harry hung his head and slumped his shoulders. "Let him go. He's..." He shifted his eyes away and turned a bit pink about the ears. "He's not lying."

The girls slowly got stunned expressions on their faces. A few were glancing back at the young black haired boy. "See. I told you. Now let me out of here. Jeez, you girls are crazy!"

"Wh-what?" stammered one of the girls.

Harry scratched the back of his neck and looked to be clearly annoyed. "He's got a big mouth, but he's not lying. He really is my son. It's...complicated."

There was a bit of silence in the room. It was more than just the girls who had captured the boy by then.

"Well, this is awkward," commented Ron.

Percy walked into the room and froze. "What the? What's going on here?"

One of the girls holding the boy looked up at him. "He said, he's Harry Potter's son. It's..."

The older boy rolled his eyes. "He is Harry Potter's son. Let him go, now." He looked very serious and crossed his arms.

The group of girls were a bit reluctant as they untied him. Alex shook himself as he stood up. "Thanks. I thought they were gonna curse me into next week." He jumped behind his father's back.

Harry narrowed his eyes a little. "Well, they were. You should be more careful. I have a lot of fans, and not all of them will take hearing about you very well."

"Wait. How is that possible?" snapped one of the girls in irritation. "He's a first year, and..."

Harry shrugged. "Time travel. I'm sure you've heard about how my parents aren't dead anymore. I met his Mom during all that."

"So...so...you're, not a virgin?" muttered a dark haired first year girl.

"No," grumbled Harry. He was clearly uncomfortable. "I'm not. Look, it was a long time ago. His Mum is all grown up and all. I'm a bit young for her now. Don't worry about it. He's...mine, I guess." He looked annoyed with the boy who was making faces at the girls from behind his back. "Oh, knock it off."

Alex stopped and turned his eyes away while rubbing on the back of his head. "See, I told ya."

"R...really?" said another girl.

"I'm afraid so," replied Harry with a dejected nod.

"You're...serious aren't you?" muttered a first year girl in pigtails that looked both shocked and appalled.

"Kind of, yeah," muttered the boy uncomfortably.

"I can vouch for him," replied Ron.

"Me too," said Hermione a bit reluctantly. "I've met Alex before. He's not lying."

"Bleh!" said the first year as he made another face at them. "Deal with it, he's my Dad."

Fred and George were chuckling together. "We like...you kid." They passed it between each other.

"How do you guys do that anyway?" asked Alex as he looked up at them.

They looked at each other and then back down at him. "We're twins." They responded together.

The boy cocked his head. "Dad and Auntie Anna aren't like that."

"Identical twins," amended Fred.

"Parvati isn't like that with her sister. Face it, you guys are just weird," said Ron.

Alex shrugged. "Who says that's bad." He looked at the twins. "Hey, I heard about you two. I promised Grandpa Potter I'd help Dad loosen up a bit. You'll help me prank him right?"

The pair looked at each other. "Definitely, come on over and sit with us," said George.

"I'm standing right here you know," muttered Harry as he frowned at the trio.

"Oh, don't be such a worry wart," said Fred cheerfully.

"That boy is going to be trouble," said Hermione as she narrowed her eyes at it.

"I'd complain, but it might divert their attention away from me a bit." Ron slapped Harry on the shoulder. "Sorry, you know how it is."

Harry shrugged. "I'll live."

Parvati walked up and took Ron by the arm. She'd been over with Lavender Brown. "Come on and sit with us." Hermione moved off with them.

Harry moved to follow, but paused as he realized a lot of the girls were still standing around and looking at him. There was an familiar vibe coming off them, but it wasn't usually so potent. "Uh oh."

A particularly bold first year girl walked up. "So, um, Harry? What kind of girl do you like?"

"Yeah?" agreed a second year girl.

A fourth year girl moved up to his side. "You don't mind talking with us for a bit do you?"

"Do you have your guitar? Play us a song then?" agreed another third year girl with blond hair in a ponytail.

His back went a little straight. "I um...I guess..."

"I kind of figured you were kind of shy," said another third year girl with freckles and brown hair.

"Maybe I'll play something some other time," he responded as he relaxed. He had a feeling he was in for it now. He was getting intense lust from them all. At least half the girls under the fifth year were hanging around him, and a few older girls were giving him the eye from across the room. "Oh man."

"Come on and hang out with us for a bit," said the bold first year girl. "I'm Romilda. Romilda Vane. I'm a big fan!"

"Yes, me too!" agreed a second year girl.

They pulled him over and practically forced him to sit down in a chair. He gave a small sigh. "Well. I don't mind talking for a bit I suppose." He was going to have to deal with it. He noticed a few boys in the room were giving him glares. He didn't want to avoid the common area for the rest of the year. Chatting for a little while wouldn't be to bad.

"What sort of stuff do you like?" asked one of the girls.

"What kind of girls do you like?" asked Romilda as she shifted with excitement.

He gave a small shrug. "I like music, meditating, and...um...well, peaceful relaxing things. Like walking on the beach, or in a garden or something." He purposely avoided anything that might end up a gift. He didn't want to end up drowning in them.

"Wow! That's so romantic!" squealed a third year girl.

"Yeah. That girl Hermione...is she...your girlfriend?" asked a second year girl with a small frown on her face.

Harry shook his head. "No. She's a good friend of mine. We're not dating or anything though."

"Do you think I'm pretty?" asked Romilda as she tossed her hair.

He was a bit surprised at her boldness. "Well, I guess you're cute. I don't really know you though."

She smiled at him. "Which of us is the prettiest then?"

The girls all looked excited at that suggestion.

He narrowed his eyes a little. "I'm not looking for a girlfriend. I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on that one."

"What? You don't want to say who you think the cutest girl in school is?" asked a fourth year girl who thought herself very pretty. She wasn't wrong, but that was beside the point.

"Not really. No," he replied. "I like girls and all, but I'm not really looking to find one to keep. Probably not for a while. I don't have much time to pay attention to a girl. Not that I don't like them or anything, but even if I said so, I wouldn't be interested." He smiled. "I'm actually kind of boring. I want to do well in class, and there's the band as well, not to mention my friends. I spend most of my time at school studying, practicing, or meditating. I don't have a crush on anyone in particular if that's what you're getting at."

It didn't seem to bother any of the girls around him. "Oh. Well, we can be friends, can't we?" asked Romilda.

Harry gave a small sigh. "We'll see. I don't really know any of you." He stood up, and smiled. "Sorry, I'm afraid I've had a long day. I'm going to bed."

There was a muttered disappointment and a few "Awww," from the various girls.

Harry moved at a fast walk and made for the dorms. He dashed around the corner and gasped as he clutched at his chest.

"Have fun?" asked Hermione with her arms crossed. She looked amused. Parvati and Ron were standing with her.

"Anna was right, this is going to be a difficult year," he replied as he looked at them.

"I feel kind of sorry for you," said Ron as he smirked.

Harry narrowed his eyes at him a little. "I think that Romilda girl is going to be chasing me about for the rest of the year."

"Is that bad? She's cute," said a new voice. He glanced back and noticed Collin Creevy standing behind him. "Hello, Harry. Have a good Summer?"

The boy relaxed a little. "Oh. Hello, Collin. Sure. How about you?"

"It was great. Thanks for sending those tickets. It was a great show!" he grinned at him.

Harry nodded. "No problem. How's your little brother?"

Collin chuckled. "He can't wait to start. He was positively jealous when I left. He'll be attending next year." He looked over his shoulder. "That Vane girl is cute."

The Potter boy shrugged. "I suppose so. She's a bit pushy, but she doesn't seem like a bad girl."

Hermione scowled at him. "You'd like it if she was."

Ron gave a short laugh and covered his mouth. Parvati seemed amused as well and rolled her eyes a bit. "Really, Harry. Thinking of starting a collection?"

"Har, Har," he replied to them. Hermione was a little jealous, but it was just a bit. "I'll just have to deal with it I guess. It's not much worse than it was anyway. I'm getting used to it."

"Lucky bastard," grumbled Seamus as he pushed past the group.

"Yeah. I can't believe you," agreed Dean as she shook his head.

"I'd prefer a bit of peace and quiet," grumbled the spectacled boy as he hung his shoulders. "It's no big deal though. The first years are always the worst, but they get used to me by the time the first semester is over. It will pass."

Hermione shook her head. "Whatever you say." She knew better. The older he got, the more appealing he was. She got a bit annoyed by it, he was cute and all, and she supposed she wouldn't mind if he showed any interest in her. She was satisfied with friends though. It seemed like a better and better position the more she got to know him. After all, he was the same age as her, and already had a love child.

"I've got enough trouble. I don't need to worry about having a girlfriend anyway." He looked back towards the door to the common room. "I don't want to jerk someone around anyway."

Parvati seemed to think on it. "So, you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings?"

Harry was an empath, he knew that a few of the girls wouldn't have their feelings hurt even if he did try something and didn't keep them. Romilda was one of them. "Pretty much." Despite that, it was still more trouble than he was willing to get into.

Collin nodded at that. "Well, I still say that Romilda Vane is hot. I noticed her during the sorting, and I'd say she's the prettiest of her year."

"So, you like her then?" asked Parvati with a grin on her face.

He blushed a bit. "No. I don't have a crush or anything. She's just pretty that's all."

Harry shrugged. "She's a bit young for me."

Hermione arched her eyebrow. "You like older girls?"

The boy shook his head. "No. I don't think I'd feel right messing around with a first year that way though."

Ron shrugged. "No comment." He didn't want to say something stupid and upset Parvati. She was a bit jealous of him.

"I guess I can understand that," commented Collin.

"Well, I'm going to the dorms. See you later." Harry started up the stairs.

"I'll come along," said Ron. Collin moved with them.

Hermione and Parvati started towards the girls dorms. "We'll see you boys tomorrow then," said Ron's girlfriend.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was curled up under her sheets. She had tears in her eyes as she lay in the fetal position. She was crying in silence, and most of the other girls had settled in for the night. She'd been as she was for a while, and had her fists clenched in tight balls. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth together. Her chest was tight, and her heart was pumping.

"You know what you've got to do," said a voice in the back of her mind.

"I don't want to," she responded silently.

"You must."

"I know, I don't want to." The girl squeezed her eyes shut as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Do it."

"It's hard."

"It's time to begin. You must, you know it."

Her eyes opened, her irises had become orange again. "I know."

"The time has come then, he must be destroyed."

"Yes." She closed her eyes and her hands relaxed, the tears kept coming. "It's time. I cannot push it away any longer."

It was time for the Nightmare of Hogwarts to truly begin. "I will, destroy him."

"Good. Gooood," said the voice. "The time has come, Lady Vader. You must rise."

"Yes, and this time, I am the Master," she replied in silence. In her mind, she faded into darkness as sleep overtook her. "At last, my time has come. Soon, all of Hogwarts will tremble under the might of the Dark Side of the Force."

Anna scowled as she found herself standing in a home. The walls were painted white, various bottles of potions lined the walls. A cauldron was bubbling on the fireplace, and a young girl was sitting on the floor in front of the fire, playing with an expensive toy. It was a doll house with a tiny family that lived inside of it, they looked and acted like a real family, or rather a child's idea of what the perfect family would be like. The children were in charge, they could eat anything they wanted, watch any show they wanted on the broadcasts, and stay up as late as they wanted.

The Heir of Slytherin flexed her fingers and ran them along the wall. The knives on the end tore into the plaster, ripping it to shreds as she moved closer.

The girl turned her head, she was one of the first years. "Dad?"

"Heh. Your Daddy can't help you here, kid."

The child looked up as a horrified expression came across her face. "You're...you're not..." It was a man in a red and green sweater, with a fedora over his bald and scarred face. His skin was covered in burn scars and pits, and his teeth were sharp. Under the shadows of the brim, two glowing red dots glared down at her. "Who are you? You better leave! This is my house, and my Daddy will come and..."

The thing chuckled at that. It was cold and cruel sounding. "Your house? Look around kid, does this look like your house to you?"

The girl backed away as her head darted around. A shocked expression covered her face. The walls looked burned, and ratted, the floor was covered in ash and burned plastic, all the furniture was blacked and rotted looking, and there were no lights but a few beams of moonlight that shined through the boarded up windows.

"This...is my house. Welcome to it, now, I suggest you start running. The more fun I have hunting you down, the more likely I am to be quick about ripping out your fucking guts." He raised his hand and looked at the knives on his fingers. "What's the matter kid? Don't you realize it yet?"

"Who...who are you? What is this?" she staggered back, not even realizing she was clutching a ratty looking teddy bear in her arms.

"My name is Freddy, and this...this is the worst fucking nightmare you've ever had."

The girl screamed and turned to run away. She darted around doors, through hallways, and around corners. She was desperately looking for any way out, any exit to the horrible place. She gasped as she found herself at the end of a long hallway. A door on the other side was cracked open, revealing the street outside in the moonlight. She ran, running as fast as she could for it. It seemed to draw closer, but she couldn't reach it. It was like it was moving away from her at the end of the impossibly long hallway. A scraping sound behind her caught her attention. She screamed as she looked over her shoulder.

The man was walking at a calm pace, ripping up the wall with his clawed fingers. He was distant, but moving at a steady slow pace. She turned back and ran harder, unsure of how she was able. The door drew closer, she could almost reach it. She looked back again as her fingers touched it, ripping it open violently. The horrible man was right behind her, no more than seven feet away. She screamed and slammed the door shut, turning to run into the street.

Only, she didn't find the street ahead of her at all. It was brick walls, heavy metal pipes, and long corridors. "What? No! I made it out! I now I did!"

"Heh. There is no way out. Don't you get it? You're trapped, and you can't escape." Her head darted around as she sobbed.

She couldn't see him, but his voice sounded near, echoing off the pipes and walls. The hiss of steam escaping the pipes sounded. She jumped and screeched as one of them burst to life, giving her a jolt. "No! Please! Please don't!"

There was the screech of metal against the bricks. She turned and gasped as the man raked his claws along the wall sending sparks flying. "Heh. One, two, Freddy's coming for you..."

She turned and started running again. Caught in an endless maze of pipes and walls, doors and tunnels. No exit came into sight, just more hallways. "No! No! Please! Leave me alone! Why are you doing this!" She pleaded with her tormentor while running.

"Three, four better lock your door..." continued the man as he sung his rhyme.

The girl gasped for breath, her legs were on fire, and the ratted bear was still in her arms.

"Five, six, get your crusifix...Seven, eight, better stay up late..." He was still behind her, his voice coming ever closer.

She stopped as she ran into a dead end. A wall of metal in front of her, and the door to a huge furnace. The grate opened and a ball of flames jumped out at her in the shape of a clawed hand. She jumped back and screamed. She looked over her shoulder, and the man seemed to be gone. Backing down the hall she looked back at the furnace again.

The unfortunate girl gasped and swallowed, panting desperately. "No...where am I? What is this?" She looked down into her arms and noticed the bear. She pulled it at arm's length and a disgusted frown formed on her face. "What? When did I?"

The bear's head turned about to face her. "Nine, Ten, never sleep again!" She screamed as she dropped it and tried to rush away. A clawed arm ripped open the belly of the stuffed animal, sending blood soaked stuffing flying in every direction. It grabbed her ankle and sent her face first onto the ground. She felt her jaw slam into the concrete and blood flowed from her bottom lip. She didn't notice it, as she rolled onto her side and screamed as the man rose out of the remains of the bear. It grabbed her with it's other hand and reared back the clawed fingers with a positively evil looking grin.

Her screaming stopped as he impaled her in the chest, filling her lungs with fluid. She gasped and choked, feeling very real pain. "N...no...why? What did I?"

He leaned in and put his nose against hers. "Why? Heh. Because it's fucking fun." He ripped his claw out of her chest and slashed her across her face and throat. Her eyes went dead, and she vanished from in front of him.

The monster smirked. He could feel the energy from what he'd just done fill him. Her fear made him stronger, powerful, it fueled him. Soon, very soon, all of Hogwarts would feed his strength. He would grow powerful, and his darkness would become unbeatable. It was just a matter of time, and he had a school filled with children, trapped and unable to escape for the rest of the year.

Soon, all of Hogwarts would be terrified of falling asleep, and before long, he'd be strong enough to start taking lives. As he grew in power, the dreams would become more and more real. It had begun, and while the first year girl's dream was over, it was time to find another target.

OooOOooOO

Hermione shushed the unfortunate first year girl as she held her and rocked her back and fourth. It was Romilda Vane, and she was shaking and gasping for breath. "Shhhh. Shhh. It's just a nightmare. It's all right."

"Wha? What?" The girl was disoriented and confused. "What was that...that thing?"

Parvati was sitting next to her with a worried expression on her face. "Is she all right? I've never heard such screaming."

Hermione stroked the girl's hair. "It was just a nightmare. You're all right. You're at Hogwarts, and you're fine."

Most of the girls had been woken up by the screams. A few slept through them, but most of the dorm was settling back down as Hermione and Parvati calmed the girl down.

The Patil girl grabbed her by the hands. "It's all right. Poor dear. It must be her nerves. She's a first year, and it can be a bit hard at first."

Romilda was calming down and gasping still. "It...it was so real. I've...I've never had a dream like that. I...I could feel it when...when he..."

Hermione gave a small sigh. "It's late. Look, everything is fine. You're in the dorms. Perfectly safe. It was just a nightmare."

Three beds down, Lavender Brown sat upright giving all three of the girl's a start. She was screaming bloody murder with wide eyes and waving her hands wildly about as if to push something off. Romilda started screaming again and began to cry.

Lavender gasped and clutched at her chest. "Wha? What? Where?" She calmed much quicker than Romilda had and seemed to realize where she was. "A dream?"

"Lavender!" cried Parvati as she rushed over to her. Hermione stayed with the crying Romilda, holding her against her chest.

"Again?" groaned a nearby third year girl. She sat up and gave a sigh.

The Brown girl turned to put her feet on the floor as she sat there and gasped. "I'm all right. It...it was just a bad dream."

Parvati gave a sigh. "I noticed. It must have been Romilda's screaming." She looked relieved. "Hopefully, that's the last of it."

Lavender was looking at the rug and feeling the carpet with her feet. "It...it was so real though." She rubbed on her arm, and looked at her thigh. "He...cut me, and it hurt."

Hermione frowned a bit at that. "Well, you probably just got a good scare. You can't feel anything in a dream. I read about that, it's the one thing your mind can't copy in a dream."

Romilda pushed her off and looked at Lavender. "H-he?"

The Brown girl scowled at Hermione. "I know I felt it! It was awful. It really hurt! I've never had a dream like that before."

The nerdy girl scowled at that. "That's supposed to be impossible though. I mean, medically speaking."

Romilda shivered. "What do you mean he?" She pulled her sheets up to cover herself. It was difficult to do with Hermione sitting there, but she managed.

Lavender blushed. "It's silly. It was just a bad dream. I'll be fine..."

The dark haired girl scowled at her. "It was a man, in a dirty hat like the one Ron Weasley wears, with a red and green shirt, and a glove with knives in it on one hand."

The other girl froze and looked up at her. "How..."

The first year was shaking. "I had the same dream. He chased me through this awful house, and just when I thought I'd escaped, I ended up in this horrible place. He cornered me, and stabbed me. I could really feel it. It was like I almost died, but I woke up right before it happened."

Lavender looked confused. "My dream was different. I was outside and running through a field of beautiful flowers. It was wonderful, but...all of a sudden, I was in this awful wood. All the trees were dead, and the ground was made of mud, and there was this mist. That man was there though, he was chasing me, and no matter where I ran, I always ended up in the same place. I couldn't get out of those woods. I...twisted my ankle, and it really hurt, and I ran into him. He pushed me up against a tree, and cut me with those knives."

A lot of the girls who were still up were sitting around looking on. A few more frightened than others.

Hermione scowled at them. "Are you trying to give everyone else nightmares too? Honestly, telling a story like that at this time of night. It's just a ghost story, a nightmare!"

"His name is Freddy," replied one of the nearby third year girls. "I've heard about him."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at her. "You too? I admit it's a bit strange, but it's just a story."

Romilda nodded. "He told me his name was Freddy!"

Lavender gasped and grabbed Parvati. "Don't you remember? What Padma told us?"

Her friend nodded. "Yeah. That was just a story though. Something to scare first years."

"What story?" asked Romilda as she shifted forward.

A fifth year girl spoke up from near the window. "I've got friends in Hufflepuff who told me about that guy. Really nasty stuff."

"What?" muttered Hermione in shock. "This is silly. Stop it or none of us will get any sleep tonight."

The girl ignored her. "His name is Freddy Kruger. He used to kill little kids, he did horrible thing to them, some even say he was a rapist. Eventually, a bunch of parents of his victims got together and burned him alive in his house. People who had the dreams put the story together, sometimes he shows parts of it, and a lot of them talk about ending up in a burned up house with a boiler room and a big furnace. About two years ago, people started having nightmares about him in Hogwarts. It started out in Slytherin, and then spread into Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. We've never had anyone here with a problem, but...there were lots of people who got attacked in their sleep. They all said the same thing, he'd chase you around, and then when he caught you, he'd slash and stab you with the knives on his hands. It's supposed to feel real, like it's really happening. Things got kind of quiet last year, just a few isolated nightmares here and there."

Hermione didn't sound impressed. "So what? He just hangs around Hogwarts giving people nightmares now? Why?"

The girl shrugged. "That's just the story I've heard. I don't know if it's true or not. There are Ghosts here at Hogwarts, so who knows?"

The Granger girl was clearly annoyed with stories of boogiemen at such a late hour. "The other Ghosts would never put up with such a thing? Besides, Dumbledore would do something about such an awful creature. There's no way."

"I've never heard of that thing, but I still had a nightmare like that," said Romilda.

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe you heard from someone and forgot? It was in the back of your mind for a while? It sounds like a bit of an urban legend to me."

"What's all this?" called Percy Weasley. "If you're not decent, I suggest you cover up. I'm coming in." After a pause that a few girls used to get under the sheets he strolled in holding his wand up and looking about the room under a light spell. "Why are you all still up?"

Hermione gave a sigh and looked over at him. "We had a few girls wake up with nightmares. Everything is fine, we'd have everyone calmed down by now if someone hadn't started telling ghost stories."

Percy scowled at that and hung his head. "Great. The boys had one as well. Woke up half the dorms. All right then, everyone back into bed. We've got..."

Another girl right next to him woke up screaming. She writhed about under her sheets and kicked her feet. Percy was so startled by this that he dropped his wand and jumped back. "Merlin!"

The girl was a fourth year, and she fumbled about and ended up on the floor in a tangle of her sheets. She gasped and staggered up and looked down at the boy. "What? Where?"

Percy blinked. "Have you gone mad?"

She ignored him and sat down on her bed. "J...just a dream..."

Hermione looked at her in confusion. "Another?"

"I told you!" snapped Romilda. "It was that horrible man! A man with knives on his fingers! Wasn't it?"

The girl who had just woken up gasped and looked at her with wide eyes. "How did you...?"

"Where did you hear about that?" snapped Percy. He'd gotten a similar story from the boy's dorms. Collin Creevy had woken up screaming bloody murder and it had taken ten minutes to calm him down.

The Granger girl seemed to think on it. "That's three people with the same dream in one night. That is strange."

"Four," said Percy. He looked about the room and bent over to recover his wand. "I'm going to talk with Professor McGonagall about it. All of you get some sleep."

"If we can," muttered Romilda irritably.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. She was going to give the library a visit as soon as she could. This was too strange to be some sort of coincidence. "How long has this been going on?" she turned to the sixth year girl who had given the most information.

The girl gave a lazy shrug and yawned. "I'm not sure. I first heard about it about two years ago. It's mostly younger students, fist and second years."

OooOOooOO

Percy stood in McGonagall's office. The woman was a bit bleary eyed and scowled at him. "Nightmares? I'm afraid that's less than unusual. There are a lot of students who are nervous and unsettled once they first arrive. A few first and second years having bad dreams from their nerves is less than unusual I'm afraid." She didn't sound very pleased with him.

The boy nodded and hung his head. "I know. This seems different though. I wouldn't have said anything if it wasn't."

He seemed ot have her attention and she narrowed her eyes. "How so?"

He blushed and looked away. "It's not just first and second years. Matilda Briant is a fourth year, and she gave me quite a start when she woke up screaming right next to me. The dreams are all similar, about...some sort of man I guess."

She sat back in the chair behind her desk. "I see. A man?"

The Head Boy nodded. "A man with knives for fingers, wearing some sort of old hat, and a red and green sweater. Collin Creevy woke up half the dorms tonight, and I found most of the girls awake in their dorms. There were three more reports of the same kind of dream. I get the impression it's not always the same. I've heard rumors about it starting about two years ago. I never thought much of it, we've never had any problems about it in Gryffindor. Word is, Slytherin had a particularly nasty case of regular nightmares, and there were rumors about the same thing happening in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, just less frequently. It seemed to clear up on it's own some time last year."

The woman scowled at him. "Really? That is unusual."

He nodded. "I know. I don't know what to make of it. It seems to target younger students. Mostly first and second years, with a few third and fourth years here and there."

McGonagall nodded. "I see. This is a bit distressing, but no one seems hurt."

Percy stiffened up a little. "I thought I should tell you. It was just a bit too strange to ignore, especially with so many in one night, and with them all having the same sort of dream about the same man."

The teacher seemed to mull on that. "Is there anything else you can tell me about this unusual phenomenon?"

Percy thought about it for a moment. "Yes. The dreams seemed to be unusually real. People who have had them say that they actually feel pain."

The woman nodded. "I see. Thank you, Weasley. I'll speak with Professor Dumbledore on the matter tomorrow. Briant and Creevy? Who else?"

The Head Boy looked back at her in the act of walking out of her office. "Lavender Brown and Romilda Vane."

"Very well." She turned her chair to look at a nearby bookshelf. It was odd indeed, and he was right to inform her. She'd never heard about any such thing before. Hopefully, Professor Dumbledore would be able to shine more light on the matter.

OooOOooOO

Draco Malfoy stood in the moonlight shined down from a window high overhead. He was kneeling on the floor in a room completely shrouded by shadows. "Master. You have summoned me?"

The thing chuckled at him. "Yes. Tell me my young apprentice, did you make your offer to the young Potter boy?"

He nodded. "Yes, Master. He refused me."

The shadow chuckled. "As expected. No matter. Soon, Anna Potter will be destroyed, and her brother with her. Then, no one will stand in our way."

"Yes, Master," replied Draco as he bowed his head a little more.

"You must have patience my young apprentice. We will rise soon enough. Those fools are chasing their own tails. My time is at hand, and no one will be left to oppose us."

Draco shook a little under the gaze of his master, and gave another nod. "As you say."

The shadow chuckled and laughed. The horrible sound echoing through the room. It seemed to burn into Malfoy's mind as he kneeled before it, helpless and weak in it's presence. He hated it, but he also needed it. He was learning patience, and sooner or later, he would be the Master. It was just a matter of time.

OooOOooOO

Kate Delane hung from chains. Her body was bruised, her nose bloodied, and her eyes blackened. She stared forward, with a single whole arm keeping her attached to the wall. Her legs were locked up as well, with weights hanging from them, just heavy enough to prevent her from becoming comfortable.

The door at the top of the cellar opened, a fat disgusting figure strolled down the stairs. His buck teeth and matted hair barely hidden by the shadows. He was holding something in his arms, and she knew exactly what it was.

"Worthless wretch." The tiny deformed child like creature raised it's hand.

The girl was lifted from the wall and stretched forward. She grunted in agony, unable to even scream anymore. The thing lowered it's hand and she fell back, slammed into the wall again against her back. She hung there limply, whimpering and glaring at the thing.

"You're pathetic, useless, a waste." Malice dripped from the creature's voice.

"You need me," she growled. "Unless you think the fat one will be of any use."

Voldemort raised his deformed hand and curled his fingers. Kate choked and gasped unable to reach for her throat. "You are fortunate he has no talent. He'll serve his purpose, and his loyalty is useful."

"Only because he fears what his former friends will do to him if they find him. To say nothing of that rotten bitch." She had lost her arm, and the Horcrux on it. He was not pleased with her, and had kept her as she was for at least two weeks. She wasn't sure exactly. Kate had told him nothing of his words to her, but they burned in her mind, echoing over and over. It only made her hate her even more. What the pathetic creature had done to her, was nothing in comparison.

"You do not call me Master anymore?" It sounded amused at that. "Your hatred has grown stronger since I locked you away down here. You should appreciate what I do for you."

It wasn't because of him, or anything he, or the worthless rat had done.

Peter was silent, and leered at her lustfully. Her clothes were hanging in tatters, and while beaten and ragged, she was still young and firm. He dared not try anything with her, knowing that she was fully capable of killing him even in her current state. He'd been charged with feeding her and giving her a drink every now and then. She hadn't been unchained for anything. They couldn't allow her to waste away physically if she was to remain useful.

Voldemort sneered at her. "You'll remain here for quite some time. She's far out of reach, and I'll consider releasing you if it seems like you might be useful again. Until then, suffer and let your hatred grow strong. You're just a pathetic piece of trash as you are now. She toyed with you, played with you, and could have destroyed you in an instant. It's pathetic, and I'm left wondering why she did not?"

Kate lied, even he couldn't get into her head to tell. "She thinks I might lead her to you...Master. I'm fortunate she was distracted by Dumbledore long enough to escape."

The thing gave a nod and seemed to consider that. "You consider yourself fortunate? Even now?"

"I still live to destroy her. I will become strong enough. It is just a matter of time."

The thing gave a rasping laugh. "Good, good. Continue to suffer then, when your hatred is strong enough to be of use, maybe I'll let you get yourself destroyed trying to kill her again." It stopped it's sickly amusement. "I am tired, take me back."

"Y-yes Master," replied Peter. "Right away. I have dinner all prepared!"

Kate glared at them both. They were nothing but an annoyance. Voldemort had turned out to be useless. Nothing but a pathetic zombie in a shell of a body. Her weakened state had allowed him to put her in the position she was in now. She'd come crawling back, just as her true master had instructed. She hated her all the more for it, for humiliating her the way she had. It burned and grew, ever stronger. "I will, destroy you, Anna Potter," she swore to herself.

The fat pervert was the worst of the two. Always whining about how sorry he was, and how he had to do what he was told, and how he felt sorry for her. She would make him suffer, Voldemort himself was too pathetic to care about. He was a failure, pining for his former glory. He was strong in the Force, but his form was helpless and immobile without the fat one to cart him around. Easy pickings, if the opportunity presented itself.

For now, she needed patience. They kept her beaten, but healthy enough she was recovering slowly. Sooner or later, she would be strong enough to ditch the useless pair and leave. For now though, she had little choice but to endure.

OooOOooOO

McGonagall frowned as she ushered the last of the victims out of Dumbledore's office. There had been two more attacks by the next morning, and a lot of her House had gotten little sleep because of it.

The old man was scowling as he peered into the pool. He had requested access to the dreams they had, and none of the children had refused. He extracted them and viewed them one at a time. Each one was a horrible experience for any child to endure. He was now looking over the last of them in the silvery pool in his office and had a deep frown on his face. "This is...most distressing."

McGonagall had her hand over her mouth and looked on at the horrifying images. The thing stalked them, played with them, and then murdered them in their sleep. "Albus, what on earth is that thing?"

He looked up at her with an exasperated expression as he leaned over the pool. "I have never encountered anything like this." He looked up at her. "I assure you, this is more than just random coincidence. Something is stalking the children of Hogwarts in their sleep. Fortunately, it seems to have no greater effect than a poor night's sleep and rattled nerves."

"We must do something!" said the woman as she glared at Collin Creevy as he was dragged into a swimming pool and hacked and slashed sending clouds of red into the water surrounding him.

Dumbledore had a grave frown as he stood up as the images stopped. "This creature uses it's victims worst fears against them. Each dream is tailored to suit the one it attacks." He slumped down behind his desk. "I am at a loss. I'm afraid this will take time to unravel. I am unfamiliar with any such creature, it seems similar to a Boggart in some respects, but far more vicious and aggressive."

"Something that feeds on fear?" The woman narrowed her eyes. "If that is the case, perhaps the same solution...?"

The old man shook his head. "No. At least two of our victims have tried that. It failed. This creature creates a dreamscape of it's own, and lures it's victims into it. They are unaware of the change until it is too late. The monster is in total control by the time it reveals itself." He worked his tongue on the inside of his cheek as the thought about it. "I shall have to research to discover the nature of this...thing."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter gave a small sigh. He was sitting at breakfast and holding his chin up. "You were up early today," he commented as he glanced at Hermione.

She nodded and yawned a little. "Just a bit. I wanted to drop by the library and look something up. I wasn't able to find anything out though."

"Right," Harry gave a sleepy nod.

Ron looked much the same. "I've got Runes first. You?"

"Divination," said Harry.

Parvati glanced at them. "What's with you two? Usually you're chipper in the mornings." She didn't look much better. "You especially, Harry."

The boy frowned. "Didn't sleep well."

Hermione frowned at him. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Ron shook his head. "No, first Collin did, then Dean. Kept us up for half the night. I was just about to fall asleep when Dean woke everyone up again."

The brunette girl nodded. "Right. We had a few in the girls dorms as well."

Harry arched his eyebrow. "Well, that is weird."

Parvati yawned. "We were up for a while last night too. I'll be in divination with you Harry, with Lavender."

"Me as well," said Neville as he grinned at them. He went back to his food immediately.

Hermione was oddly quiet and kept her nose in her book. "What about you?" asked Harry.

She muttered something about Boggarts and seemed to have not heard him. "No, that's not it either. That's just silly. Huh?"

"What's your first class?" asked Harry again.

"Sorry, this is really important," she replied as she continued to study her book.

He seemed to get that she was dodging the question for some reason and rolled his eyes. "What's with her I wonder?"

Parvati gave a small frown. "She's trying to figure out what that thing is that people keep dreaming about."

"Huh?" said Harry and Ron at the same time.

Lavender leaned in. "I got attacked by this thing in my dreams last night. I've heard all sorts of other people have seen him too. He's awful and really scary."

Harry looked confused. "What sort of 'thing'? He?"

Parvati leaned forward and looked a bit shifty. "They say his name is Freddy Kruger. He's supposed to be some sort of child molester and murderer who got burned up by a bunch of angry parents in his own house. Now, he stalks people's dreams and gives them really horrible nightmares. They say he's been haunting Hogwarts for the past few years."

"I don't think it's some sort of ghost though," said Hermione. "I mean, ghosts are supposed to do all sorts of things, but invading people's dreams and doing stuff like that isn't one of them."

The Boy Who Lived pushed his glasses up his nose and frowned. "That's strange."

Ron nodded. "Yeah. I've never heard about anything like that before."

Hermione nodded. "I'm guessing it's very rare. I haven't been able to find anything about it. I've only just started looking though."

The redhead nodded and tipped his hat back a little. "Well, I guess if anyone can dig something that obscure up, it would be you."

She gave him a small frown but nodded. "I'll do my best. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a way to get rid of it."

OooOOooOO

Harry stood at the top of a long spiraling stairwell. Hermione, Patil, Lavender, and Neville were all standing around him. He looked up at a small hatch with a small brass plaque on it. "Sibyll Trelawney, Divination Teacher." Harry read it out loud.

"How are we supposed to get up there?" muttered Neville.

Hermione frowned at it. "I'm glad Harry was here. I'd have had trouble finding it otherwise."

Parvati smiled. "He should do well in this class."

Her sister Padma waved at her and walked over. "Hey. I was wondering if you'd find the place."

The hatch opened and a silver ladder came down.

"Oh. That works, Harry," said Hermione cheerfully.

He frowned at her. "I didn't do anything." He climbed up before anyone else and looked around. It looked like a cross between an attic and an old tea shop. There were kettles and pots set about. There were twenty small round tables with small armchairs set up. There were stacks of cards, crystal balls, feathers, and stubby candles lining the shelves along the walls. As well as an area of dusty looking books. A few books were strewn about the tables as well, but they were mismatched and appeared to be more decorative in nature than having anything to do with the lesson.

Hermione looked about. "Isn't your sister taking Divination?"

The boy nodded. "Well, she's been taking it since she was a first year. I doubt she'll be in the same class as us."

Neville was a little disappointed to hear it. He sat down with Harry and Hermione at one of the tables. "Where's the teacher?"

The Potter boy nodded over to the corner. "Over there."

"My, you have quite a gift boy. Much like your sister I imagine." The Boy Who Lived was reminded of an shiny insect as she moved out of the shadows with a crystal ball in her hand. She had curly frazzled hair, thick glasses, and rows of beads hanging about her neck.

He smiled at her and shrugged. "Well, not really. Anna's much better than I am. I hope do well though."

She nodded and closed her eyes. "Yes. It's a shame..."

"What's a shame?" muttered Hermione in confusion.

The woman ignored her and went on. "I am Professor Trelawney. I shall be your guide into the mysteries of the unknown. Many wizards and witches are skilled in the arts of bangs, smells, and disappearings, but few are able to penetrate the veil of the future. It is a gift granted to few." She stopped and pointed at Neville. "You boy, is your Grandmother well?"

He got wide eyed and sputtered. "I..I think so."

"Don't be so sure," she responded cryptically. "This year we will cover the basic forms of divination. The first term shall be devoted to reading the tea leaves, the next, palmistry. She whirled about and pointed at Parvati. "You there, beware the redheaded man!"

She ended up scowling and glanced over at Harry who simply gave a shrug and seemed amused. After a short time, which she correctly predicted Neville would break his first tea cup, they ended up using their divination text to examine the dregs from each other's cups to read predictions.

"I'm not seeing anything," grumbled Hermione as she scowled at what she could only consider a mess. "How about you?"

The boy furrowed his brow. "A load of brown gunk." He peered at his text. "I'm not sure. According to this, we'll be sworn enemies by the end of the year." He paused. "No, wait. That's a bit different. Oh. Here. I'll make you lunch? Or is that Breakfast?"

She glared at the mess. "I'm not sure what to make of this. Seems like a load to me."

Harry shrugged. "Well, maybe we've got no talent, or this method isn't right for us? We've only just started after all. We should give it a shot."

Hermione put her palm under her chin. "Whatever. You buy into this stuff?"

He glanced over at her and smirked. "My sister is quite possibly the most powerful psychic in the world, remember?"

She gave a sigh and nodded. "Oh. Right. Her." She scrunched up her nose. "I'm going to buy you some...toenail clippers? Wait, maybe you'll buy me some? This is your tea dregs after all."

He blinked. "Do you need some?"

"Not really, no." It was a little frustrating. She paused as she looked up and cocked her head. "What's that?"

Harry looked up from trying to figure out the wet mess on the saucer. "Huh? Did you see something? I'm still a bit lost. Near as I can tell, you're going to help me fly on the back of a Hippopotamus and rescue Hagrid from being executed by the Ministry for improperly mauling shellfish."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "Wait, what?"

He nodded. "I'm confused too. My sister always says that the future is always in motion, so it's difficult to see."

"That's very wise," said Trelawney as she moved up. "She has a strong gift, I dare say she's perhaps even a bit more powerful than I am. That's saying quite a bit."

"Really?" muttered Parvati with wide eyes. Padma looked just as amazed.

"Wow," said Lavender Brown. "Anna Potter?"

The woman smiled at them. "Yes, she's a very gifted girl. Though, it is sometimes troublesome for her because her gift is so strong. That's why she's being given private lessons this year by none other than Millicent Warwick. My old divination teacher. She came out of retirement this year specifically to instruct her. I can only hope she is able to teach her to control her powerful gifts." Harry sensed she was a bit miffed about it. "I suspect she will not be of much help though. A shame."

Her brother rolled his eyes a bit at that. Anna didn't seem to think much of Trelawney's gifts, but she'd never spoken ill of her as a teacher. Though, she did mention her tendency to over predict doom and gloom, and her somewhat flaky nature.

Hermione scowled at the woman a little. "I'm wondering about her gifts. She seems a bit off to me."

Her partner shrugged and leaned in. "Anna says she's real, but that she doesn't really know how to control it, and tends to overcompensate."

The girl frowned at that. "What good is she for teaching a class then?" she grumbled under her breath. "Anyway, that's not what I meant." She had a black book with a pentagram on it. It was titled 'Rare Demons and Imps' by someone called 'Dolr Tasta'.

"I hadn't thought about demons before." The girl started flipping through it.

Harry shrugged. "What? Huh. It's not like you to ignore an assignment."

She glanced at him. "I already finished writing out my prediction while she was going on. Here." She handed it over.

Harry looked at it and frowned. "Huh? I'm...going to make out with a French girl, and teach her little sister how to legislate objections and loot sages?"

She scowled at him. "That's what the mess on that saucer you gave me said."

He hung his head and looked at his own. "I suppose it's no stranger than mine."

Hermione nodded and flipped through the pages of the book she'd picked up. "Huh. Cyberdemon...Spider Mastermind...Mancubus...Cacodemons...Pain Elementals...Revenant...Arch Vile..." She seemed to tense up and gasp.

Harry looked up. "What is it?"

"Dream Master! Harry, I've found it!" she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Huh?" he cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

She looked at the page with her lips growing tight. "If this is right, then Hogwarts is in a lot more danger than I thought."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

She turned the book to face him and pointed at the page. "That thing, the one that's getting into people's dreams, it's some kind of demon. Look."

He frowned as he looked at the page. "Huh?" It was an image of a door with three snake like things with human like faces. A man was kneeling before it with a wicked grin on his face.

"It says that sometimes, if someone is wicked enough, and killed for revenge rather than justice, the guardians of the entrance of hell will allow them to come back to exact their revenge." She looked over her shoulder where Trelawney was talking with Parvati and Padma. "It enables the damned soul to become a demon of sorts. A Dream Master. It's weak at first, and can only scare people."

He nodded and frowned he was holding the book and knew where it was going. "...but after a while..."

"Right. If we don't find a way to stop it, once it builds up enough fear, it will start killing people. It feeds on fear, and once you know about it, once you're afraid of it, it can follow you anywhere. The more people who are afraid of it, the stronger it becomes. Even if everyone left Hogwarts, anyone who has had a nightmare about this thing is in danger, as well as anyone they tell about it. It's the story, the rumor that it uses to gather victims. It spreads like a virus."

The Boy Who Lived nodded. "How do we kill it?"

Hermione hung her head. "That's the worst part, according to this, you can't. No one has ever beaten one of these things. They end up running out of victims when they kill everyone who knows about them and the rumor stops."

Harry looked at her as he realized it was indeed what the book said about the thing. "That's...great. Well, we both know about it now. Now what?"

Hermione scowled. "We should show Professor Dumbledore what we've found. This is very dangerous, and we need to stop the rumor from spreading before it's too late."

Trelawney's hand snaked over Harry's shoulder and picked up the book from his hands. "What? Where did you get this? This looks like it's from the restricted section. It's far too early for demonology, you won't get into that until your second year."

"It was on the table when we sat down," said Hermione. "Professor, we need that. We've got to show Professor..."

The woman screamed as she fell to her knees. She tossed the book back behind her and clutched at her face.

All the students in the room jumped in alarm. The woman's eyes went white as her face contorted. "Ha. You're already to late to stop me. Soon, everyone will know! One, two, Freddy's coming for you, three, four, better lock your door, five, six get your crusifix, seven, eight, better stay up late, nine, ten, never sleep again." She fell face first onto the ground and went still.

"Professor!" cried Pavati in alarm.

Lavender whas shaking with terror and had her back against the wall. "No. That thing! No!"

Harry was helping Parvati with Trelawney. The woman regained consciousness and sat up with their help. "What? What happened? Where?"

"Are you all right?" asked Harry as he frowned at her.

"Oh! Oh no!" cried Hermione.

The boy looked up and then turned to where she was pointing. "Crap." The book had landed in the fireplace and was burning into ash before their eyes. He tried to reach for it with his power, but a vicious looking face formed out of the flames. An arm with a clawed hand raked out at him forcing him back and disrupting his concentration. The book was lost to the flames as the demonic figure faded back into the fire. There was a cruel sounding laughter in the room.

All the students were looking on in shocked horror at the events. The fireplace was given considerable clearance.

The woman stood up and took an handful of charms from her neck as she thrust her hands forward towards the fireplace. "Demon! I banish thee!" The flames went out, and the room went dark, save for a bit of sunlight from the window.

Harry and Hermione simply looked on in shock with the rest of the room. The teacher was gasping and clutching her chest. She turned and scowled at the pair. "You two, I think we're going to have a word with Professor Dumbledore. I have never had students manage to summon a demon on their first day in my class."

Hermione started to protest, but Harry put his hand on her shoulder. "We need to talk to Dumbledore anyway."

She looked at him and scowled a little. Trelawney started towards the trap door and opened it. "The rest of you, continue the lesson until I return. Do not be alarmed, you are safe now. I assure you, this room is warded to make banishment of such creatures quite simple for me. It's presence is gone, and you've nothing to worry about."

With that, she climbed down after the two students and took them by their arms, dragging them towards the Headmaster's office. "Honestly. On the first day no less. I dare say the two of you will not likely be attending my class again."

Hermione was just fine with that, but she didn't say anything. Harry was right, they needed to speak to Dumbledore as soon as possible, and Trelawney was taking the right to him.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Next Time: Things get worse.


	44. Chapter 44

A Matter of force.

Part 44

The Dark Plot.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger stood in front of Professor Dumbledore's desk. Professor Trelawney stood behind them with a scowl on her face as she looked at the man behind the desk. She'd just finished explaining what had occurred, and about the book she'd found in the girl's possession. "I'm not sure how they managed to summon a demon on their first day. Needless to say, I think it may be best if they chose another elective. I cannot have such things summoned into my class, it will take days to clear the energies after that. It will make things difficult for the other students to be at peace and hone their energies."

Dumbledore frowned at her. "I see."

Hermione moved forward a bit. "We didn't summon it! It was already here!" She raised her voice and shook her head.

Harry nodded. "I've heard stories about that thing. I'm afraid I agree with her, and that book was already on the table when we got to class."

The old man nodded. "I'm afraid I agree with them."

"What?" muttered the woman.

Dumbledore gave a heavy and somber sigh. "We've recently discovered this...thing, has been trolling about the students. I am at a loss for what it is. I can find no..."

Hermione interrupted. "I found it in that book. It's called a Dream Master. It's a kind of demon..." She flushed as she realized what she'd done.

Dumbledore's eyes snapped up at her. There was no merriment or twinkle in them and he had a firm frown on his face.

Hermione backed away and hung her head. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to interrupt."

The Headmaster stood up with a grave looking expression on his face. "Where is this book now?"

Harry gave a sigh and put his hand on her shoulders. "It was destroyed. That thing possessed Professor Trelawney and she threw it into the fire."

The woman seemed confused and stepped back from the children. "I certainly wouldn't leave such a book where students could just stumble across it." She looked thoughtful as she said it.

Dumbledore nodded. "Tell me what book was this?"

Hermine seemed to realize the look on his face was not because he was cross with her for interrupting, and she became more forward again. "It was called 'Rare Demons and Imps' by someone named 'Dolr Tasta'."

The old man narrowed his eyes at that. "Dolr Tasta you say?"

Harry frowned and nodded. "That's what it said. It's an anagram isn't it?"

The Headmaster gave him a weak smile. "Yes. Very clever, and likely not the true name of the author. Not unusual concerning demonology."

Hermione looked confused. "Huh? An...anagram?" Her eyes went wide as she understood. "Lord Satan?"

Harry nodded. "I would guess."

Trelawney scowled at that. "How did it get there?"

The pair shrugged. Hermione spoke up to her. "It was just sitting in those piles you put in the middle of the tables."

Dumbledore leaned against his desk and scratched at his beard as he looked thoughtful. "Most unfortunate it was destroyed. What can you tell me of this 'Dream Master'? Anything you can remember. I have been unable to find any mention of such a creature."

The brunette girl seemed to think for a moment. "Well, it said that sometimes, if someone is wicked enough, and killed for revenge rather than justice, the guardians of the entrance of hell will allow them to come back to exact their revenge. It enables the damned soul to become a demon of sorts. A Dream Master. Its weak at first and can only scare people..." She shivered as she looked up at him. "...but after a while it will become strong enough to start killing people. When that happens it consumes their souls and uses them to fuel its own power."

Dumbledore looked very grim. "I see. Anything else, anything at all? Any mention of how to defeat this creature?"

Hermione lowered her eyes. "That's the worst part. No one has ever beaten one. It uses the rumor of its existence to spread like a virus. It feeds on fear and uses whatever scares its victims most. The more people who know about it the stronger it becomes. The book said that every time one has appeared it killed its own rumor by eliminating everyone who was aware of it. Once that happens, the rumor stops and it can't get anymore victims. That does explain why it's not a well known being." She shivered and clutched at her arms as she looked very worried.

Trelawney gasped. "What?"

The old man gave a nod. "I see." He stood up. "It appears that Hogwarts is no longer safe. I shall have to send all the students home until a way to deal with this creature is discovered."

Hermione shook her head. "It won't matter."

Harry nodded. "It's not confined to Hogwarts. Once someone is afraid of it, this thing can follow them anywhere. If we send everyone home...the rumor will spread. We could infect the whole of Britain." He looked unusually calm given the subject at hand. "It's better if we don't send people away from the school."

Both teachers looked at him. Dumbledore became very pale. "I see." He slumped down in his chair.

Hermione nodded. "He's right. We don't know who at Hogwarts knows, but the rumor has spread all over the school. I don't know anyone who hasn't at least heard about it from someone. Even if they haven't been attacked yet."

Harry gave a heavy sigh. "We've got to figure out how to get rid of it before everyone goes home for the Holiday."

Hermione gave a small nod. "That gives us until this summer to figure it out."

The boy shook his head. "No, that gives us until Christmas. This needs to be contained, and we may be forced to create a quarantine within the school."

Dumbledore frowned at that. "I am to understand that it has been here at least two years already. The rumor appears to have been contained at least that long."

Hermione gasped. "Two years?"

Trelawney seemed relieved. "Well, that's something. Perhaps it's not as bad as we believe?"

Harry nodded. "Maybe. I only heard about it this year."

"Me as well," agreed Hermione. "Everyone knows about it this year as far as I know. I've heard people in other houses talking about it recently. Ever since I started looking for it in the Library I've been keeping my ears open. I've heard people from every house talking about it, even Slytherin."

The young Jedi seemed thoughtful. "Yes. I heard mention of a few isolated cases of bad nightmares last year, but it has spread in scope. It may already be too late to stop the rumors from spreading outside of Hogwarts. I mean, there's no guarantee that someone hasn't mentioned it in letters home or spoken to friends or family about it over the summer. I never thought much about it before, but this seems to have been going on for a while. I just thought it was a ghost story or an urban legend, not something to take seriously."

Dumbledore seemed to consider that. "It has only been recently brought to our attention. Percy Weasley spoke to Professor McGonagall and I did some investigation myself. This is...most distressing news."

"I'll say," agreed Harry. "Still, it does seem like it's hanging around Hogwarts for some reason though. As Hermione said, it doesn't appear to be confined here, but it's not showing up elsewhere either that I know of. That's odd don't you think? If it has the whole of Britain to play with, why stay here?"

Hermione frowned and put her finger on her bottom lip. "He's right. There must be some reason for it though. I don't know."

"That's a good observation." Dumbledore gave a nod. "I do believe you have a good point. It wants something in this school, though exactly what it is I'm unsure of. Is there anything else you can recall about this matter?"

Hermione nodded. "Its name is Freddy Kruger. Rumor is that he was some sort of rapist and murderer. A pedophile. That would explain why only the younger students are having dreams. I've not heard about any sixth or seventh year students having dreams. He was supposedly burned alive in his house by a bunch of angry parents. I heard about it from some of the girls in the dorms. He shows parts of it to some people. A lot of them talk about some sort of burned out house, and a boiler room of some sort. There's these...little girls, they jump rope and sing this horrible rhyme about him. It's hard to get anyone to talk about it. Those things seem to be pretty common in the dreams. A lot of people have seen them. I think what we know about him is things that have been pieced together from all sorts of different sources within the school."

Harry hung his head. "That's awful."

The Headmaster worked his tongue on the inside of his cheek as he thought about it. "I see. Very well. I shall ask that you return to class. Do not concern yourselves with it further. You should both focus on your studies."

She gave a nod and started towards the hall. Harry looked back over his shoulder. "Well, if we find anything else we'll let you know."

Dumbledore nodded. "I shall listen, but again I ask that you allow the faculty to deal with this. It is not a task for a Third Year. I assure you that we will take every possible measure we can."

Both of them left. Trelawney gave a heavy sigh. "What do we do? I've not heard about any of this. Strange that I've had no visions of such doom."

The Headmaster nodded. "I shall summon Professor Snape. It pains me to do so, but there may be a potion that will help with this matter. At least temporarily."

The woman seemed confused. "Potion?"

"Dreamless Sleep. It is a temporary solution, but could curb these attacks for a short time." He looked up at her and folded his hands.

"That's dangerous," said the woman in a warning tone. "Dreams are important to the spiritual health of the students. Without them, they'll start..."

He nodded. "I know. I do not intend to implement such a measure without cause. Nor will I force it upon them. I have no intention of drugging the meals. It will be offered upon request if the situation becomes dire enough. I believe we should be prepared as it is a potion that takes some time to brew and we may need a healthy supply if the situation worsens."

She nodded at that. "I see." She narrowed her eyes. "It won't stop them from dreaming for more than a week or so of use. They'll just start dreaming while they're awake. That could cause problems."

The old man nodded. "I know. Still, it could buy us the time we need if the situation becomes more dangerous. I suspect the affected students will start trying to stay awake themselves, which could cause even more problems."

Trelawney nodded. "I see." She turned and walked out of the room. "Be careful."

He nodded and seemed lost in thought. He was very seriously considering using memory charms, but it would be complex and difficult to do. It might help but he wasn't sure. The creature was crawling about the dreams of the school, and it would be exceedingly difficult to do such a thing. It had gotten in somehow and without knowing where it started such a task would prove near impossible.

Still, if things became bad enough the students would likely be willing to allow it. He had no intention of forcing the matter, but if they were cooperative it would become at least possible. He rubbed at his temples and pulled a small bottle of white pills from his desk drawer. It was giving him a headache and he had much to do to prepare. It wasn't something he could do off the cuff. "I pray it does not come to such a measure." Memory charms could be dangerous and more covered up the memory and replaced it with a false one than eliminated it. As far as he knew even a subconscious memory would be enough for this thing to get a foothold. It was not something to be taken lightly, and had to be done with the utmost care if it came down to it.

OooOOooOO

Harry walked with Hermione. They wouldn't make it back to Divination before the end of the period. "I guess we're not kicked out of Divination."

She frowned a little at that. "I wouldn't have minded much. Still, I guess that's good."

He glanced at her. "I'm going to try and fight it."

The girl narrowed her eyes at him. "What? That's dangerous! Harry, if it hasn't bothered you yet..."

The boy shook his head. "I can't ignore it. It's attacking students. Colin is my friend and he was a real mess last night. I've got to try and do something before that happens to anyone else."

"How?" she scowled at him. "You'll just have to wait for it to attack you then?"

Harry considered for a moment. "Don't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

She blinked in surprise. He looked very serious. "All right, I promise."

The boy gave a heavy sigh. "I have the power to enter other people's dreams. I can go looking for it. I'm going to hunt it down and try and stop it."

The girl looked at him with wide eyes. "Wh...what?"

He shrugged. "Anna taught me. I'm going to speak with her about it as well. See if she knows anything about this."

The girl looked completely shocked. "She taught you?"

The Boy Who Lived shrugged. "Yeah. It's part of the whole Jedi thing. Part of my training I do in my sleep. It's not all the time, but pretty regularly. It's...complicated."

The girl narrowed her eyes. "That's...you should keep it secret. If anyone finds out, they might think..."

He nodded. "Yes. That's why I asked you not to say anything. Anna hasn't said anything about this. I want to talk to her and see if she knows anything about this demon."

The girl nodded and seemed to consider that. "I guess. Still, enter people's dreams?" She didn't look comfortable with that. Neither did he, and it helped a bit to see it.

"It's not something I do to others. Anna and I use it for training and only training with each other. It's wrong to get into people's heads that way. Dreams are personal and private. I've got no place sticking my nose into the private business of others that way. She's pretty strict about that sort of thing. I think I should make an exception here though. I can go looking for it and try to stop it from attacking people. Maybe I can keep it busy and away from everyone else while we figure out what to do?"

The girl scowled at that, but gave a nod. "All right. I trust you. Still, that sounds kind of scary, Harry. A person able to do such a thing?"

He nodded. "That's why we don't use it that way. I know you don't think much of Anna, but discipline is an important part of our training, and having powers like that is part of the reason why."

She hung her head. "Well, I hate to say it, but...can you get with me tonight in my sleep? Maybe I can help."

The boy flushed at that. "Well, I guess. I should warn you that you'll remember everything. It's not like a normal dream. It's almost like you're awake. I'll talk with you about it and meet you, but I'm not taking you into other people's heads with me. It's bad enough I'm doing it myself and I'm not so sure I'll be able to protect you in that sort of environment."

Hermione frowned at that. "That's what people say about the dreams that thing gives them. Why can't I go? You don't trust me?"

Harry narrowed his eyes a little. "That's one of the reasons I want to talk to Anna about it. See what she knows, and it's not a matter of trust. I have my doubts it's right for even me to invade people's private thoughts even with that thing sneaking around. I don't want to make it worse by bringing someone else into it if I don't have to. I should consult my sister about it though. She knows more about this sort of thing than I do."

The brunette gasped and her eyes went wide. "You...you don't think?"

The boy gave her a wry grin. "That it's her doing this? I doubt it. Listen, she's really strict about abusing that sort of power. I know you don't know her that way, but she's worse than Snape about being strict as a teacher. She takes that sort of thing really seriously."

The girl nodded and scowled. "All right, if it was anyone but you..."

He smiled at her warmly. "It's all right. I'll talk with her later. I'll probably pull her aside at dinner and have words with her about it. Shouldn't be much trouble." Inwardly he wasn't so confident. Anna was acting weird lately, and he did have a small suspicion. It was deep in the back of his mind, but there. He couldn't deny it and he wanted to talk to her as much to put that to rest as anything else. He was hoping she might know more or be able to help him deal with it.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter looked around the empty room. There were two arm chairs sitting around a medium sized round table. The table was black wood with a blood red table cloth covering it and in the center was a large crystal ball. There was a fireplace behind the chairs with a small fire going in it. It was the only light the room had. Shelves had rows of dusty books along the walls, and the stone floor had a large red and gold carpet draped across it.

"Welcome, Miss Potter," said the older woman in the room as she stood up and gave her a firm but not unpleasant looking appraisal.

The girl was calm and emotionless as she looked back at her. "Professor Warwick," she greeted the woman with a small polite curtsy.

The old woman seemed to approve. "Come, have a seat. I've made tea and we should discuss what you can expect in the coming year. We have a lot to do and I do not expect this class will be easy for you. It will always be the last period of your day as it will be quite taxing on your mind."

The girl walked over and sat down as the woman set out tea before them. "Professor Trelawney mentioned that you taught her when she attended."

The woman nodded. "Yes, that's correct. She was not a terrible student. Though, I'm sure you're aware of her tendency to overcompensate. Her gifts are limited, but also very real. I suspect you are aware of that as well."

"Yes. She's the one who spoke the prophecy concerning my brother and Lord Voldemort," replied the redhead in an emotionless tone.

The older woman glanced at her as she set out tea. "Yes. I'm pleased you have that much understanding of your gifts at least. You do not create prophecy. You merely channel it. The future you see in visions is not something of your own making."

Anna got a faint hint of a smile on her face. "Isn't it? I sometimes wonder. How much of it is destiny, and how much is our own workings? It is an odd balance."

The old woman seemed to consider that. "You do not believe in destiny?"

Anna cocked her head and got a smile that was not entirely pleasant. "Yes. Destiny is unavoidable, but I also believe in free will and a person's ability to guide their own destiny. It is limited, but it is possible to alter the course of your own future. Some things simply cannot be changed. Others are workings of our own hands. Half of divination is reading people. Perhaps more than seeing the future directly. If you understand the person, their motivations, and their feelings, it is often a simple matter to predict what they will do and even what they might become. It is like sailing a ship through a storm. There are choices you can make, and you have some control over your direction, but in the end you are at the mercy of the winds and waves around you."

Mrs. Warwick narrowed her eyes at the girl. "I see. I suspect you did not learn that from Trelawney. She is my student and I am not ashamed of her, but that's considerably more advanced in this matter than she is capable of comprehending."

"This is not the first life I have been gifted with sight, though it is more powerful now than it was then." Anna nodded and sipped at her tea.

"You drink your tea straight?" the woman seemed surprised. Most children liked a bit of milk or cream and at least a few lumps of sugar. She squeezed a lemon wedge into her own and stirred it. "I usually take my own straight as well, but with black tea I like a bit of lemon."

The girl's false but polite smile was subdued as she set her cup down. "Assam Tea. You spent time in India?" Mrs. Warwick was a little surprised at her refined manners. She acted as a girl who was well trained in etiquette. She had a bit of a reputation as a bit of a tomboy and it was unexpected. Her posture was very good and she sipped at her tea properly and spoke in a calm and dignified tone. At the moment she was a model example of how a young British lady should behave.

The woman smirked. "Yes. When I was a girl I lived there for a few years. My father was studying with the Sadhus. You noticed by induction?"

Anna nodded and replied. "Yes, that pin on your blouse is of Indian origin. It's Brahma, the Deva of Creation. You've got a few baubles in this room that are of Indian origin as well. Such as that statue of Shiva over the fireplace."

The old woman seemed satisfied with her answer. "You're quite talented. I can see that you've come a long way in the art of divination. A great deal of what the greatest of us have done was more deduction and induction than power. It is perhaps our greatest secret, one that I was sadly never able to get your former teacher to grasp."

Anna kept her polite smile. "Thank you, Professor."

The woman set her cup down. "Now to business. There will be no looking at tea scrapings or peering into crystal balls here. I have no intention of honing your skills with your cards. You will keep them in your pocket here. My goal is to teach you one thing, and that is control."

Anna looked up at her and her smile fell away. She did not look disappointed, but rather serious and thoughtful. "I see."

Mrs. Warwick narrowed her eyes a little. "I can see that you know you have difficulty with that. That is good, I think you will be motivated by your weakness in this area. I expect you to do your best, and there will be no slouching or playing around here. I am not unkind, but I am firm and strict. I cannot go easy on you. Your gift is far too powerful to go unchecked. You must take the reigns and become the master of this power or it will land you in trouble."

Anna gave a firm looking nod. "I know. If I cannot control it I am a valuable target. The Ministry has enough interest in me as it is. I have no intention of giving them any reason or motivation to take advantage of me. I'm aware that some there would like very much to see me locked up in a cell, and as I am now there is even more motivation to do so."

The old woman didn't reply to that but went quiet and narrowed her eyes a little. "Huh. She's a sharp one. Noticed that did she?" she thought to herself. She reached down beside her chair and put a briefcase onto her lap. She flipped it open and took out a folder. Anna looked at it as she replaced the briefcase at her side and then moved to straighten it out in front of herself.

The girl looked interested and attentive as she sat facing her on the opposite side of the table. It was obvious she didn't know what the folder was for, and she seemed cautious.

Professor Warwick opened the folder and laid out six photos in two neat rows. They were evenly spaced apart and straight. "Now. I think you should grasp this easily. These are six people, that much is obvious. None of them attend here, and I doubt you've met any of them." She cleared her throat and tapped the corner of the photo in the middle row nearest to herself. "I have given them all readings in the past. Much of what I have foretold has come to pass already, but some of it has not yet occurred. I am not perfect, so some of it may never come to pass at all. You know the nature of such things I'm sure."

The girl nodded. "I see."

The teacher closed the folder and put it near the edge of the table out of the way. "Now. I am going to ask you a series of questions about them, and you are not going to answer. If you feel compelled to answer, you will lie."

The redhead seemed to understand. "I am to intentionally give a false reading." She said it more to make clear that she understood than anything else.

Her tutor nodded at that. "That is correct. If possible, give no reading at all. I suspect you will not have that much difficulty with it at first, but sooner or later..."

"It will try to take over if you ask the right question," said the redhead once again more to convey that she understood what was going on. "I must then try to resist." That would be difficult, she suspected that she would black out more than once in this new class. "I understand Professor. I am eager to begin, and I shall do my best." Her face and eyes grew hard as she leaned forward. She looked as if she had accepted a challenge.

The old woman put her nose up a little and seemed pleased with her attitude. "Very good. Now, we shall begin."

OooOOooOO

Hagrid grinned as he stood before his class in front of the Forbidden Forest. "All right then, ever one 'ere then? Gather round the fence, and get out yer books. All right then, first ye should open em..."

About half the students did so, but the rest of the class looked confused and bewildered. Many of them had the books bound tightly and tied up to subdue them. Quite a few of them were blushing and looking interested in what their classmates were doing. Lavender Brown spoke up. "Um...how do we open them?"

One of her classmates she didn't know well put her hand over her mouth and giggled. "Oh. You must have gotten yours early. The shopkeeper at Flourish and Blotts told me that someone told him about the trick behind it. You stroke the spine like this." She demonstrated and her book opened easily and relaxed.

Within a moment the rest of the class caught on and everyone had theirs open.

"How were we supposed to figure that out?" grumbled Crabbe in irritation.

"Stupid thing tried to bite my arm," muttered Goyle.

Malfoy looked lazy eyed and disinterested in either of them. He didn't know about it either, but was able to force the book to calm down on his own. "I just tamed mine. Wasn't difficult."

Harry looked back at him and smiled. "Well, at least most of us knew about it."

"I'm glad you told me, or I wouldn't have gotten any studying done," said Hermione. She frowned a bit at the way he was looking friendly with Draco but didn't say anything.

Hagrid looked pleased. "All right then. Now we'll be needin the magical creatures. Hang on a bit and I'll be back."

The class stood about with many of them flipping through the books they hadn't been able to read at all up to that point with mild interest.

Anna was standing nearby with Pansy beside her. Margaret was taking another class and wasn't there, and neither was Ron. Melvin was standing next to Harry and looked about ready to fall asleep on his feet. Her brother moved a bit closer and leaned towards her. "Any idea what he's going to bring out?"

She gave a small sigh and cocked her head. "It's pretty dangerous. Hippogriffs. Careful, they can have a bit of a temper if you're not polite." She glanced back and noticed Crabbe and Goyle goofing off. Malfoy was still hanging around them but didn't talk to them much anymore. He didn't appear to ignore them and pretty much just let them run their mouths as they pleased while giving them a rather lazy looking sort of attention. "Hmm. It may not be wise for him to be so cocky."

Harry looked confused at that but Hagrid's return distracted him. He was pulling several very large creatures behind him. They looked to be part horse, part eagle creatures. They had dangerous looking eyes that gleamed with intelligence. "Oh. They can understand human speech can they?" The boy had the book in his hand and had gleaned a few facts about them from it. It made him a little nervous that Hagrid had chosen such creatures for the first lesson. "They must be very clever then."

The instructor looked a bit surprised. "Thas right, Harry. Yer a sharp one to catch tha already. Hippogriffs are very smart and very proud. Yev got ter be careful nah. Don't insult em, er it might be the las thing yer do. Come on up and ave a look then." He motioned for the class to draw near.

Anna, Harry, Hermione, Parvati, and Malfoy all moved forward immediately. Crabbe, Goyle, Lavender, Pansy, and Padme all moved in behind them looking a bit nervous.

Melvin seemed to shake out of his lazy state and hung back a little as well. "Huh. Didn't expect something so big on the first day."

The half giant seemed cheerful and paused as Anna slapped Crabbe and Goyle on the back of their heads lightly. She hissed at them both and her glare cut off any protests. "Pay attention idiots, your lives depend on it. Those talons and beaks are not just for show."

The pair looked annoyed and glanced at Draco. He shrugged at them. "What? Don't look at me like that. She's right."

Hagrid almost said something to scold her, but the oafish pair seemed to settle down and looked at him. "All right then. Now, always let them make the firs move. It's polite ye see." He tugged on the chains a little and the animals calmed a bit more and moved a little closer. "Bow, and then wait for em to make the first move. If they don't, back away and let em be cause those talons hurt."

"Wait, those things are dangerous?" muttered Lavender as she went a little pale. Parvati seemed to be of a similar mindset.

"You don't say," Melvin was less than surprised considering what he knew of Hagrid.

"Not at all," replied Hagrid.

"Actually they are, but only if you act a fool and disregard what he told you," commented Anna as she crossed her arms and looked at the things. They peered back at her and squawked a bit. None of them seemed alarmed though.

"All right. Who wants ter go first?" asked the teacher.

Harry smiled. "I'll go. Seems interesting." He smiled and approached, bowing deeply towards the one closest to him. "It's a pleasure. I've never seen a Hippogriff before. You're quite impressive." The creature reared back and made a sharp sounding call as it blinked at him. The class gasped but Harry stood without fear before it. He scratched the back of his head. "I apologize. I didn't mean to sound so foreword. I hope I didn't embarrass you."

Anna rolled her eyes a little. He was overdoing it but it wasn't hurting him either. The animal seemed flustered by his over polite manners. He'd impressed it. The creature gave a bow and Harry approached and stroked at the feathers on it's neck.

"Tha's great Harry. I think e'll let ye ride em." The teacher looked impressed that the creature had taken to him so quickly.

"Oh, if it's no trouble I think I'd like that," he replied looking sappy and cheerful.

Hermione blushed a little. "Don't lay it on so thick, Harry. They're impressive, but you're going to make the rest of us look bad."

The boy was already on the creature's back. The animal shifted as it beat its wings and took off. A moment later the boy was flying around over the forest. He was obviously having a good time of it, and the beast landed back in the paddock. Harry slid off and smiled at his ride. "That was great. I hope we can do it again some time."

The creature reared back and called again.

Anna smirked at that. "Seems you've made a new friend."

The other students were all bolstered by his success and climbed into the paddock. Hagrid released them one by one. Neville was backing away from his, and the other students seemed to be in no danger despite varying levels of success at interacting with the creatures. Anna hung back and didn't seem interested in having a ride or being sociable. She stood near to Malfoy and his group. The bad tempered trio had taken over the one Harry had ridden.

Hagrid smiled at the boy as he moved off so the other students could interact with them. "Buckbeak seems really impressed, Harry." He looked around. "I don't see Ron with ye? Is he sick?"

The boy looked up at him and his smile faded a little. "Well, he wanted to come, but he's not able to take this class."

"Huh? Why not?" the large man seemed confused.

Harry shrugged at him. "It seems he's decided to become an Archaeologist. He had to give up this class to take the required courses. He was a bit disappointed about it to be honest. He said he hoped you wouldn't be upset about it. He wanted to come but he couldn't do both."

The half giant did look a bit down about that, but nodded. "Ah. I see. I understand. Tell em good luck with that then. Make sure he comes and visits with ye sometimes."

"I'm sure he will. He kind of surprised me to be honest. He's not very good at studying, and he's having to take some difficult courses because of it." Harry was relieved. He felt a bit silly, but thought there was a chance Hagrid's feelings might have been hurt a bit. He seemed to understand though and while he was a little disappointed, he didn't seem upset with Ron about it. The boy froze and turned his head towards the Hippogriff he'd ridden. "Uh oh."

Malfoy was stroking it and looked smug. Crabbe and Goyle were behind him looking pensive. "This is easy. I knew it must have been if Potter could do it. You're not dangerous at all are you, stupid ugly brute."

The creature reacted in an instant by slashing out with its talons as it gave an angry cry. The students gave a collective screech and backed away from the animals.

Anna was standing in front of Malfoy with her hand extended towards the animal with the other back behind her. Malfoy tumbled back and ended up falling to the ground. The Hippogriff was on the ground with tendrils of electric energy crackling across its fur and feathers. "Idiot," she growled. "You couldn't tell could you?"

He was glaring at her on his back and she thrust her hand forward again as the animal tried to stand and snapped at her. More energy erupted from her fingertips and sent it back down again. The class backed away and looked nervous. Those there all knew that she could do such things, but actually seeing it happen in front of them was another matter. "Stay down. If you hurt him the humans will kill you for it."

"Whas the meaning of this? Stop it!" roared Hagrid.

Anna looked up at him and frowned as she lowered her hand. "Hagrid, take control of this thing. Malfoy insulted it and I had to save his worthless hide from getting injured." Buckbeak was pretty upset, but unable to move enough to retaliate. It wasn't injured seriously. She had used just enough to keep it stunned and away from them.

"Eh?" the teacher muttered in confusion.

Anna glared back at him. "Fool, these beasts are resistant. You cannot control their minds as you do these two morons." She jabbed her finger at Crabbe and Goyle. "If it wouldn't have gotten Hagrid in trouble I would have let it maul you. Dumbass."

He staggered to his feet. "I didn't need your help." His wand was in his hand.

She ignored his posturing and looked over at where Hagrid was lifting the animal over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "I didn't do it to help you. I was more concerned with Buckbeak. You would have cut off his head and caused even more trouble if I hadn't stepped in."

Harry put his own weapon back on his belt. He was right next to the scene. "No, he wouldn't have." He nodded at her. "Thanks, but you could have been a bit more gentle about it."

"Why should I have been? This one could use a lesson in humility," she glared over her shoulder at Malfoy.

Draco scowled at her as his cheeks burned. He was clearly upset. Harry looked annoyed at her. "Actually, I meant being a little gentler with Buckbeak."

"Thas enough," snapped Hagrid. "All right now. No harm done. Ye should be more careful. I warned ye about that." He gave the redhead an annoyed glare but didn't say anything to her. He considered scolding her, but wasn't pleased with Draco and his friends, and they seemed to be reacting more to her chiding than he'd ever seen them regard a teacher that wasn't their house head.

"Don't be so careless," commented Anna at Draco. "There are beings in this world that are resistant to such power, and you're lucky I was here to stop you this time."

"No one would have cared if I had killed that beast," said the blond as he spit on the ground at her feet. "It's nothing but a game animal. My father has a few Hippogriff heads on the wall of his study. I would have added one of my own before it touched me."

Anna narrowed her eyes at him and he stepped back a little. "Careful Malfoy. Don't confuse me with my brother. I'm not so forgiving."

"Anna, calm down. It's over and no one was hurt," replied Harry as he stepped between them.

"You as well. You should be more careful about who you show your back to, Harry. Malfoy is looking for an opportunity to stick a knife into it and you know it." She turned away and took a few steps away purposely brushing the situation off.

"What was that about?" muttered Pansy in confusion. "Really, Malfoy. I know you don't care for Hagrid but try not to cause too much trouble. I want to pass this class and if we just behave ourselves that shouldn't be hard with Hagrid teaching."

The boy's angry frowned lessened a little. "Humph. I suppose I can't argue with that. That brainless oaf is a bit of a pushover isn't he?" Crabbe and Goyle both chuckled at that.

"Don't be such a prat, Draco," grumbled Melvin. "Hagrid is decent and we should have an easy time of this class if he's teaching."

Parvati scowled at Malfoy but didn't speak. Hermione crossed her arms and growled under her breath. "Horrible boy."

Harry gave a sigh and hung his head a little. "Well, that could have come out worse than it did."

Anna got a wry and somewhat dark grin on her face. "You have no idea."

Melvin glanced at her. "I bet she does though. I get the feeling she was expecting that to happen. I thought it was weird she was standing so near to them."

Her brother looked confused for a moment but seemed to give up. "Well, it's over now. We've only got a few minutes left anyway."

Hagrid had corralled the Hippogriffs over to one side of the pen and the students started milling about. The animals had gotten nervous from the exchange and moved away from the students. The children seemed aware enough to just let them be and back away.

OooOOooOO

Anna looked up at Harry. She scowled a bit as she realized she had too. "Hmmm. You've gotten taller." The pair were standing in the back of the dining hall near the entrance door. She came up to his shoulder and hadn't grown more than an inch or two in height since her first year. It wasn't exactly easy to mistake her for a first year as she had grown in other ways.

He blinked at that. "Um. I guess. This is kind of important though."

"What is it?" she had a piece of buttered bread and was chewing on it as she spoke. She wiped a bit of butter off the corner of her mouth and sucked on her finger in an absent manner.

"What do you know about this 'Freddy Kruger'?" he said as he crossed his arms and scowled at her.

"Huh? That thing? I've bumped into him before. Gave me a jolt once or twice. No worse than any other nightmare." The redhead didn't seem concerned. "A bit unusual, but hardly stranger than any other haunting in this place. Perhaps a bit more disturbing. He's unpleasant."

The boy seemed surprised. "Huh? No worse? He's hurting people. That thing is some sort of demon. If this keeps up he'll get stronger and he can kill people."

She arched her eyebrow. "Huh? Where did you hear that? Just seemed like a restless spirit to me. Nasty, but I haven't seen any more damage than a bit of lost sleep."

"Hermione found out a bit about him in a demonology book we found in Divination. He's some sort of demon thing. A Dream Master, and it's not just annoying. According to what we found he'll start killing people if he gets strong enough." Harry looked very serious.

Anna seemed to consider that and looked a bit suspicious. "Are you sure?"

He seemed to think about that. "It's the only reference we could find about it. No one else seems to know anything about it. Dumbledore knows, and I think most of the teachers do as well, but they didn't seem to have ever heard of such a thing. It's seems like it's a rare sort of monster."

The girl's expression was maddeningly calm. "I see. I suspect you have some sort of plan?"

"I hate to say it, but I don't think I've got any other choice. I'm going to start looking for it at night while I'm sleeping." He adjusted his glasses in what she knew was a nervous habit. "Are you going to help out? We need to do something about it."

"No. I don't think that's a good idea," she replied simply.

"Huh?" he looked confused. "We can't just..."

"I wasn't talking about just me. Your plan is crappy. You shouldn't be going into other people's minds without permission. Besides, if people start noticing you lurking about in their heads what will they think about it? How long do you think it will take them to connect you to that thing? I'm not about to stick my neck out and broadcast that I have that sort of power. Especially with something like that sneaking around." She poked him in his chest and narrowed her eyes.

"What should I do then? I've not run into it before. I don't think we should wait until someone dies." He looked firm.

She cocked her head and smirked. "What makes you so sure anyone will? You only found one reference right? Are you sure it was trustworthy?"

He worked his mouth and scowled. "It fits what's been going on. It might not be much to go on, but it's a little too..."

"Convenient?" she responded simply. "Yes. That's what I'm thinking. Tell me, where is this reference now? I'd like to have a look myself."

The boy froze in place again and struggled to respond. He knew his answer wouldn't satisfy her already. "It...was...destroyed. Trelawney threw it into a fire after something possessed her."

"Well, isn't that even more convenient?" she wasn't really asking anything and seemed a little more thoughtful.

He scowled and crossed his arms with a thoughtful expression. "What do you mean?"

"Well, someone has tried to kill you every year up till now. It's been quiet this year, don't you think? It's still a bit early to call that I suppose, but still. How do you know this thing wasn't here before we came to Hogwarts? I heard rumors about it when I was a first year. It's never been a problem before. Exactly why is it so urgent now?"

He seemed to consider that. "It's getting worse. There are a lot more attacks."

"Really? Attacks? I'll admit it's unpleasant, but up till now it's been about as harmless as a prank. A nasty one to be sure, but no more dangerous than that." She shoved the rest of her bread into her mouth and waited patiently for him to respond as she chewed on it.

"Dumbledore seemed to think it might be a serious problem when we spoke to him," he replied. "I..."

"Why? Is it because he was concerned already, or did it have more to do with what you told him?" She seemed patient and cool.

He frowned at that and balled up his fist. "You're right, but still. We should do something."

She closed her eyes. "What if it's a trap?"

"Huh?" he replied. "Well, it's not killed anyone..." He sounded a little reluctant to admit it.

"Exactly," she gave a nod. "Not every trap has the goal of killing the one it's set for. I suggest you consider what might happen if anyone discovers what you can do. Who would become the number one suspect here? I'm not about to risk my own neck here."

He thought very hard about that. "Huh. So, this whole thing might be a set up? Who though? How and why?"

She nodded. "Well, consider this. If it is a trap, where do you think the one who set it is at? Hiding in people's dreams? A figment of imagination?"

"No, it would be someone real, in this world." He slapped his fist into his palm. "Someone...but who? Malfoy? That Rage girl? Vol...You know who?"

"There's also our mysterious 'unknown' Sith as well," she nodded at that and crossed her arms. "It might not be a Force user. There's always the possibility that this thing is magical in nature. We don't know the motivation behind it. It could be someone looking for revenge for something, or just some sadistic prankster."

Harry nodded as he considered that. "You're right. As far as we know it's staying within Hogwarts. Why though? What's here?"

She poked her finger in his chest. "We are for starters. It may be after something else. I've seen him before, but you've not encountered it yet. That's odd, don't you think?"

"Huh? How so?" he asked her.

"You've never been attacked. That won't look good if you're caught running around in other people's dreams, will it? I on the other hand, have my dorm mates who can corroborate that I've had a run in with it in the past. He's given me a few nasty starts and woke me up in the middle of the night a few times before." She leaned against the wall. "That suggests that out of the two of us, you're the most likely suspect if our power is discovered."

He nodded at that. "You're right. If something like this is pinned on me somehow I could be expelled."

"Which would mean you would be out of Hogwarts and away from myself and Dumbledore." she chuckled and pinched his nose. "I doubt you'd die, but..."

He looked frustrated. "I can't just ignore it though. I've got to do something."

"Why?" she replied simply.

"What do you mean?" he snapped. "I..."

"No one has been injured. It smells like a trap. You have no leads and nothing but suspicion to go on." She ignored his small flare up and looked at her nails. "There's no reason to think it's anything but a bluff and a trap at this point."

He hung his head. "But...I should do nothing?"

She slapped his shoulder. "It's what Buddha would do."

He gave her a small glare. "I'm not Buddha."

"Well, sometimes he's right anyway." She turned away. "You asked for my advice and I gave it. If there's nothing else I want to eat before classes start. Later."

He balled up his fist and worked it back and forth for a moment. "Damn. I hate to say it but she's right."

He walked back to his table and sat down next to Ron and across from Hermione and Parvati. "Hey."

"Did you talk with your sister?" asked Hermione, she looked quite anxious to hear it.

"Yeah. You probably won't like it though." He responded with a small sigh. "I'm backing off for now."

"Huh?" she looked confused and gripped his arm. "But...you said...and that book..."

"I didn't think about it that much when I said those things earlier. I'll talk with you about it later all right?" He slouched a little and poked at his food. He ate a bit slower than usual and pushed things around on his plate.

Ron scratched his head and looked tired. "My brain hurts."

Hermione looked over at him. She was distracted by Harry, but seemed to accept his answer. "I told you that course was difficult."

Parvati giggled. "I'm impressed though. I've never seen you stay awake through a History of Magic class before. You were paying attention the whole time."

The redhead yawned. "It's not so boring if you actually think about what we're studying. I never realized it before, but it's just how Professor Binns puts it that makes it sound so dull." He stretched his shoulders a little. "Still left me feeling stiff." He glanced at Hermione. "I'm glad you're with me in Runes though. I'd have gotten lost for sure if you weren't there to help me out."

The Indian girl narrowed her eyes a little at that. "Huh? What do you mean by that?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at the scene. "He means he's horrible at studying. If I wasn't there to help him out, he would have gotten so confused he wouldn't know which end of his quill to use."

"We've got Language studies later." Harry seemed to think about that. "Hey. When did you take Runes anyway? You've been..."

She slapped her hand over his mouth and leaned in to whisper into his ear. "Look, I'll...explain later when we talk about that other stuff. I think I can trust you, but I'm not supposed to say anything to anyone."

He looked as if he realized something and shrugged. "Don't worry about it then. This is Hogwarts after all, and I can venture a guess about it. I've had experience with that sort of thing if you recall."

She blinked and blushed a little.

Parvati was looking on with rapt attention along with Lavender Brown. "What are they talking about?" asked the ditsy girl.

"I'll tell you later, it's so cute," replied Parvati.

Harry ignored it. Hermione looked annoyed. "It's not that all right?"

"What is it then?" asked Parvati.

"Yeah?" agreed Neville.

"It's nothing, just forget about it," growled the brunette girl as she blushed and looked away.

Ron didn't want to know and continued to pick at his food. "Well, the three of us have Language Studies next, then Transfiguration. I hear we start off with Gobbledegook for the first year. I'm guessing your sister will be there? She said she was taking it as well."

Harry shook his head. "No. She has a different period. She's in a second year class. It turns out Kreacher knows Gobbledegook and has been working with her. She also talks to the Goblins at Gringotts pretty regularly." Harry didn't think he'd have much trouble with the first year class from the sound of it. He'd spoken to enough Goblins to pick up a bit here and there himself. "From what I've heard, second year Language Studies is mostly Mermish."

The red haired boy looked a bit aghast at that. "How does she have time for all that stuff?"

Harry smiled at him. "I don't think she's capable of just sitting around. It drives her crazy when she's got nothing to do. If she's awake she's doing something or has her nose in a book. It sounds worse than it is."

Parvati smiled at her boyfriend. "Hey. I'll teach you Hindi then. I can work with you over the Summer a bit if you'd like. It'll be fun and it's a good excuse to visit you over the holiday."

He cringed a little. "Well, all right. Just go easy on me. My head hurts as it is just with what I've got to learn in class." He relented after seeing her pleased looking expression.

OooOOooOO

"Destiny is a strange thing," commented the young redheaded girl as she smirked. She was standing in a dark and dank boiler room and turned her head a little. "Don't you think?"

The tall figure in the shadows chuckled. "Yeah. Whatever. You've got no problem with this, Potter?"

"That name no longer has any meaning to me," she replied in a cool tone.

He pushed off the side of the furnace and it left his shoulder smoking a little. "I worry that you might be stalling." He smirked as she glared at him. "Don't look at me like that. I've got plenty of reason to worry a little. He is your brother after all."

She nodded. "I cannot have such pitiful attachments. I learned that lesson well. It was what destroyed me in the end. I suggest you take care with your tone. Don't forget which of us is the master here. I will strike when it is most advantageous to do so. Patience is one of the most powerful tools of the Sith. My former master taught me that lesson well."

Freddy nodded and turned away. "Sounds like quite a guy. Almost wish I could have met him."

"No, you don't," she replied simply.

He chuckled at that. "I said 'almost'." He waved over his shoulder with his gloved hand. "Well, I've got places to be, people to torture, and all that sort of thing."

She nodded and moved in the other direction. "Yes. You do that."

OooOOooOO

"A Firebolt?" whispered Malcom Preece as he leaned across his house table over his plate.

Cedric Diggory gave a short nod. He looked a bit dazed. "Yeah. Brand new."

"I hate you," replied Anthony Rickett as he narrowed his eyes at him.

"I can't accept it. I've..." Cedric looked worried and a little confused.

Malcom rolled his eyes. "Your girlfriend is a rockstar, you idiot. To her, it's probably like buying you a box of chocolates."

Anthony gave a small sigh. "He's right you know. You're such a lucky bastard. You know that, right?"

Cedric sat back and put his arms behind his head. "I guess I am pretty sexy and all."

Both his friends gave him a light rap in the gut over it. He lowered his arms and flinched a little in pain, but laughed at it. "I guess. It is my birthday present. I suppose I've got no choice but to accept it considering."

Anthony narrowed his eyes and pointed a butter knife at him. "As if it's such a chore. It's a Firebolt for Merlin's sake! The newest model! I hate you forever!"

"You'll let me have a spin on it, right?" asked Malcom as he leaned towards him.

"Not a chance," replied Cedric.

"Did you thank her at least?" asked one of the nearby girls who had overheard. She seemed mildly amused, but mostly uninterested.

"Of course," he gave a small shrug. She'd handed it to him wrapped in the hall and pulled him aside into a nice quiet corner. "She seemed a little off somehow. I think she was mad at someone about something, but I'm sure it wasn't me." He scratched at his cheek and shrugged.

"How do you know?" asked Anthony before Malcom spoke up.

"Huh? I can just tell." He looked a bit shifty eyed. He wasn't lying, having her tongue in his mouth was probably a good indication she wasn't upset with him. He wasn't about to say that either, she was a little scary sometimes. He'd asked, but she'd brushed it off and muttered something about her brother under her breath he didn't catch. He was guessing Harry had rubbed her the wrong way recently somehow, and didn't inquire further. She seemed happy enough to see him.

Malcom nodded towards the girl's house table. "Look at that. If they were alone in the hall you could hear a pin drop in here."

Cedric and Anthony looked towards the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables. Both tables were silent and aware of each other.

"That's right. First match of the year is at the end of the week. Slytherin and Gryffindor," Cedric smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Yeah, a lot more than our matches against them, that's for sure," grumbled Anthony.

"Hey. Watch it," said Cedric as he looked at him out of the corner of his eyes.

Malcom chuckled. "Denial isn't healthy. Even with that broom you've got no shot. The both of them will clobber you and you know it. Either one of them could do it on a school broom."

Cedric hung his head. "Yeah. That was something to see wasn't it?" He gave a sigh and poked at his meal. "We'll lose for sure if you're thinking that way. At least a fool's chance is still a chance."

Anthony nodded. "Yeah. Come to think of it, that's worked out pretty well for you before hasn't it? Lucky bastard."

"Just let it go," muttered Cedric. "Otherwise I might decide to start rubbing it in."

Malcom got a wry grin on his face. "You don't have to, she does that for you too."

"Tell me about it," commented Anthony as he rolled his eyes.

Cedric hung his head. "Just shut up, really. It's a nice birthday present..."

Anthony looked aghast. "Nice? Nice he says? Are you hearing this?"

Malcom nodded. "I'd call it a bit more than nice." He leaned in. "How far have you really gotten with her anyway? Something like that for your birthday? What exactly did you do to get her to do that for you anyway?"

His other friend paused and got a blank expression on his face. "He's right. You must have done something."

Cedric frowned at Malcom. "This from the chap who compared it to 'a box of chocolates'?"

"He's right though. It's a Firebolt. That's not just any gift. You dog, you're holding out on us." Malcom turned his nose up as he pretended to be more upset than he was.

Cedric narrowed his eyes as he chewed and then swallowed a hunk of potato before speaking up. "Okay. Look at it this way, she can shoot electricity, fire, and ice out of her hands with no wand, she can toss rocks the size of the Knight Bus just by waving her hand, and I have every reason to believe she has psychic powers. Now, which part of that sounds to you like saying anything about anything like that happening ever to the likes of you two is a good idea?"

Malcom worked his mouth. Anthony cocked his head and looked across Cedric to his friend. "By jove, I'm afraid he's got us."

"Yes, unfortunately so. I suppose I really can't argue with that." Anthony crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes as he nodded.

At that, the two of them made whip cracking motions with their empty hands.

"You're both jerks," grumbled Cedric with an amused chuckle.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was standing in front of Snape's desk and looked rather passive. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"

He nodded and set a bottle down on the table. "Yes, when you handed in your personal projects for the week I took particular note of this potion."

"Yes. I made up a batch of Analia Verigas. It's useful for quite a few things as it allows the user complete control of the weather in the immediate vicinity for a day." She cocked her head. "Is there a problem with it?"

The man nodded. "Yes, there is no mention of your assistants. This potion requires at least four witches or wizards to brew."

She smirked at that. "Does it now? I was able to manage."

"Yes. Odd considering that there hasn't been an electrical storm at Hogwarts for three months." He narrowed his eyes. "If you want me to accept this you'll have to either provide a list of assistants, or show me exactly how you managed to do this by yourself. No one under their sixth year would be able to assist in creating this. It's complex and dangerous, and forbidden for underclassmen."

The girl turned away from his desk and shifted her hips as a cauldron floated over from the wall and over to her. The students for the next period started filing in. It was a collection of third year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students.

"What are you doing?" growled Snape as he stood up and put his hands on the tabletop.

"Providing a demonstration as you requested, Professor." She curled her fingers and ingredients started floating off the shelves and prepping themselves on the tabletop next to her. The students were taking their seats in silence and quickly as they all just stared at what was happening in front of them with wide eyes. A few students rubbed at their eyes a bit.

Anna moved her hand and the cauldron hooked itself over a fire. She gave the room a warm grin and wagged her finger at the students in an almost too cheerful manner. "None of you should attempt what you are about to see yourselves. I'm what you'd call a professional."

Snape sat back and narrowed his eyes a bit. He considered stopping her but was too interested in what was going on. Thus far he couldn't see how she managed it. The next stage required powdered ingredients funneled into the core of the potion with a vortex of wind magic. He sat back a bit as the girl held her hands up above the mouth of the cauldron as if she was touching a wall. She began to walk around it slowly with her eyes closed and a look of total concentration on her face. After a moment a vortex of air formed and swirled down into the potion. Rather than splatter the contents it bored into the concoction like a drill. Several strips of paper floated into the swirling wind. The paper spun off and burned into nothing in the air, but the ingredients moved into the core as they should.

Her former teacher had gone a little pale. That sort of precision magic should have taken two wizards who were very good with wind magic. One to create the vortex, and another to keep it under control and at the right size and depth.

Anna was almost done. She stepped back and pointed her finger at the cauldron as the vortex stopped and shot a single and very powerful bolt into the center that sent a resounding crack through the room and caused the gathered students to jump a little. It left a distinct smell in the air in its wake and the redhead shook her hand a little. "Stings a bit..." muttered the girl in an absent manner. A third wizard was usually involved to direct a bolt from the required storm into the potion. There were few who could conjure up enough electricity to match the required amount, Dumbledore was one such man. It didn't have to match a full force bolt from the sky, but was a bit more than most Wizards could conjure with a wand or wards. She stood up and wiped her forehead as she looked at her teacher. The potion unhooked itself from the fire and a black energy formed under the bottom as it floated over to settle on his desk. "Did you have any other questions about that potion, Professor?"

He rolled his eyes and grunted. "I suppose not. Very well, Potter. Get to your next class." He looked at it and swirled his finger around in the room temperature concoction. It was exactly the same thing as what was in the jar she'd turned in.

She almost skipped over his desk. "I'll be needing a pass explaining my tardiness."

He narrowed his eyes and scrawled out a note. "Very well."

The girl took it and walked out of the room. The students probably would have been cheering by that point if they weren't in Snape's classroom. They all settled in a little as she passed and watched her go by. She was a bit surprised that Snape wasn't in a worse mood after that.

Snape stood up and put his hands on his desk. "As she told you. None of you is to attempt to create this potion. It has several dangerous ingredients and requires complex enchantments. It takes three fully trained wizards with at least five years of experience to assist in its creation. Consider what you just saw a goal to attain in the distant future. As impressive as that was, she's the top person in this field. You'd find the result of trying that on your own, or with your friends quite unpleasant. I won't be kind to those involved after I clean up the mess, and I assure you that recovery is quite painful."

The students all sat back and looked a bit deer eyed. There was a collective nod and the man started his class. "Open your text to page five hundred and sixty three. Binding charges, you've just seen two very advanced variations of this technique. What a coincidence." He was very dry in his delivery.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter smiled as he sat in Defense Against Dark Arts. The other students were around him pulling out their supplies and the teacher hadn't arrived yet. He left his things in his bag and relaxed in his seat.

Hermione scowled at him a bit as she set up her desk for class. "You should get your things out." There wasn't too much heat in it as he'd helped her with her books on the way there so she could see to patching up her book bag when one of the seams split in the hall. "Why do you carry around a roll of duct tape with you anyway? It's a bit strange."

Harry shrugged. "You'd be surprised how much you can fix with duct tape. It's useful stuff." Harry's belt had several small compartments on it, and he'd pulled the tape from one of the larger ones over his rear. The section his wand hung from looked a bit like a modified gun holster. It wasn't a huge roll of the stuff, but a bit more than she expected anyone who wasn't doing home repair work to be carrying around with them.

Ron arched his eyebrow at this. "I've got some as well. Harry just spoke up first. It's almost as useful as a towel, but not quite. He told me about it earlier this year when one of the first years cracked the handle of their wand and he helped him fix it." He was digging through his own bag. "There's no hurry to get our things out anyway. Professor Lupin isn't even here yet."

Harry shook his head. "We don't need them today."

Parvati was halfway through pulling her own books out and stopped to regard him for a moment. She smiled and started putting her things away without another word.

Remus Lupin walked into the room carrying a briefcase. He was wearing a new suit, but it was more business attire than formal. "Hello. You can put your books and supplies away. Today we're having a practical lesson and you'll only be needing your wands."

Hermione blinked and glanced over at the boy in glasses. She worked her mouth for a moment before shaking her head and putting her things away.

A moment later the class was lead down a hallway by their rather cheerful teacher.

A short distance into the hall and around a corner. The first thing they saw was Peeves the Poltergeist. The sort of ghost was floating upside down in midair and stuffing a keyhole with chewing gum. He looked up once Remus drew near and grinned as he started singing a little rhyme. "Loony, loopy, Lupin! Loony, loopy, Lupin!"

The students were a bit surprised. The poltergeist usually behaved better for the teachers. The man grinned at the thing and shook his finger at it. "I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves. Mr. Filch won't be able to get into his brooms."

Peeves ignored him and gave him a wet looking raspberry. Unfortunately for the spirit, he hadn't noticed Ron Weasley was standing right next to him. The thing got a little wide eyed as the boy reached out, grabbed his tongue in mid-raspberry and pulled it back stretching it to almost four feet long. He let it go and it snapped back slapping the poltergeist dead in the center of his forehead sending him spinning head over heels through the opposite wall.

"Honestly, Peeves is a pain, but he's usually not that rude," grumbled the boy as he shook his hand off. It wasn't wet, but felt as if he'd recently dried his hands off with a towel.

The man arched his eyebrow at that. "Yes. Thank you, Weasley." He slapped the boy on his shoulder. He tapped the doorknob with the tip of his wand and the gum seemed to liquefy and oozed out of the keyhole. It left a bit of a mess on the floor in front of the door, but it was something that Filtch could easily clean up later.

They entered a room where Professor Snape was sitting in an armchair. He scowled at the group and stood up before Remus closed the door to the room. "Leave it open, I've no desire to witness this." He pushed past the man and spoke as he left. "Perhaps no one has warned you yet, Lupin. Neville Longbottom is in this class. I wouldn't give him anything difficult if you wish to leave the room intact."

Remus arched his eyebrow and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation, and I'm sure he will perform it admirably."

Harry had a serious frown on his face and looked at the wardrobe in the corner of the room. It was full of mismatched chairs otherwise.

Hermione leaned in. "Harry, you should get your wand out."

"He won't be picking me for this assignment," replied the boy simply. "He's a bit worried about what might come out of there if he does."

The werewolf scowled at that a little. He wasn't going to say anything, but Harry was right. The teacher smiled as he turned towards the students. "All right, gather round." The wardrobe gave a wobble as the man stood next to it. "Nothing to worry about, there's a boggart in there."

Some of the students seemed to think that this was something to worry about.

Neville looked very worried, but noticed Harry smile at him and nod. "We'll be all right. There are too many of us in here and it will get confused. It's not so dangerous right now."

"That's right," Hermione was pleased. Ron was terrible at studying, but Harry knew most of what was in the coursebooks for the year already. He didn't memorize them over the summers as she did, but was quick to pick up once they started classes and didn't completely waste his summers like the redheaded boy had for the last few years. Being free of the Dursleys meant that he didn't have to hide his studying at home and could keep up much better over the holidays.

Remus gave a nod and noted that the boy was speaking to Neville and that it had calmed the boy's nerves a bit. "That's right, Harry. It's always best to bring friends when confronting a boggart. They like dark enclosed spaces, wardrobes, under beds, closets. This one moved in yesterday afternoon and I asked the Headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice." He slapped his hand on the door as the wardrobe shook and it became still. "So, the first thing we must ask is what is a boggart?"

Hermione put up her hand and he gave her a nod with a smile on his face. "It's a shape shifter. It will take up the form of whatever frightens us most."

Remus gave an approving nod. "That's correct." He ignored Neville becoming nervous again. "The charm that repels a boggart is simple. Yet it requires force of will. The thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. You need to force it into a shape that you find amusing." He looked out over the class. "We will practice the charm without our wands first. After me, please. Reddikulus!" He waved his hand in the correct motion to show them.

The class did the same and spoke the incantation.

"Good. Very good." He looked down at Longbottom. "What frightens you most?"

The boy flustered and looked towards the floor as he muttered something.

"I didn't catch that?" replied the teacher.

"I said Professor Snape," grumbled the boy as he became even more embarrassed.

Most of the room laughed at that. The pudgy boy noticed Harry give the rest of the room a small frown and shrug his shoulders at him a little apologetically. Remus reacted much the same way.

The teacher leaned down to him a little. "You live with your grandmother?"

The boy got wide eyed. "I don't want it to turn into her either."

The man chuckled at that. "No, don't misunderstand me. Imagine what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears. Can you see them if you close your eyes?"

"Yes," said the boy as he seemed to regain some of his nerve again.

"All right then. When the boggart bursts out it will assume the form of Professor Snape," said the man. "You will raise your wand and cry Riddikulus and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes."

The boy gave an uncertain nod and looked at his wand. He squeezed his eyes shut and muttered the word over and over to make sure he had it right.

"If Neville is successful the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn. I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most and imagine how you might force it to look comical." He looked about the room and most of the students except Harry looked thoughtful. He looked a bit lazy in fact.

"You don't think I'd make you do this?" asked the man.

"It's not a good idea," replied the boy with a shrug. He knew Voldemort wouldn't be coming out of that closet if he did, but didn't see the need to explain that.

Remus narrowed his eyes at the boy a little. He didn't seem afraid. "Potter, come on up here. You'll go first. Step aside Neville, I'll let you have a go next. Don't forget what I just told you."

Harry pulled his wand off of his belt and gave a small sigh. "As you wish, Professor." He strolled forward with his usual confidence.

"I'm not sure why, but I'm pretty sure it won't be You Know Who coming out of there. I was a bit worried about that at first, but you've gone and changed my mind." The man leaned back against one of the chairs in the room and waved his hand to motion the students back. "Give it some room and get along the walls. I'll call you up individually."

Longbottom looked very relieved. "Sorry, Harry."

The boy smiled at him. "Don't worry. It's not that difficult."

"Well, we'll see." Lupin was pleased with his attitude.

The teacher didn't bother with his wand to open the door. Harry simply waved his hand and the man put his hand up under his chin.

There was a sound from within the wardrobe that made everyone's blood run cold. They were all wondering what it was that frightened Harry Potter. The boy who had run along the roof of a train and fought vampires at close range without a hint of fear.

A black boot stepped out of the closet and a cold and rhythmic breathing noise filled the air.

The students were confused, shocked, and uncertain about what they were seeing.

"What is that? Who? That's not Voldemort I take it?" muttered Hermione from Ron's side.

"No, definitely not," said the boy with a small frown on his face. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked confused but not worried.

Harry set himself and furrowed his brow as the tall being in a dark helmet and frightening mask glared down at him. Its breath was steady and uninterrupted as it took a step towards him and raised its hand holding a wand just like his. A blade of red light slid into existence and it set itself in a combat stance.

Harry had his weapon drawn as well. His lips were closed shut and he couldn't open them. He could feel the pressure of the Force holding them together. He couldn't speak the charm.

Remus seemed to notice something was wrong and stepped forward while drawing his wand.

The black clad figure raised its hand without looking at him and the man staggered to a stop while clutching at his throat with wide eyes.

The intimidating black clad figure took a step towards Harry and he stood his ground. He closed his eyes and focused. The being was using his own power against him. It could not use the Force on its own and was tricking his mind into doing it for him. "There is only peace." His lips loosened and he said it out loud. "Riddikulus!" He waved his weapon and pointed it at the thing. There was a ripping sound and its armor suddenly became hot pink.

The thing didn't seem to care and took another threatening step forward. Remus gasped as whatever was choking him stopped as the boy regained control. He narrowed his eyes at the thing and reared his hand back.

Harry got a smirk on his face. "I told you this was a bad idea." He repeated the spell. This time the dark clad figure appeared to be dressed in a sun dress with a very large bow on the back and another large bow tied around the helmet. It was the same outfit his sister had ended up in when his mother had taken them shopping.

The rest of the room seemed to snap out of its silence and a few chuckles started. No one was sure what to make of what had just happened.

It turned its attention away and appeared as Professor Snape as it focused on Neville. The boy repeated the curse and the man appeared in his grandmother's clothes. The class gave a collective laugh at that.

The students took turns altering the teacher and seemed to forget about what had initially stepped out. Parvati ended up with a Mummy, Seamus ended up with a Banshee, then it was a rat, then a rattlesnake, and a bloody eyeball after that, then a severed hand."

"Weasley!" called Remus.

"Huh?" The boy seemed to be shaken out of thought. "I haven't thought of anything yet."

"Pardon?" Remus looked confused as the redhead stepped forward anyway. "Well, I'm..."

Ron just looked at it with a rather dead eyed stare. He didn't look particularly worried and his wand was hanging from his rather relaxed grip. "Um..."

The thing peered at him in the form of a severed hand caught in a mousetrap. It had grown a pair of black and blank looking eyes and simply stared at him.

The teacher looked surprised. "I think it's confused."

"Hmm. What am I afraid of anyway?" muttered Ron as he pondered it right in front of the thing.

The boggart gave a sharp sounding shriek as it jumped up into a human form that appeared to be engulfed in flames. The thing could hear horrified wailing and tortured screams fill its mind. It screamed in horror and rushed away, jumping out of a nearby window and into the sunlight. It seemed to explode into wisps of smoke and embers that floated into the field below in the wind.

"What in Merlin's name?" muttered Remus in confusion.

"Hmm. What am I afraid of anyway?" Ron was still thinking about it.

Harry gave a small sigh and shook his head. He slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Ron. It's probably a good thing that you're having so much trouble thinking of something."

The redhead nodded. "Yeah. I guess. Still, now it's going to bug me for a bit. Oh well."

Remus shook his head and sighed. "Well, I suppose that is the end of the lesson." He was a bit confused and wishing he'd listened to Harry. He'd never seen a boggart do anything like what that one had done when confronted by the Boy Who Lived. "Excellent, well done. Five points for everyone who tackled the boggart. Plus five each for Harry and Hermione for answering the questions correctly."

The girl was a little disappointed that she hadn't gotten to have a go at it. "That was a good class I suppose. I would have liked to have gotten a chance." She slapped Ron on the arm.

He smiled at her. "I'm not sure if it could have turned into a bad test score anyway."

She gave him a scowl with no real heat in it. "I thought it would have turned into a spider or something with you."

He scrunched up his nose. "I'm not really scared of them anymore. I just think they're really gross."

The girl cocked her head. "I suppose what with everything that's happened over the last few years..."

Remus walked over to the pair and moved with them as the group went back into the hall and to the classroom. "Harry, Ron. The rest of the students went as expected, but the two of you..." He glanced at Harry with his smile fading a bit.

"I dunno. I think I just confused it because I couldn't think of anything scary." The redhead shrugged.

The man gave a small sigh. "I doubt that. It wouldn't have burst into flames that way and would have just retreated back into the wardrobe if that were the case."

The boy shrugged at him. "I've been to Hell. It's hard to top that."

The teacher seemed to get that. "Ah, I see. Now it makes more sense." He put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Um..."

"It's called Darth Vader. He's...hard to explain." The boy scratched his head and looked a bit flushed.

Hermione gasped. "That story you told us about? That was what..."

The boy who lived nodded. "Yeah. He wasn't very nice."

"Harry, he blew up a planet!" the girl gasped.

"What?" Remus was even more confused.

The boy looked at his friends and shook his head. "Actually he didn't. It was Tarkin who did that, but he did help out I suppose." Harry gave a small sigh and shrugged up at him. "Ask me about it when we can talk for a while. It's a really long story. I've found it just confuses people if I only try to explain parts of it."

"I liked it. It's about spaceships, and there's this artificial moon with a giant laser, and planets full of aliens," Ron looked pleased. "So that's what that guy looked like? I dunno, I just couldn't picture it from how you described it. It was too much muggle stuff what with electrodics and machines."

The man gave a small nod as he realized he wasn't going to get much of an answer right then. "All right, I'll ask you about it some other time. I've never seen anything like that. Is he some sort of dark wizard?"

The Potter boy shook his head. "No, he's much worse. It's a good story, and I don't mind telling it. It's going to take a while though and it won't make much sense if I don't just tell you the whole thing. It's got to do with how my sister and I use...magic."

He seemed thoughtful as they filed into the room and leaned against the door outside of the class for a moment. "I see. Interesting."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter smiled down at the pair standing together in wizarding robes looking about in wonder. He was looking down at them from behind their backs on top of a small hill. They were on a very colorful planet covered in giant neon colored mushrooms. The soil was black and a multitude of rainbow colored ferns covered most of the ground with a few rocky paths to navigate through the landscape around them. "Hey. Welcome."

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger gasped as they turned around at the sound of the new voice behind them.

It was a young girl with red skin and a black and white growth on her head that was not quite hair. She had white markings on her face and looked quite thin and agile. She looked very pleased to see them both.

"Um...who? Who are you?" muttered Hermione as her hair stood up a little. "Is this the sort of girl that..."

"Hey. We're supposed to be meeting someone here," Ron smiled at her and nodded. He wasn't extremely attracted to her, but did think she was pretty.

The girl seemed to think on that and looked down at herself. "Oh. Right. I forgot." She gave a small sigh. "Just come with me. I'm supposed to meet you."

"Is Harry here somewhere? You're taking us to him?" the girl was a little confused.

"No. I'm Harry. My sister did this to me. It's kind of annoying, but now I get stuck this way when I use this power sometimes." He shifted forms and appeared as they knew him for a moment. "It takes a little effort to look this way. Her idea of a joke I think." He reverted back to the red skinned girl again.

Both of them looked rather surprised at that. Hermione's eye twitched a bit. "Huh?"

Ron burst into laughter. "Really? Wow! That's like something my brothers would do!"

Harry didn't look bothered and seemed to take it cheerfully. "Yes, well. You know they hang about together." She waved her arm for them to follow. "Come on."

"Where are we?" Hermione looked around.

"Tel Volnir. It's an alien world on a trade route that runs around the center of the galaxy." He smiled at her. "I've done some training here before. Negotiated with the locals and all. It's a friendly place."

"That girl is from this place?" Hermione seemed a bit more relaxed.

The girl smiled and shook her head. "No, she's from a planet called Shili. It's on the other side of this galaxy. This is a place in that Galaxy I told you about in that story. We're roughly in the middle of the Clone Wars time wise."

"So we won't see that thing that came out of the wardrobe?" Ron looked over at him.

"No," replied Harry with a smile. "He hasn't come around yet. I did get to meet his son though. He was a nice guy and helped me with my training a little. Mostly it's master Obiwan, Master Yoda, and Master Anakin when my sister is here with me. There are others sometimes, but those are the ones I see the most."

"This is a bit strange," Hermione backed away as a large insect with ten legs that was about the size of a cat crawled across the path they were on.

"This is a safe place," Harry smiled. "The natives are friendly and there isn't much in the way of dangerous life here."

The human girl gave a small sigh. "Natives? What are they like?"

The red skinned girl blinked. "Well, you just saw one walk by a moment ago."

The girl looked a bit disgusted. "That big bug?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. They are very friendly. This planet produces a spice that is commonly used in food on human settled systems. They don't have much use for it themselves as it's toxic to them. Having the offworlders here to help remove it from their planet is looked on favorably by them. They're quite talkative."

The girl was wide eyed. "You..brought us to a planet full of talking bugs?"

"Neat!" said Ron as he beamed at the red skinned girl.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Well, it's kind of strange, but people will notice that something is off if you call me Harry here. I look like someone named Ahsoka, so you should call me that. It's hard to explain, but this isn't exactly like a normal dream. Not everything here is my doing if you catch my meaning."

"What is it then?" Hermione was confused.

"Think of it as an interactive history lesson. It's true it's being channeled by me, but I'm not the one thinking all this stuff up." The red girl seemed to think on it.

"So, it's kind of like having a psychic vision?" Hermione nodded. "I thought you said..."

"It's not exactly the same," she remembered that Hermione was a muggle born. "It's kind of like a virtual reality video game." She nodded and seemed to understand that.

It confused Ron though. "Huh? A what?"

"It's a muggle thing," replied Hermione. "Don't worry about it. I think I understand better now."

Ron seemed satisfied with that and looked at the red girl walking with them.

Ahsoka shrugged. "Come on. We're leaving anyway. This area is away from the busy parts of the war. It's why I wanted to meet you here. It's a supply run actually. We're here to pick up a load of spices for use in cooking for the troops. There are other supplies being gathered in this system as well. We wouldn't have come for what would have amounted to a little table salt on it's own. It's pretty a pretty safe and relaxing area." She looked wistful.

"You look like you're remembering this place as if you've been here before." Hermione looked confused.

"Nah. It's this girl's memory. She's what's called a Togruta, and she's one of my sister's former students. The person Anna used to be is elsewhere getting into trouble with Master Obiwan as I recall. The girl I'm stuck as right now was sent off to take some leave and get a break from the war. Most of the people involved with this operation were." She grinned at them both. "She was kind of annoyed by it and pretty upset when she finally got back and found out how much she missed. Though, I don't think she ever regretted getting a break, though she wouldn't admit it."

Hermione glanced at him as they walked down the path together. She had started noticing small mounds with large holes facing the paths hidden in the ferns. Some of them had the shine of many eyes and a few legs poking out of them. It was making her a bit nervous. "You seem to know her pretty well."

Harry actually got a small frown on his face. "Yeah. I've been reliving a lot of this girl's life in my dreams since we started training. What she did during the war, training with Anakin, that sort of thing."

"How do you know you weren't her in a past life?" asked Hermione.

Harry cocked his head. "Well, I'm pretty sure, but it's hard to explain why. You'll just have to take my word that I wasn't I'm afraid."

"Must be interesting," commented Ron as he looked about with his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, I'll say..." Hermione looked a bit shocked. They had just cleared the top of a hill and saw a ship with three wings sitting on the ground ahead in an open clearing. It had three wings, two of which were folded up to the sides of it. It was as large as a small house. "Whoa! That's your spaceship?"

Ahsoka blinked. "Huh? No. That's just a shuttle." She pointed up and smiled.

Hermione and Ron both looked up and got even more wide eyed. There was a small wedge in the sky. It was obviously very high up and outside the atmosphere. "That's..." muttered the girl.

"Yeah. Come on. We're about to take off." Harry waved them forward and they moved up the ramp into the shuttle.

Hermione and Ron both took seats next to Harry. They were surrounded by men in white armor that was painted various colors on small portions of them. Mostly red, blue, and yellow. The men were quiet and seemed relaxed. They all had firearms that they loaded onto racks next to the entrance to the ship upon entering.

"Hey. Neat," Ron took notice of them. He had experience with firearms and found them interesting. "They don't look like they shoot bullets."

"Huh?" Harry smiled. "Projectile weapons are kind of rare here. It's an energy bolt."

Hermione looked at the only other girl in the seats. "Um, that doesn't bother you? You don't seem embarrassed or anything."

Harry chuckled. "Well, it's not that sort of dream. It doesn't really feel any different. I only noticed because you said something. When I said I lived her life, I didn't mean quite on that level. It's just the memories where it doesn't matter either way whether I'm a boy or a girl." He leaned in and spoke quietly. "It has given me a few odd moments, but it's nothing major."

Hermione noticed his caution and looked at the armored men around them. "Are they dangerous?"

He shook his head. "No, but they'll notice if we act off. I'm helping them not notice you right now. It can be a little annoying to deal with it if they get suspicious because we're acting strange. Nothing here can really hurt you." He smiled at them. "They all think you're smugglers that we hired to help out with hauling the cargo."

She nodded and relaxed.

"I'll show you around a bit when we get to the ship. It's pretty neat." Harry looked pleased. "I've got my own fighter too. It's a single seat ship and one of the engines is acting up, but we can have a look."

"Fighter?" muttered Ron. It was obvious he had no idea what that meant.

"This isn't what I expected when I said we should meet in your dreams, H...Ahsoka." She didn't look upset and was obviously very interested in her surroundings.

He nodded. "I know. I figured you might like to see some of what I've been telling you about though. We'll have a talk later. There's not much we can do. Like I said, I'm not going to try to fight that thing right now. It's too risky and we need to find out more before we do anything rash and end up in worse trouble."

Ron nodded. "At least no one has tried to kill you yet this year." He looked pleased.

"Yes. Well, I can't say it's not interesting," muttered Hermione.

OooOOooOO

Rubeus Hagrid had a huge grin on his face. "'Arry! C'm in, c'm in!" He waved the boy over.

It was the night after their first shared dream. The group hadn't discussed much, and it was a pretty relaxed affair. Harry had shown them around the big spaceship mostly. It took a little bit, but he managed to explain why he was backing off of hunting in other people's dreams to Hermione. She accepted it after a bit of convincing and seemed to get his reasoning with a bit of reluctance. Then they ended up having a meal of very odd food that they could all actually taste. Some of it was good, but it wasn't on the level of Hogwarts. None of it was horrible. They mostly ended up talking about school and complaining about Slytherin and Snape while standing around on an observation deck that overlooked the planet below.

"Hagrid. How have you been?" Harry was glad to visit and he seemed to be in a particularly good mood that day.

"Harry, yer not gn believe this!" The half giant was wide eyed and excited. "Mah Pokemon Evolved!"

Hermione cocked her head. "Oh. Those things? I've seen some of the other students with them, but..."

"Ginny has a couple," commented Ron. "She caught them over the summer. One is this weird plant thing that looks like it's made of grass, and the other is this mean looking bug thing that kind of looks like a Praying Mantis. She said she got them from the garden using those things your sister and that Lovegood girl have been selling."

Parvati smiled at him and nodded. "Yes. My sister has one as well. I'm not sure what it is, but it's pink and round and great for helping you get to sleep. I'm thinking of trying to catch one over the summer myself. They're allowed at Hogwarts, but I'd rather not deal with learning about a new pet while I'm here."

Harry shrugged. "As far as I know Anna doesn't even have one. She just manufactures the stuff for them in some sort of partnership with Luna. Seems a bit odd as she seems to avoid her. They get along all right though."

Parvati nodded. "That explains why the Quibbler looks so much better recently. It used to be a cheap rag, but now it's almost like a magazine. It's not gotten any less crazy though."

Hagrid nodded. "I've heard it's big business. I've got a few m'self." He looked quite proud. "Only twelve so far though. I'm still lernin about cetchin the critters. Still gettin the hang of them little balls."

"Twelve?!" Hermione's eyes went wide. Most people only had a couple.

"Yep. Luna has about fifty of em." Hagrid smiled at the group. "I don't kep em in them little balls though. No need fer that what with the woods and all. They don't seem to mind much either way though."

Hermione nodded and seemed to remember who she was talking about. "I suppose you'll catch quite a few then." Luna was researching them and actually doing a passable job of it. Despite the paper her family owned, once she had a funding source she was able to actually do proper research and was making a name for herself amongst magical biologists for her work on the new creature type. She'd seen some of her work on the subject and was impressed by what she had seen more than she thought she would be.

Hagrid was beaming. "I hope so."

The frazzle haired girl seemed to think of something. "Wait? Did you say 'evolved'? That takes millions of years..."

Harry looked at her. "Not with those things. They actually revert to a new form after a while. Can happen three or four times with some of them. Most only do it once though. They're not like normal animals." He seemed to think about it. "It can happen on it's own sometimes, but most of them need their owners to feed them this special kind of food. It looks like a piece of candy or something. I'm not sure about the details, but I do know it's not a potion and isn't magic."

"I'll show yeh!" Hagrid opened the door and waved for them to follow.

They went around back and saw something rather large and orange inside one of one of the pens. A jet of flame shot out of the area they couldn't see and all the students jumped a bit.

"Wait," Ron muttered as he got a little wide eyed. "I've seen something like that before..."

Harry cocked his eyebrow. "Yeah. We all have."

"Is that...a dragon?" Parvati had her jaw hanging down a bit.

"Turns out there's dragon type Pokemon," Hagrid gave a nod as he crossed his arms and looked like his dream had come true. It had actually.

"Chaaaaarrrr," bellowed the orange head that lifted up over the pen's wall. Two large wings spread and flapped as it noticed its master was present. It was five feet tall and lumbered out of the pen to the giant looking pleased.

"What the?" muttered Hermione in shock. "Isn't that illegal?"

Hagrid shook his head. "Naw. It's a pokemon. Completely legal!" The giant orange lizard was licking his face and acting like an excited dog. Fang was sitting back a little ways wagging his tail. "He gets along with Fang an everything." The dog looked pretty passive, but was keeping his distance.

Harry could tell how pleased he was about it. "That's great, Hagrid."

Ron looked confused. "Where did it come from? I've never seen one that big before."

"My little Charmander evolved! This says it's called a Charizard." Hagrid pulled a pokedex from his pocket as he scratched the giant reptile between it's horns.

"Well, it's certainly got a better temperament than Petunia," commented Harry.

Hermione's jaw dropped. "That little salamander looking thing?" The creature she remembered was a bit fat and less than two feet long. It had a small fire burning on the end of its tail all the time and was quite lazy when she'd seen it.

"Thas right," nodded the half giant.

Ron cocked his eyebrow. "Well, he has gotten big, hasn't he?"

Parvati looked a bit taken by that. She'd seen the Charmander before as well. "Maybe I should think about getting one a bit more?" She wasn't so sure she wanted an animal that size. It looked friendly enough, but it hadn't escaped her notice that many types of Pokemon had dangerous appendages and elemental powers.

Hagrid's boyhood dream had come to life at last. He was as happy as the boy had ever seen him. "Well, I'm sure you'll take good care of him."

The Care of Magical Creatures instructor was near to tears. "That I will, 'arry. That I will."

OooOOooOO

Ron Weasley frowned as he glanced over his shoulder at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "I hope Professor Lupin gets better soon. That was awful."

Harry knew why Lupin was missing. He didn't say anything and nodded. "He's fine, don't worry about it."

"How do you know?" asked Hermione. She'd managed to lose ten points in the class. No one was angry about it as the Gryffindor students had managed to lose fifty over the period in total.

He looked at her. "He's a friend of the family. It's nothing to worry about. He just gets a little off sometimes."

Snape had taken over and had terrorized the entire class for the whole period. They all had a paper to write about werewolves that was due the next Monday morning.

Harry had managed to answer correctly when Snape pressed the class about the ways to recognize werewolves. He knew why the man was doing it. He didn't know how, but Snape knew that Remus was a werewolf somehow. He supposed he understood the man's reasoning for pressing the students on the subject. He wasn't about to defend what he'd done in the class though. It had been worse than any Potions class they had yet taken.

Snape had pressed him about how he knew so much about werewolves and he'd lost five points for 'cheek' when he'd replied "I think you know, Professor."

Ron had remained silent and didn't look any more pleased than his two friends. "I hope we won't have to deal with that again." He blinked as he saw a familiar figure walking towards them at a brisk pace. "Huh? Hey."

Afina looked over her shoulder and scowled. Her face softened as she recognized the trio. "Ah, Ron, Harry, Miss Granger, how are you?"

"Are you all right?" asked Ron.

She gave a small sigh and nodded. "Yes. I'm just visiting Professor Lupin." She looked back in the direction they had just come from. "Awful man. I've half a mind to go in there and give him a good..." She shook her head. "Nevermind."

"You saw the class then?" she looked a bit annoyed in the same direction.

"Quite. Don't worry about it." She smiled at them. "I don't care much for him and I'd just as soon not speak with him."

"Me either," agreed Ron. "You're visiting Professor Lupin?"

"Yes. Mr. Lupin is a...friend," she considered what to say for a moment. "I'm just here to check up on him. I'm sure you've heard he's a bit under the weather."

Harry nodded. "Anna is helping him out with that potion I think."

"What? She couldn't, she's just a student!" Hermione looked confused. "It wouldn't be allowed..."

Afina smirked. "She's more qualified than Severus Snape is actually. I think I trust her more with it anyway." She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. He'll be right as rain by the next time you have that class."

"That's a relief," said Ron as he tipped his hat back. "Nice to see you again."

Hermione gave a nod. "Yes. I'm afraid we've got to get to our next class though." She looked towards her companions. "Come on or we'll be late."

Harry gave a small wave and followed after her with Ron.

OooOOooOO

TBC...


	45. Chapter 45

A Matter of Force

Part 45

The End of Anna Potter.

OooOOooOO

"Weather's horrible," grumbled Oliver Wood as he looked outside.

"Won't matter," replied Harry. The team was all sitting together for breakfast.

"He's right Oliver," replied Alicia.

Wood wasn't eating and looked sullen and worried.

"I can do it," said Harry with a firmness in his tone. He knew it was Oliver's last year, and his last chance at the cup. He also knew that his captain would feel a lot better about the season once they got past Slytherin and his sister.

The team went out to the pitch and were all soaked by the time they made it to the locker room. None of them seemed to mind much as they all knew they'd be out in the thick of it for the match. It was a nasty thunderstorm, and the crack and boom of the storm shook the stands.

Despite that pretty much the whole school had shown up for the match. It wasn't something to be missed considering the two best broom riders in the whole school would be out on the field competing for the Snitch. Everyone was tense and the weather was not enough to keep them away. The stands were dry thanks to an enchantment, but everyone was soaking wet by the time they made it out there. The wind was strong enough that umbrellas did little good even if they weren't blown away by the gusts.

Wood tried to give his speech before the match, but came up blank. He swallowed a couple of times and looked at them all with wide eyes. The whole team was struggling against the wind as they strolled out onto the field. Slytherin looked no better off and Marcus Flint glared at the opposing captain. Neither one offered the other a hand and Madam Hooch ignored it and blew on her whistle.

Harry and Anna both rose into the air opposite each other. Each had a hard and serious look in their eyes and neither spoke. They wouldn't have heard each other in the torrent anyway. Both stayed above the match as it began and looked down at the buzzing about below. The Snitch was released and they both moved immediately.

Lightning crashed as the pair shot through the match. There was no flitting about between them. They were going at it as if they were racing around the pitch at top speed. The Bludgers swerved away from them despite Slytherin aiming them right at them at every opportunity as they blasted through the match.

They twisted over and under each other as they passed through the match and their teammates. Both teams were playing a rough game. There were a few uncalled fouls on both sides. Even Madam Hooch's eyes had difficulty seeing through the torrent and flashes of lightning.

Anna and Harry ignored all of this though. They followed the tiny ball despite the fact that neither could see it with their eyes. It was fast and agile, but the two teens stayed on it and were no more than a foot apart at any point. Neither encroached on the other and they shot beneath the stands as the ball ducked under the seats and into the supports. The twins weaved through the large wooden beams that held the frame of the seats together with ease, but the golden ball kept them at bay by curving through the heavy wood to keep just out of reach. It was as if it knew that they could sense it and was using its environment to keep them off.

"Isn't it cheating to manipulate the ball that way?" asked Harry as he realized that was what was going on.

"It would be if I was making it easier for me to catch. What are you complaining about?" replied his sister. They were shielded from the torrent and able to speak as they tore after the Snitch under the cover of the bleachers.

"I'm not," he smirked and narrowed his eyes as he focused on it and dodged around another of the heavy oak beams. "Still, I hope you don't think I'm seriously going to let you keep doing this until Draco puts enough points up that I won't be able to catch it." He waved his hand at her.

Anna was a little surprised as the front end of her broom was jolted a bit. She was aiming right at one of the support beams and forced to correct herself. "What? N...no." Her eyes went wide as she realized what had happened. He had spoken to her and broken her concentration by giving her broom a push and it was enough to allow the ball to break free of her control.

Harry pulled up and kicked off the top end of the bleachers and over onto the field. The Snitch had passed between the opening between the seats and the footwells. He dove down only a few inches over the heads of the spectators and snatched it out of the air.

Anna came over the top of the bleachers just in time to witness this. She had a rather slack jawed expression as she sat there in the rain and looked on as he held it up to show it to her with a grin on his face. "Sorry, not this year, Anna."

She got a rather unusual look in here eyes and cracked a rather unpleasant looking grin. "No, I suppose not."

Her brother went down to where his own team was cheering and landed amongst them.

Anna growled and balled up her fist as she looked over at where her own team was gathering. They were all scowling at her. Snape was with them and didn't look any happier.

She landed next to the teacher and he opened his mouth.

"If know anyone else who has any hope of beating my brother, feel free to replace me," she hissed as she scowled at him.

"Watch your tone, Potter," he growled. He kept it at that and the team started slogging off towards the locker room in the torrential downpour.

Gryffindor was doing the same, but looked much more cheerful.

Draco Malfoy hung back and narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't look angry, but no one noticed. "Oh, shit," he muttered to himself under his breath.

OooOOooOO

Snape scowled as he stood in the doorway to the locker rooms. He had his arms crossed, and his team was looking tired and displeased as they moved by him into the room. She was silent and had a firm scowl on her face. "You failed."

"I noticed," she hissed in reply. The girl didn't look at him and pushed the door open to the locker room as she brushed past. He followed her inside looking very displeased. There was a separate room for the female team members to change and shower, but there was always a team meeting after the matches that was held in the boys side. Draco gave a snort as he walked in after her. He was hanging back and didn't look like he wanted to speak.

Snape narrowed his eyes at that. He knew the boy didn't like her and it seemed unusual that he wouldn't say anything.

"Nice job, Potter," grumbled one of his fellow chasers.

Draco sucked in a quick breath and looked at the boy with his lips growing tight.

The redhead stood in the middle of the locker room. Most of the team was looking at her with frowns and it was obvious she would be taking the blame. She didn't look sad or sorry. Her fists were balled up and they stood around her in a group. Snape was by the doorway looking on, and none of them would dare try anything while he was there. The teacher spoke up and looked at her. "Anything to say, Potter?"

She had her eyes turned down and her fists became white knuckled as she clenched them even harder. "Heh. He beat me. I didn't think he had become so strong." He beat her in training sometimes, but she never lost when it counted. Not once had she allowed it. "I never expected..." Her voice wavered a little. "I will make him pay!" she snarled as she glared up at her teammates. She raised her hands and screamed in anger. "That weak little jerk actually beat me! I don't fucking believe it!"

The team and the teacher jumped as every locker in the room burst open. The contents of each metal bin shooting out as if fired from an air cannon. The metal was crushed as the huge metal lockers bent and twisted creating jagged looking hunks of metal not dissimilar from a wrecked car. Energy crackled across the surfaces of the destroyed bins as the boys all moved towards the showers and away from the remains of the lockers that had once housed their belongings.

Anna gasped and relaxed. Draco and Snape were the only ones who didn't back away. The teacher was far enough away that he wasn't affected, and Draco simply stood with his arms crossed and ignored it.

"Potter!" Snarled the teacher as he took a step forward. "You've damaged Hogwarts property! This won't be tolerated! I..."

"Don't touch her," Draco put his arm on the teacher's shoulder. The man looked annoyed, but the boy didn't let him go and held him back gently. Malfoy looked at the redhead. "I suggest you stop this little tantrum. You're just going to make it worse."

Anna nodded and took controlled breaths for a moment. The lockers bent back into shape, and the team's belongings all flew back into their proper storage bins. She relaxed and her shoulders slumped. "Yes. You're right of course." She looked at him with a smirk on her face. Her eyes had changed. He'd seen it in fleeting glimpses before, but the yellow and orange irises had a dark rage burning in them despite the rest of her face seeming cheerful.

The boy got wide eyed and took a step back as he released the teacher. "Y-yeah." Snape narrowed his eyes at it but remained silent and looked towards the girl again. The man noticed that Malfoy had gone a little pale. The other students were all calm and looking on from just outside the showers in a huddled group. None of them looked particularly afraid, but they weren't getting any closer to the redhead than they had to be.

Michale Cretus narrowed his eyes and whispered under his breath. "Did you fucking see that? What in Merlin's name was that?"

"Shut up," growled Flint. He looked towards Snape, and was as eager as the rest of the team for the meeting to be over. She would go to her own side of the locker rooms and they could change in peace when it was.

"I've seen enough." Snape looked around and inspected the lockers. Despite the shape they'd been put in by her little outburst they seemed no worse than before. "Get changed and go about your business. I'm sure you all know I'm not pleased. You should all know what to expect." The team would be running itself into the ground during practice and taking extra time on the field until he was satisfied. That would take quite a while, especially with a loss to Gryffindor. The man turned and left the room.

Anna frowned at him and followed after sending a wave of relief through the team.

"What the hell was that?" growled one of the chasers. "Did you see that? She destroyed these things, and they look..." He knocked the door to his locker as if to be sure it was really intact.

Draco frowned at him. The feeling of hostility towards the girl wasn't gone, but there was no way anyone in the room was going to bother her over the loss after that. "I don't like it. I've never seen her do anything like that before."

Flint gave a snort. "Aren't you the same? What with that wand and all?"

The blond boy glanced over at him. "I don't think you realize just how much danger we were just in. She blew her top."

Michale narrowed his eyes and shoved Draco's shoulder. "Come off it. That brat was just showing off."

The youngest chaser pushed his hand off. "If you say so. I don't recommend bothering her for a while." He'd seen those eyes before, and it gave him a chill. "I'm not going anywhere near her if I can help it until she gets that look out of her eyes."

Cretus shook his head. "I suppose I can't argue. I'll be glad when the Dark Lord gets rid of them for us. I doubt anyone else will manage to get rid of that little tart."

Flint chuckled at that. "Finally figured that out did you? I certainly won't be bothered with it. I owe her enough to leave her alone, but I don't like her any more than you do either. I'm also not dumb enough to try anything. You're lucky she's been so easy on you. I think it's only because you're on the team."

Michale scowled at that, but simply tossed a towel over his shoulder and moved towards the showers.

OooOOooOO

Draco Malfoy froze after he walked out of the locker room. He was usually the last to leave as he took a bit of time to meditate after matches on one of the benches in the locker area. As soon as he took three steps out of the door he went rigid. His head cocked back a little. "Potter. Wasn't expecting to find you here." He turned his gaze forward again. He hadn't seen her but he knew she was right behind him leaning against the wall. "You should be more careful. Professor Snape wasn't pleased, and I don't mean losing tha..."

"The time for caution is over." The girl was right behind him and he could no longer speak. He was gasping but not choking. "Don't call me 'Potter' again." She grabbed him by his throat and pushed him against the wall. Her orange and yellow eyes had not faded away as they usually did. She lifted him up by his neck against the bricks and looked into his eyes. Her expression was calm and her tone even. "My name, is Darth Vader. Annabelle Potter, does not exist anymore. She has been destroyed just as I told you she would be." She gave him a most unpleasant looking grin. "Everything is going as I have foreseen it."

He could speak and wasn't choking. He was far from comfortable, but most of his weight was being put on his collar bone and shoulders rather than his neck. "Whatever you say, Master."

"I wasn't expecting him to be so strong this soon. Our plans are moving forward ahead of schedule." She let him slide down the wall and turned away from him.

The boy nodded once. His lips were pressed together and he was starting to form a cold sweat. His hands were shaking and he put them behind his back and clenched them together to steady them. "What do you need me to do?"

She seemed to regard him for a moment and cocked her head. Her hand came up and brushed off his shoulder. "I'll inform you when the time comes. Be ready. We cannot delay any longer. Harry Potter must be destroyed before he can become any more powerful. Our time has come, my young apprentice."

He hung his head. He should have been happy to hear that. "Yes, Master." His terror was overshadowing any pleasure he might have taken from that news.

She turned away and walked off leaving him leaning against the wall. "You'd better be prepared. Don't expect to remain here when this is finished." A cruel smirk formed on her face. It would be interesting to train him and pit him against Rage and see which one would end up her apprentice. She was hoping that it would remain a mystery which one would actually end up at her side in the end.

Draco looked on as she left. After she was out of sight, he slumped down on his rear, clutched his shoulders, and sobbed as he rubbed at his arms and shivered.

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter stood in the shadows outside of Gryffindor's painting. It was a long break between classes, and he was standing in front of the common area talking to his friends. Hermione looked skeptical, and Ron was grinning and talking as much with his body as his mouth. Harry was clearly amused and enjoying himself.

She simply glared at him with a scowl on her face from the shadows. He had no idea she was nearby. "There you are. It's a shame I can't keep you. My new toy will just have to do." She cocked her head. "Malfoy."

He stepped out of the shadows behind her and moved up to behind her on her right side. "Yes, Master?"

"Harry Potter must not survive the year. It is almost complete, only one piece remains. Unfortunate he wasn't viable, pathetic creature."

"I always knew he was soft," muttered the blond boy.

"Don't be stupid. Harry turned out superbly. I was talking about that idiot Voldemort. He's already undone himself though he does not know it. There is a powerful rival for me now." She narrowed her eyes at him and frowned a bit. "I cannot reach her now, but I must destroy her. She is truly dangerous."

Malfoy looked confused. "What?"

"I trained him when I trained my brother. The connection he has with my brother through the scar gave him an understanding of the Force. Though, he is pitiful at wielding it. It gave him the ability to become a powerful Sith, but not enough of the knowledge he needed. It came to him in spurts and flashes, Harry was trained properly. The one I speak of endures. She is becoming very strong. She has an unusually potent natural ability, or something else that made her connection to the Force grow very quickly."

"Rage," growled Malfoy under his breath.

Anna smirked at that. "Don't be silly. She is a rival for you. She couldn't touch me as I am now. I would destroy her with impunity. I might, but it may be best to let you have her. It will be dangerous enough to be useful in honing your skills."

"Why train him? It would be much easier to destroy him now if you had not." The boy frowned. "You told me you've always known he had to be killed."

The look she was giving him faded as he added the last part. "To give him a fighting chance. He is my brother after all. It must be done, but...even I had a heart once."

Malfoy nodded and still didn't seem to understand. He realized it was probably a bad idea to run his mouth. She was like she was in the dreams now. Her voice was cold and hard, but barely a whisper. Her eyes a reddish orange in color, and a small frown on her face. Her gaze was a steady and maddening glare.

The truth was he'd only been attacked by 'Freddy' two times in his dreams. The third time he dreamed of his tormentor he introduced himself as Darth Vader and his training began. Eventually it revealed itself as the redhead before him, but she never seemed aware of it when she was awake. That had changed recently and she appeared aware in small flashes that faded away. This time was different, this time it wasn't going away.

"It's time to go. Soon it will begin." The girl turned away and started walking towards the Slytherin dorms.

"I could..." started Malfoy.

"Don't even suggest it. I warn you. You are nothing to Harry Potter. He would destroy you, and you would be nothing to me but wasted effort and disappointment. Stay away from him." She started walking again. "I trained him for several years. Don't take my command lightly, or I won't have to bother with punishing you myself at the least."

Draco hung his head and glanced back at the Potter boy. "Yes, Master."

"Come on, there is nothing more of interest here." Anna cocked her head. "Don't mess with the Granger girl. She's probably going to be with my brother in the evenings. The Weasley boy as well. They'll likely use their dreams as a meeting ground. She's also observant enough to be dangerous. She's likely to remember things others might not even under duress."

"I'm to hunt in Gryffindor tonight?" he asked as he nodded. "I'm not afraid of them."

She paused in her stroll and hissed at him. "I'm not going to have you taking needless risks. My brother may not be fooled by Freddy. I've been avoiding him and his friends deliberately. He's too connected to us, and it's best if he doesn't know what is going on yet. It will make him easier to trap if he's not expecting it."

Malfoy nodded. "I think that he is but he just doesn't want to say it."

The girl glared at the floor. "You may be right about that. He's getting suspicious of me. I must act soon but we are not ready yet. It will be done before the holiday. In order to end this he has to die. I'm of no mind to drag it out any further than I have too."

Draco scowled at that. "Forgive me, Master, but..."

"No. I will do what I must." She put up her hand and glared at him. He sputtered for a moment and fell to his knees with his face becoming red as his breathing stopped as her patience with him finally wore out. "I do not enjoy the thought of killing my own brother. I have no illusions that it must not be done. If I do not destroy him, he will destroy me." The Slytherin boy coughed and gasped as she released him. "Get to class. I don't want to be seen around you yet."

He nodded and staggered away. She was more patient with him than she was in the dreams, but probably only because of the proximity to her brother. He shivered and a look of horror crossed his features. The horrible nightmares had come to life. That thing was really there in Hogwarts now. Anna as he had known her was gone, nothing but a mask for it to hide behind. He was its right hand and that terrified him. He hated that thing, beyond anything else in the world he hated it. He wanted to destroy it, end it for good. Unfortunately, he was also aware that was exactly what it wanted from him. "Someday, Potter. I will destroy you."

Anna strolled down an empty hall with a cruel smirk on her face. "I hope you survive long enough to try at least once." He couldn't hear her, but she knew a little chill had run down his spine as she said it.

OooOOooOO

In the evening a few nights later, two cloaked figures stood in an empty hallway on the top floor of Hogwarts. One dropped a vial of thick green liquid onto the floor and a cloud of thick green gas began to flow from the puddle on the floor and spread across the ground. The pair was above the vapors and kept their heads held low as they stood and watched it spread. "The house heads will be contained for about four hours. It will take at least that long for Professor Snape to brew up the counter for the barriers. I wouldn't count on it taking him very long in figuring out what it is. Dumbledore may be able to brew the counter as well, but he may have to wait for Snape. His talent is in charms, and there are no charms or incantations that will break the barrier. It's a trap with only one solution."

The other figure snorted. "I see. So, the time has come." Draco lifted his eyes to glare at her. "I know my role. It feels good to finally strike."

"You will learn patience. When we are finished here we won't be remaining at Hogwarts. I'm hoping you're at least smart enough to realize that." Anna scowled back at him. He was upset, and had wanted to kill Harry himself. It was something of a personal goal to prove he was better by doing it himself. "We will see about eliminating Voldemort. After my brother is dead we will leave immediately. Once the pathetic creature is destroyed we'll be disappearing for a time. You're not strong enough to be of much use yet, and it will take time for us to gain the strength to destroy the Ministry."

Draco's face remained stern. "Yes, master." He didn't dare voice his objection to that. It wasn't something he wanted to do, but it had become abundantly obvious since the girl lost her match against her brother that he had no choice in the matter.

"Repeat your orders. I want to be sure you don't screw this up. We'll only have one shot at it. My brother won't be effected by this potion. I was able to use one of his hairs to make its effects ignore him." Anna looked away from him and snarled with a barely held back rage. "It also won't work on anyone older than a fourth year and even a few fourth years will be immune depending on their age. It took me a month to brew this up."

"I'm to keep the students busy and make sure they are running about and in chaos. I am not to kill anyone at any time. Only your brother is to die." He hung his head. "Master, I'm confused by this. We're both committing murder by doing this to begin with. What do we care if there are one or two more?" Draco stepped back as she turned her head to look at him.

Anna considered it for a moment. He didn't seem to be trying to get out of what he'd been told to do. "Yes. I have an excuse for Harry's death. One the Ministry will be unable to ignore. We'll be able to use that to defend ourselves in litigation. It won't get us off, but it will lighten our sentence considerably. A few years in Azkaban will be good for the two of us. We'll both be much stronger when we are released. The wizards will be crushed, and we will begin to show these pitiful fools what true power is. They will all kneel before us. We will evade the Ministry for a time, and turn ourselves over when I think we should. We have a few loose ends to tie up before we can allow that to happen. You wouldn't last long in that place as you are now, but you're not too far off." She arched her eyebrow as she appraised him for a moment.

Malfoy looked even more confused and had lost a bit of color. "Excuse?"

"Don't expect me to explain much to you, Apprentice. Sith become strong by surviving their training. If you cannot adapt you will be destroyed. That is, if I don't tire of your questions first." She scowled back at him and began to walk forward through the green mist.

The boy nodded and bent down on his knees. He breathed in deeply taking in the vapors from the concoction and slumped down on the floor. The young Malfoy had a cruel looking grin on his face as his eyes began to close. "Heh. I've been looking forward to this."

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter sat up and gasped. There was an unusual haze in the room and an odd smell. He wasn't having any trouble breathing and rubbed at his eyes a bit. "Huh? I sense a disturbance..." He put his legs over the edge of the bed and frowned. He couldn't see his feet because some sort of thick green vapor was covering the floor. It didn't hurt his feet and swirled about. "What the?" He put on his glasses and looked around. The beds nearby were empty. "Something is going on?"

His frown deepened as he noticed Ron's bed was empty as well. "I don't sense they are in danger, but..." He was confused and stood up. His wand floated over to his hand and he walked down the stairs. Whatever the green gas was, it was magical in nature. It was flowing up the stairs and from the main common area.

"Potter!" called a familiar voice. Percy Weasley was flicking his wand and tossing a stunning spell into the chest of a second year girl. "Stupify!" She took a staggering step back but continued towards him. There were about eight older students there with him being herded against the wall by the younger students. They managed to shove the underclassmen back a few inches and little more. Whatever it was that was done to them was also shielding them from charms and made them difficult to move with physical force.

"What is this? What's wrong with them?" grumbled Oliver Wood. There was a group of older students standing in the corner of the room. They were surrounded by younger students who were groaning and walking about with their arms up.

"It's like they're zombies," growled a dark haired fifth year girl. "Oi! Harry! A little help here!"

"More like sleepwalking," grumbled Fred.

"He's right, they aren't undead," agreed George. "Hey, it is Harry!"

The Boy Who Lived strolled through a few younger students milling about the middle of the room and they ignored him. They were boxing in the older students, but weren't doing anymore than keeping them contained. "What's going on here? What's happened to them?"

"We're not sure. Most of the older students are stuck upstairs. They're blocking off the stairwell as well. We managed to get by before they blocked the way completely, but now we're stuck here. They won't let us by and we can't get around them. Nothing we've tried has worked." Percy looked frustrated. "They've been shielded somehow against charms and incantations."

"That's really odd," commented Harry as he realized he wasn't being obstructed. He walked around a second year girl with blond hair and pigtails and looked her up and down. He almost jumped out of his skin and backed away as she screamed in what looked like complete terror and put her arms up as if to shield herself. She was thrown off her feet by seemingly nothing and ended up writhing about in the green mist.

Harry went over to her side and looked confused and horrified. She was in horrible pain and very frightened. "What is this?"

"Damn, another one," growled Oliver.

"We've seen two others go down like that," said George.

Fred gave a nod. "I think we've heard a few screams in the hallway as well, but we can't be sure. Not everyone is accounted for."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "Hey, anyone else notice they aren't bothering Harry?"

A fifth year girl with short cut blond hair gave a nod. "He's right."

"I'm a bit confused," muttered the youngest boy awake. The girl had calmed and was sleeping peacefully again. She stood up and resumed wandering about like a zombie. "Anyone have any idea what is going on here?"

"Afraid not," said Percy. "It's disturbing, but I don't think anyone has been hurt."

Oliver looked a bit panicked. "This is very weird, even for Hogwarts."

Harry looked at his wand. "I think it's deliberate as well. Someone planned this."

"Why isn't he like the rest of them though? These are all younger students. I've not seen anyone yet who isn't a fourth year or older who is still awake," said sixth year boy Harry hadn't really met before. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and was a bit on the hefty side.

"I'm pretty sure there's nothing I can do to get you out of there. If you haven't been able to stun them, I doubt I can do much." Harry seemed to ignore him but took note of that. "This is probably another stupid trap for me."

Percy frowned at him. "Great. Potter, stay put. This is bad enough."

The boy shook his head. "I'm going to see if I can find Professor McGonagall, or Professor Dumbledore. They're ignoring me."

"This is probably meant to get you on your own," said Percy with a firm scowl.

"I know," replied the boy simply. "Still, I'm not so sure we can just wait this out. We don't know what's going on."

"I'll stun you," growled Percy.

"He's right, Harry." Oliver was worried as well, and not just because of his hopes for the Quidditch team that year either.

"Sorry, but I think it's best that I try and find a teacher since they seem to be ignoring me. If this is a trap, then I could be putting all of you in danger by staying here. Anyone strong enough to do something like this..." Harry started towards the exit.

"If you walk out that door it's twenty points, Potter!" warned the eldest Weasley.

"Hey! Come on now!" cried Fred and George together.

Harry gave a small sigh. "I'm afraid I'm willing to accept that."

"Don't you dare! Stupefy!" cried Percy as he pointed his wand at the boy.

Harry's lightsaber came on and the older boy took his own spell in the chest and stiffened up. "Sorry, Percy."

"Harry! Harry, get back here!" cried Oliver. The short haired blonde girl tapped Percy's forehead to release him from the spell.

OooOOooOO

Harry's breath was harsh as he walked into the Great Hall. He hadn't been able to reach any of the faculty. They were all just a stuck as the older students by the zombified sleepwalking students that filled the halls. He probably could have managed to get past them with a bit of effort, but they were obviously creating a clear path for him to follow. He jogged through the halls and scowled as he realized that they were directing him to the Great Hall.

The doors closed behind him but he paid it no attention. He walked between the house tables towards the front of the room where the faculty sat. "Anna."

She was sitting on the far left side of the raised platform with her back to the wall and her leg hanging over the stage. She had her head hung low and her hair was hanging from a hood that covered all but her jaw. The girl had a mad grin on her face as she sang. "Sweet dreams are made of these. Who am I to disagree? I travel the world and the seven seas, everybody's looking for something." She stood up and dusted herself off as she turned to face him. "Some of them want to use you, some of them want to be used by you." Her lightsaber came to life in her grip. "Some of them want to abuse you, some of them want to be abused."

"Anna, what are you doing? What is this? What in Merlin's name is going on here?" said the boy with a frown on his face. "What happened to you?"

"The Force is with you, Harry Potter, but you are not a Jedi yet." She looked up at him with her orange irises without raising her head all the way. It was the most menacing he'd ever seen her look.

"Anna! Stop this! Do you have any idea..." started the boy as his temper rose.

"Of course I do, and stop calling me Anna. You know who I am." The corners of her lips turned up as she kept her glare steady. "That name, no longer has any meaning to me."

He ignited his blade and held it up in a defensive posture. "That's a lie and you know it."

She spread her feet and took up an offensive stance. "You will be destroyed. There is no other option."

"What are you talking about? What about that future we both wanted?" His fear surged up inside him.

The girl snorted. "There is no future where we both survive." She jumped forward. "I will not be denied mine by such pitiful attachments. A lesson I have learned well."

Harry raised his weapon and defended himself. She pushed against his weapon and snarled at him with a rage he'd never seen from her before. Hatred and anger were pouring off of her in waves. It was almost as much pressure as her weapon. He shoved back and she landed a short distance back. "Don't do this. Let's talk about this. What you're doing is crazy, Anna. There is no good end to this."

"Yes. Trying to stall me by talking? Hoping someone else will arrive to provide help? Dumbledore perhaps?" She wagged her finger from side to side. "Really, Harry. Don't forget who taught you about negotiation. I'm afraid this conversation is moving up to aggressive negotiation."

The boy narrowed his eyes. "This doesn't make sense, Anna. This is a bad position for you and you know it. Killing me at Hogwarts? Do you realize what will happen if you do something like that?"

She narrowed her eyes a little. "Oh. You mean the Ministry? I'm afraid I've got that end covered. You see, I've been planning this for a while now. You beating me at Quidditch just bumped my time table a little."

"What do you mean?" he looked confused and upset. "You did this because you're mad you lost at Quidditch?"

She swung her hips and moved a little closer. "Well, I was a little upset about my loss. Anger is useful to me after all. I do know patience though, and I may have given you a bit too much. When I lost that match I realized just how strong you have become. I cannot wait any longer. I must destroy you now, or I may never have another opportunity to do it."

"Why would you want to?" he looked shocked. "Anna, you don't have to do this. Stop it."

"Don't play stupid with me. Don't think I didn't realize you knew that it would end this way. I know what you've been feeling. I know why you've closed off and retreated to your dreams as of late. You knew this was coming. You saw all the signs and ignored them. Now, you'll pay the price." She twisted her weapon between her hands and it split into two light sabers. Both of them activated and she snarled at him. "No help is coming. The students are keeping the faculty distracted. The whole school is wandering about the school in a living dream, and keeping the adults contained. They won't hurt anyone, nor will they be harmed themselves. I do realize that the Ministry won't be so forgiving of that. Killing you? No, that they will forgive. You see, I know something you don't. I know how that sick leech Voldemort learned of the Force. He learned it from you." She pointed one of her weapons at him.

"I can't let you do this, Anna. I have to stop you." He pulled out his own lightsaber and held it upright in a defensive stance.

"I already know that, Padawan. It is already too late," she replied simply. "If you don't destroy me, then you will be destroyed." She charged him again without a hint of hesitation.

The boy hacked at her weapon and they slashed in close proximity for a short time, each blocking the other. He pushed off a forceful strike and landed on top of his own house table. He looked down at her and kept his eyes on her as she hopped up with him outside of his weapon range. "Learned your lesson about trying to take the high ground have you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You could say that."

He nodded once and lifted his weapon upright. "I see. This is how it's going to be then."

Anna's stare hardened and her mouth opened a little. Her lips turned up again into a cruel smile. "I didn't expect you to let go so easily. I commend you, but it will not change the outcome. I will destroy you just as I have foreseen."

The boy had calmed himself and his breath became even. His eyes glazed over a bit and a tear fell down his cheek. "I don't intend to die. I will stop you."

The redhead nodded. "Good. Come Padawan. It's time you learned the difference between a Jedi student and a Sith Lord." She raised her hand and electric energy shot from her fingers.

Harry flipped out of the way and landed a few seats back. He parried the remains of her attack with his weapon and set himself again. The pair rushed towards each other and ended up colliding on the center of the table.

OooOOooOO

Freddy Kruger loomed over the students of Hogwarts. He stood on top of a pile of wrecked cars. A large junk yard with a red haze to the sky was the dreamscape before them. The group was wide eyed with terror. He raised his claw and spread his fingers. "Heh. You think it matters that you've managed to find me? Think that working together will help you?" He glared at them and put his leg up on the roof of the car he was standing on, resting his forearm across it as he tipped back his hat. "You don't seem to understand. This isn't your dream anymore. It's my Nightmare. You can't hurt me, and you'll all die. I'll just keep picking you off one by one. We'll make a night of it, it'll be fun."

There were about forty students gathered around, and more joined with each passing moment as he spoke out to the crowd.

He gave them a dark looking grin. "Well, that's everyone that's left anyway." The student crowd backed away from his perch a little. There were soft muffled screams coming from inside most of the cars. Wide eyed expressions of shock and cries of shock and horror echoed through the group of students as they looked on. Inside the vehicles were other students of their age group. Each one was bleeding and in agony as they beat against the dirty cracked windows. All at once they seemed to jerk back into the darkness of the empty cars and vanish reaching towards their fellow students and pleading for help. Freddy reared his head back and laughed as waves of terror filled the air from the horrified students. Many of them were in tears.

"Hey, asshole," said a lone voice from near the front of the crowd. "Why don't you come down here and say that to my face? It's easy to talk big from up there."

The thing looked down and saw a hat just like his cocked up to peer at him. Ron Weasley had his eyes narrowed and a scowl on his face.

"Ron! No!" gasped Hermione as her eyes went wide. She gripped his arm. "He's a demon, remember?"

The boy cocked his eyebrow and looked at her. "So what?"

She let his arm go and took a step back looking shocked as she realized he meant that.

"Well, Weasley. Got something to say?" asked the intimidating figure that loomed over him. The thing had jumped down about fifteen feet and landed right in front of him. Freddy wasn't a huge grown up, but he was much bigger than Ron.

"Not really." Ron lifted his arm and started firing into Freddy's chest with a pair of handguns with a scowl on his face.

The thing chuckled as it recovered from being backed into the wall of cars. The students had backed away from the scene and were giving it a lot of clearance. "Weren't you listening? You can't win. I'm a demon."

The redhead nodded and pointed his weapons again. "Yes. I know." He opened fire again and kept shooting. Freddy jerked and grunted in irritation, he lifted his hand and bullets bounced off his palm. Ron lowered his weapon and scowled. "I'm not afraid of you. You're not very impressive really. I've been to Hell and I've seen worse. I'm a bit of a demon hunter you see." He cocked his arm back and slugged the thing right across his jaw.

Freddy snarled and slashed at him, but Ron grabbed his arm and twisted it into an arm lock. He grabbed the base of the glove and ripped it off before twisting it around and stabbing the thing in the belly. The monster vanished and left the group standing alone in the junkyard.

There was a silence to the crowd as everyone looked at Ron with wide eyes. All the students were a bit pale, and most of them were in a small state of shock. He tipped his hat back and looked around. "We might as well just stand here. Wandering about won't do any good. It's a dream, so walking is kind of a waste of time. I doubt that killed him, but he's not happy."

"How did you do that?" mumbled Hermione as she backed away from him a little and put her finger up. She looked a bit numb.

Ron shrugged. "I've got him figured out. You can only hurt him if you're not afraid of him. Nasty bastard can still get you even then." He noticed a nick on his hand he'd gotten from the glove. "It's not as easy for him to do if you're not afraid of him. I think it weakens his power. Your fear makes it stronger." He looked over and frowned. "Isn't that right, Malfoy?"

Freddy was standing on top of another stack of cars with a scowl on his face. "You think it matters now? You're all going to stay right here for the rest of the night."

Hermione gasped. "Draco? You...you prick! You'll be expelled for this."

He chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. That's part of her plan."

That got a confused reaction from most of the crowd.

Freddy stretched his arms and appeared to pop his back. "All you lot need to know is this. For tonight, you're all my personal toys. When you wake up tomorrow morning Harry Potter will be dead, and I'll be gone. Well out of your reach."

Ron and Hermione were both in shock. Neither one understood what was going on completely. "Someone is trying to kill Harry...again?" Hermione looked a little weary. "I suppose he'll be all right, but still. This worries me."

The redhead nodded. "Hey. I'll put up with this for the night if it means Draco will be gone forever starting tomorrow." He looked thoughtful. "Wonder who it is? He said 'she'."

"I'm not sure. I don't think any of the female teachers would kill Harry." Hermione seemed confused as well. "Maybe that, 'Rage' character he told us about."

Ron looked thoughtful. "He said she was pretty strong, and she hates him and his sister a whole lot."

Draco looked a bit irate. "It's Anna you idiots." Freddy had vanished. He was dressed in his school robes and had a slender metal object in his hand.

One of the Slytherin forth year boys got an angry look on his face. "Draco? You're doing this? You little bastard, when I wake up I'm going to..."

His head came off in a flash of red light and his body fell to the dirt. It was clawing at the ground without a head as it was dragged into one of the cars. "Every one of you I take makes me stronger." The bulk of the students backed away. Ron pushed Hermione behind him and tipped his hat back as he regarded the boy with a stern frown. "You just don't get it do you? Harry Potter is no longer her student. I am his replacement. I am her apprentice. All of this is her design. Darth Vader will destroy Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, and bring order to this galaxy."

Ron promptly shot him. Draco fell flat on his back and a cloud of dust was kicked up. The redhead just nodded. "I guess I'm just gonna have to kick your ass until you let us wake up then. He's the one keeping us here I'll bet. We make him uncomfortable enough and he'll let us go."

Draco kicked himself up and his lightsaber came on. "That won't be as easy as you make it sound, Weasley."

The boy cocked his eyebrow. "Not really. You see there are forty of us, and one of you. In case you haven't noticed yet, they aren't as nervous as they used to be."

The blond snarled as he looked around. A lot of the students were looking more angry than afraid and several were cracking their knuckles. "I see." His features calmed and he readied his weapon.

Ron shot him in the hand. The weapon clattered to the dust and the next thing the blond boy saw was a fist. "This is a dream. I've seen what Harry and Anna can do, but in this place I can do it too." He slugged the boy in his gut and sent him staggering back.

"Get him!" cried one of the nearby students. There was a battle cry from the rest as they rushed around the unfortunate blond.

OooOOooOO

Anna and Harry Potter were standing on the Slytherin table and hacking at each other as they moved back and forth across the surface. The table was cleared and they both spun in a display of speed and power. Anna was pounding against her brother's weapon. It was like nothing he'd ever experienced before.

Harry jumped back and gasped. "You've gotten stronger." He was used to her using her speed and agility to keep him off balance. She'd never been able to overpower him before.

"Yes," she replied simply as she jumped at him with both weapons coming down in a heavy blow. He dashed to the side and hacked at her side, but it was blocked. She hadn't landed and was tossed through the window and onto the grounds outside. The glass had broken before she impacted it.

She landed lightly on the grass and frowned at him with her weapons in a tight grip. The air was being sucked out of the Great Hall and her brother was thrown off the top of the table and rolled across the ground about ten feet away from her.

He staggered to his feet and gasped for breath while holding his weapon in a defensive posture. "Come and get me then." He turned and ran into a side door of the school.

Anna looked on and strolled after him in a casual walk. "Very well."

OooOOooOO

"What happened? Where are we?" said Hermione as she clutched at her head.

Ron Weasley was standing next to her. They were standing in a hallway in the middle of the school. The redhead blinked as he looked at what was in his grip. He was holding Draco Malfoy by his shirt with his arm cocked back in a punch. "Huh?" He seemed to realize it all at once and gave the blond boy a sock across his jaw before dropping him. "I'm...I think we're near Professor Binns class." There were no other students around them at the time and the green haze on the floor was starting to clear up.

"Awful boy!" snapped Hermione as she kicked Draco in the ribs. He hadn't woken up and looked to be a bit uncomfortable.

"Hey, you hear that?" asked Ron as he cocked his head. "That sounds..."

Hermione gasped and got wide eyed. "Harry!" His wand made a very distinctive sound, and there were angry sounding flashes and pops ahead of them.

"Come on!" cried Ron as he seemed to realize the same thing.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter frowned as he neared the top of a long stairwell. He needed to figure out what was wrong with his sister. He wasn't so sure he could take her alone if he couldn't either. He knew Dumbledore and the other House Heads were alive in the school somewhere, but they were stuck where they were for some reason. He needed to try and hold out until he had help to deal with her. She was much more powerful than she had ever been in the past. "Damn."

She was standing at the top of the stairs and frowning at him. "Going somewhere?" she asked him as her weapons came to life.

Harry set himself and frowned. He put up his weapon in front of himself. "Just trying to clear my head for a moment. Shall we continue?"

"Yes, lets do that," said his sister as she narrowed her eyes. She charged him and they clashed again on the stairs.

The boy was beaten relentlessly by her weapons as she spun and hacked at him with incredible force. She seemed immovable. He was able to defend himself, but his attack was limited.

The redhead backed off and gasped a little. "You've grown stronger than I imagined. A shame."

"Yes, it is," he replied as he realized she was getting a bit winded and he had at least a momentary advantage. He charged and attacked. Her weapons kept up with his and defended her from his strikes, but she was driven back.

After a moment they reached the top of the stairs and a long hallway. Anna jumped back into it and glared at him with a rage and anger in her eyes like he'd never seen. The boy felt a sadness on seeing it unlike any he'd ever felt. "Anna, please. Don't do this."

"It's too late," she replied simply.

"You know that's not true! Remember what happened before!" he cried at her with tears in his eyes.

"I cannot escape my destiny any more than you. You must be...destroyed." Her face hardened after a moment of sadness crossed her features. She stepped back and lowered her weapons.

Harry was ready for it though. The busts, vases, tables, and a suit of armor flew off of the sides of the hall and tossed themselves at him. He dodged and hacked his way through them without taking a hit. "That's not going to work, Anna!"

The girl backed through a door that lead to the outside and stepped onto a long stone bridge. It had a few craters inside of it and bits of rubble still littered across it. One of the balconies was half destroyed. It was the same bridge where her battle with Dracula had taken place.

Harry followed after her. He knew he couldn't escape. The door closed behind him and he readied his weapon.

"Don't worry. I'll destroy Voldemort when I'm finished with you," she said as she readied her weapons. "I'll let your friends live in peace as long as they don't try to avenge you."

Harry looked at the weapon in his hand. "You know that they would."

She gave a nod. "Unfortunately. I will give them the opportunity to let it go though."

"I can't let you do that." He glared at her and his grip loosened.

"Because you fear losing them?" she asked as she turned to face him with her side and held one of her weapons over her head and the other in front of her.

"No. It's because I know what you would do if I don't end this now," he replied simply. "I do not fear returning to the Force. I know they would be strong and give you quite a bit of trouble before they joined me. Not so horrible a fate."

Her stance relaxed a little. "I see. So be it, Jedi." She charged him.

The pair met in the center of the bridge and the loose debris fell off the edges and into the courtyard below as they impacted. The pair pounded and beat on the beams of light that they used to defend and attack with. Neither gave any ground and both were relentless and moved at impossible speed.

"Harry!" cried a familiar voice from behind them. Hermione ran out onto the bridge a little ways and Ron grabbed her arm to hold her back and away.

The boy ignored them. Anna tried to take advantage of what she thought would be a momentary lapse of concentration by him.

He turned and sidestepped her hacking strike and put his shoulder into her chest.

They both went still. Anna's weapons shut down and she leaned into him, grabbing him in a hug. "You..."

"Anna, I'm sorry." Her brother had his eyes closed and was in tears.

"Good job, Harry. I'm sorry. Forgive me," she whispered.

"Harry! No!" screamed Ron as he released the girl's arm and stepped towards him.

Hermione staggered forward looking horrified at what was in front of her. "No! No! Harry!"

The boy realized he felt numb and slumped down to his knees as his sister fell onto her back from his arms and died before she hit the ground. Her eyes were open and a tear fell down her cheek. It took him a moment to realize she had two wounds in her chest.

He looked down at his shirt and saw the red wound in the middle of his chest. His sister had stabbed him through the back after she had grabbed onto him. "I..." He looked up at his friends and fell onto his side as the world faded out of existence.

He heard the cries of his friends and felt one of them touch his shoulder before it all just vanished.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter was on his back on a wooden floor. The sky overhead was pitch black with not a single star. There was light from a nearby lamppost and it flickered with several others. He groaned and sat up. "Oh. Where am I?" He looked around and scratched his head. "King's Cross?"

"No. This is the place between life and death," commented a familiar voice.

The boy jumped to his feet and spun around.

Anakin Skywalker was standing behind him. He looked as he did during the Clone Wars and smiled at the boy. "You did well, my Padwan."

"Anna?" he muttered in confusion. "Life and Death?" He looked confused and gasped. "You...you killed me? You brat!"

The man scowled at him. "Knock it off. It won't do any good to get upset about it now." She looked over and frowned. Sitting on a nearby bench was a crying baby. It was dirty and sickly looking and was sniffling quietly.

"Huh?" Her brother took notice of it and felt a surge of emotion. Anger, hatred, rage, he was pretty upset about being dead. He pushed it back and shook his head. "What? We...killed each other."

His sister turned to face him, looking as he knew her again. "Yes. You were the last Horcrux. Your scar specifically. To destroy him you had to die."

He gasped and looked at her with wide eyes. "What?" His eyes fell to the ground. "Then that prophecy was talking about you? You died too though...so..."

The redhead shook her head. "No, it speaks of you. I've become aware of something else. Something I must deal with. I shall not remain at your side long."

He looked annoyed but seemed to calm himself. "How? We're dead. Neither of us is going anywhere anymore."

She shook her head. "We have not yet returned to the Force."

"How are we going to get back then?" Harry cocked his eyebrow. "Last time I heard about dying it was made pretty clear that there's not really a way out of this, Anna. We stabbed each other through the heart and that's not just going to get better!" He was obviously still upset with her over his recent death. "You could have just told me about the Horcrux you know. I'm sure we..."

"Killing you was the only way to be rid of it. I knew I couldn't keep you from the start. It was a shame really. I didn't expect both of us to end up here, but it's a blessing in disguise. A silver lining I suppose." She glanced at him and gave a small sigh. She looked over at the child. "Unfortunate that I cannot leave him here as well."

"Huh?" Harry was confused and it lessened the effects of his temper. He had his arms crossed and didn't look very pleased with her. "What do you mean? Silver lining? Why can't you leave 'him' here?" He knew exactly what she meant by 'him'.

"Unlike Voldemort 'he' is not a foreign entity. He will always be a part of me. I cannot be rid of him any more than you could be rid of your own shadow. It may be hidden but it is always there." She sat down on the bench and flickered for a moment.

Harry gasped and looked on as a dark figure appeared seated where she was. He was clothed in black, electronics were present on his chest, and a dark helmet and mask covered his face. He looked cautious but the figure looked weary more than angry. "What difference does it make now? We're dead. How exactly do you plan on getting out of this anyway? There isn't really a way to fix it." He looked over his shoulder and frowned at the girl.

The dark figure vanished, leaving his sister seated on the bench this time. She seemed to cheer up. "Didn't think that dream was so literal. You of all people should know that death is not all powerful. It can be undone, though it's not usually recommended." She sighed and stood up dusting off her knees. "We've got no choice but to try. Voldemort isn't finished yet, and I cannot ignore what lies hidden in the darkness. There are dark times ahead for us both, but not so much that we should just give up on living now." Anna lifted her nose up and called into the air with her fists balled up at her side. "We challenge Death to a Rock off!"

Harry's face fell. "What? Are you joking? A rock off? Really?" He seemed a bit miffed at the idea. He paused as he realized he felt cold, and a tall cloaked figure appeared before them.

The specter pulled back his hood, revealing a bald head and white skin with an unpleasant looking grin on his face. He spoke in a thick Norwegian accent. "Very well. I accept."

The redhead glared at the being before them and Harry moved up to her side as she spoke to him. "If we win, you must take that pathetic piece of Voldemort to wherever it is he belongs, and you must also return us to life."

"If I win..." started Death.

"Then your souls are mine!" A ball of flames appeared before them and a red skinned demon glared at them.

Harry gasped. "That's..."

"Yes, as in that dream," replied his sister with a nod.

The boy looked confused and seemed to relax all at once. "This isn't going as I expected."

Anna was very peaceful and had a serious expression on her face. She looked at the demon and death without fear and straightened her posture. "Fine. No rematches. One song each, the best one wins. You can go first."

The Demon laughed and a guitar appeared in its claws. Several minor demons appeared around it and Death played bass on a large cello. The band belted out an uber hard metal song with amazing chord work. It was a supernatural force of music, extremely complex and difficult. It was masterfully played.

Anna and Harry stood and looked on. The boy looked at his sister. "That was something."

The redhead smiled and nodded. "You already know what to play, don't you?"

He frowned at her. "We're not supposed to..."

"...play it in concert or make a recording. Do you really think they'll be mad at us for using it to save our souls and give ourselves the chance to finish our own destiny?" finished his sister as guitars appeared on their shoulders.

Harry cocked his head and nodded. "Ah. I suppose you have a point. It's fun to play We might not get the chance again for a while."

"Isn't it though?" said the girl.

Anna and Harry Potter played the best song in the world. The demon snarled at them. "Be you angels?"

The twins smirked at him and continued to play. "Nay, we are but men, Rock!" Then went into their solo trance and Death hung his head. The demon and his band vanished in flames leaving them alone with the specter of death.

The tall pale hooded figure waved his hand and spoke with spite in his voice after they finished playing. "Come on then."

Harry glanced over his shoulder and noticed the baby was now gone. Nothing but wisps of smoke and a few glowing embers remained where it had been. "I see."

Anna looked over her shoulder and frowned at her brother. "Come on. Death is busy, and we don't want to be gone too long."

He looked up at her and nodded. "Right."

OooOOooOO

He saw white and his ears were ringing. A moment of fumbling and jerking about later and Harry Potter found himself looking on as Madam Pomphrey screamed bloody murder. McGonagal slumped to the floor in a dead faint, and Dumbledore stood looking on with his jaw hanging. "Merlin! It...cannot be!"

"Ouch," grumbled Anna as she kicked her legs over the side of her bed and hung her head. "Coming back from the dead is a bit unpleasant." She and her brother both looked a bit stiff.

Harry glanced back at her and frowned. "I hope you're over that."

She looked weary and gave a nod. "You've won. I now know I cannot remain a Sith." She lifted her eyes up to look at him. "Don't look at me that way. It was our destiny. You had to be destroyed. It was the only way."

He frowned at her. "You planned this."

"I knew I would face you one day, but what you faced was not an act," her eyes grew firm but remained clear. "I fell, again. A fool who was blind to my own weakness. My fear...consumed me." She shuddered and clutched at her arms. She sobbed. "All this, and I have learned nothing. Just as before, I walked into the darkness freely."

The boy looked saddened. "Anna...you."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I'm going to need an explanation for all this."

Anna nodded and hopped to her feet. She was looking better and seemed to loosen up a little. "Very well. Harry, come here."

"Huh?" he looked confused and stood up. "What is it? Shouldn't we just tell them?"

She took her wand from her robes and looked at it with a frown on her face. It fell apart and the crystal inside shattered as it hit the floor with the various parts of the weapon. She put her hand on her brother's shoulder and looked at him with a most serious expression. "Give me your lightsaber."

He looked reluctant, but something in her tone got to him. He took it from his side and handed it to her. "What are you doing? We've got to explain this."

She nodded. "Yes. I know. Kneel."

"Huh?" he cocked his head and glanced back at the confused teachers. Snape was standing behind it all, still not quite recovered from the shock of seeing the pair sit up. They both had holes burned into their chests and were quite dead. He had examined them both quite closely, and a bit of color was just starting to return to his face. The man had been silent, but had a lost look on his face up to that point.

"Just do it," she replied as she smiled at him in a genuine way. It confused him even more he'd not seen such a look from her in a long time. There was no anger or fear in her, only pride and a somber sort of joy and relief. He didn't feel threatened at all but seemed a bit reluctant and confused.

"Anna, are you all right? That was something, maybe you should..." She pushed on his shoulder and he fell to one knee.

"Shush," she replied as she stepped back and ignited the weapon in her hand. The blue blade hummed and she touched his shoulders with the tip. "Harry Potter, I confer unto you the rank of Jedi Knight. There is nothing more I can teach you. Your trials have been met, and your training under my guidance is now finished." She shut the weapon down and turned the hilt towards him. "Rise now, Jedi."

The boy took his weapon and scratched his head. "Um...what?"

"The time for us to part ways has come. I could not create a better trial for you than what has happened here. Goodbye, Harry." She turned towards Dumbledore and walked up to him. "I suppose we must have a talk then. Where is Malfoy?"

The old man gave a serious looking nod. "Yes. He has been taken into custody. We found him in the hall surrounded by some rather irate students. He is fortunate that a few of the prefects kept the others at bay so that he could be brought to the faculty. Though he did not escape without a few minor injuries. It was discovered he was posing as that monster and invading people's dreams. I'm afraid there will be a price payed here. This is no small matter."

The girl nodded as Snape walked up beside her. "Potter, you're in serious trouble." There was surprisingly little heat to his tone as he said it. He looked very somber, but also calm to a point that was unusual for him.

She glanced at him and felt her gut twist a little. It wasn't fear, but she knew she'd betrayed him as well. "I know. Malfoy is not to blame for this. I was the one who taught him how to do that, and I obviously brewed that sleeping potion. I am the true monster here. This was all my design and he is nothing more than my apprentice."

Dumbledore and Snape both paused and looked down at her.

"I'm very much aware of what this means for me." She stopped and kept her head low.

"You can expect to be confined and isolated. You are no longer free here, Potter," commented Snape with a snarl in his tone.

"Yes, I know," she responded as she followed them.

OooOOooOO

"You know this cannot go unpunished," Dumbledore had a grave frown on his face. It had been three hours since she had woken from the dead.

"We've got no choice in the matter," said Snape as he looked out the window with his arms crossed.

"Yes. I'm afraid once word of this spreads there is nothing we can do. It is already too late to bother with even an attempt to contain this matter," agreed the Headmaster.

Malfoy was scowling with his arms crossed as he glared at the redhead beside him. "A fine mess you've gotten us into."

"I am aware of that," she responded simply. "We are to be expelled."

The old man sat down and stroked his beard. "I'm afraid so."

"And taken into custody," responded a new voice. Rufus Scrigmour appeared in front of the fireplace and scowled at the girl. "Anna Potter, you are under arrest." Three Aurors appeared at his side through the flue system.

"On what charge?" asked a quiet and hissing voice. A short creature with a long nose and a sharp toothed grin appeared at the man's side. He had a briefcase, a powdered wig, and business suit on and looked up at the intimidating man.

"She has broken several laws. Attacking the minds of her fellow students, disrupting the entire school, and she no longer has the right to carry a wand." The man puffed out his chest.

"Since when is giving people nightmares a criminal offense? I'll wager you are guilty of that yourself, Auror. I've read the report. Disrupting classes is also not a criminal offense, and only the school has authority to punish that. She's committed no crimes, broken no wizarding law. You have nothing to charge her with. Whatever Hogwarts chooses to do will be enough, as she has only broken their rules and guidelines. The Ministry has no jurisdiction here. Touch her, and I'll rake you across the coals in litigation. I really hope you do." The Goblin lawyer leered at the man and turned away. He glanced back at his redheaded client. "I'll be in touch, call me if the situation changes."

She gave him a nod and looked at Scrimgour. The man was livid, but had lost a lot of his steam. Dumbledore sighed and nodded. "I'm afraid, Rufus, that he is correct. She has broken no wizarding laws here. It amounts to nothing more than a vicious prank, and Hogwarts alone has the authority to decide on her punishment. She will be expelled along with Mr. Malfoy."

"What?" snapped the blond boy with wide eyes as he started to stand up.

Anna jerked him down to his seat again. "Sit down and shut up."

He worked his jaw and looked at her in shock. "Expelled? Your plan failed. What do we do now?"

"That's right, and if you think I'm just letting you go you can forget it," she replied simply. She had a strange calm to her tone now. It was a little unnerving. "You are still my student. Unless you think you can have a go of it alone? How long do you really think you'll last, Malfoy?"

"I..." He hung his head and growled. "What are you doing? Do something."

Scrimgour grinned at him. "There's nothing she can do. Not going to be buying or talking her way out of it this time I'm afraid. Now, I'll be needing yer wand, miss. You aren't permitted to carry one as a minor unless you are attending wizarding school." He leered at her. "You may submit the proper paperwork to retrieve it once you've enrolled in another Academy. I'd suggest just buying another anyway as it will likely take several months to process."

"It was destroyed," said Dumbledore simply. "I have several witnesses that will testify to this, including myself."

Snape nodded. "Yes. She destroyed it for some reason when she woke up."

Anna looked up at him. "Malfoy, hand over your weapon."

"What?" gasped the boy. "I..."

She glared at him and frowned. "Do it. You do not need that weapon anymore."

He looked reluctant and pulled out his wand. "Yes...master." He was seething as he handed it over to the head Auror.

"If there is nothing else you have no business here. I gave people nightmares and you've got no case." She looked up at him and smirked. "We'll be meeting again, don't worry."

The overbearing man nodded. "Count on it." He turned and left.

Dumbledore stood up with his hands behind his back. "You will be returning home, the both of you. Neither one of you may return to Hogwarts. You will never be students here again. Any requests for enrollment will be denied."

Anna gave a simple nod. Draco looked mortified. "My father..." His face got dark. It wasn't like there was much the old man could do to him. Still, his family would be far from pleased, especially considering his company.

The redhead looked at him. "We'll be traveling to Wales. I've made arrangements there already. I expected to destroy him, and I had already made plans for after our expulsion. I failed, but my plans do not need to go to waste."

The old man narrowed his eyes at her. "Tell me what went on here. You thought you could get away with murdering your own brother here at Hogwarts?"

The girl gave a sad and almost wistful smile. "Harry Potter was the final Horcrux. I knew I would kill him one day. I've always known. I've pushed it away, tried to deny it, but the fear finally took me. I fell to the dark side, gave into my rage, and tried to destroy him. It was our destiny to destroy each other."

Dumbledore's frown deepened. "I see."

Snape frowned at that. "He's not dead."

"I noticed," replied the girl simply.

"You do realize this is no small matter. If you're traveling to Wales, I expect you'll be looking into Magecraft. It's different than wizarding in many ways. It's a life of servitude and hardship. You will be expected to use your gifts for the benefit of all mankind, but cannot reveal magic to the Muggles. It is thankless and difficult work, and you'll be contracted to do it for quite some time I'm afraid. If you were to graduate, you would be a member of the Mage's Guild, and you will be expected to act as such at all times until you have completed your term of service."

Anna gave him a genuine looking smile. "Yes. I'm very aware of that. It will be...surprisingly familiar to an old Jedi."

That caught both Snape and Dumbledore off guard. Each of them gave her an odd stare and settled back a bit. "I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean," commented Dumbledore after a long silence.

"Draco and I are going to pledge our service to the Mage's Guild. I have come to realize that my part in this fight is finished. I have done all I can to help my brother destroy him, and I cannot follow a personal vendetta, nor can I protect him. I must let him go. It is time." She hung her head a little as she said this. "I cannot remain here. It is time for me to part ways with Hogwarts and my brother. Draco will become my new Padawan." She glanced at him. "He doesn't have a choice in the matter. If I were to leave him on his own he'd either get himself killed, or become as dangerous as I was. I do hope you understand this at least. Once someone can take control of the Force it cannot be undone. Well, it can, but it takes a very long time, and several rather powerful Jedi. I'm afraid I have neither one on hand, yet."

Draco snorted. "Are you joking? Do you really think that I..."

"I'm not asking you. I said you are my student, and I am not letting you go. If you do not come with me you will be on your own. The Sith would see you destroyed, and my Brother and I will always be beyond you." The girl looked only half interested. "Your father won't be difficult to convince. He's aware of what his Master will do if you remain with your family. You've not been very secretive about what you really think of that pathetic meat puppet he's become. You're not safe there and you run your mouth too freely for him to think so."

The blond boy glared at her and hung his head. "Yes...master."

"Good," she responded. "I'll be seeing you soon enough."

Snape looked angry and had his arms crossed. "Potter, I don't think you understand the gravity of..."

"I am very well aware of what is happening. Must I really explain it? I have known I would not remain here for quite some time now. My leaving Hogwarts was inevitable, axiomatic. It is a facet of my destiny I could not change." She glanced at him and smirked. "You're a good man, one who realizes that he once was not. You've taken steps to correct it, but you feel it is your duty to not show it. I've come to admire and respect you in some ways. He will return. There is no preventing it, and you will think you should return to his side and do your duty to those you have sworn loyalty to. Don't go to him or he will read you as easily as I just have, and you will be killed instantly. At a distance you have some protection. Draw near to him, and he will know the real you in an instant and strike you down. Do not take my warning lightly, Professor, I do wish to see you again someday. You are no longer useful as a spy. Find other ways to make yourself useful."

The man's jaw was hanging and he had gone very pale. "Wh-what?"

Draco was looking up at him with wide eyes and a hanging jaw. "What are you babbling about? Professor Snape? Are you stupid?"

She glared at him. "You keep your mouth shut. Don't take me lightly on this."

Both adults gave a bit of a start as the boy went still and silent as he settled in his seat. "It had better be bloody worth it, Potter."

The girl smirked at him in a not so nice way. "Think you'll ever beat him without me? Come now Draco, it's not just fear that's keeping you in line. I'm not stupid."

The boy flushed and closed up tightly with his arms crossed. "Shut it, Potter. We're in it enough already."

Snape turned to the window to scowl at the grounds. "I'm not so sure I like the sound of this."

The old man nodded. "Indeed. Potter, you seem to have had all this planned. I'm not sure how much of it, but you had a hand in guiding these events to a certain conclusion. I'd like to know what that is."

Anna seemed to think on that and smiled at him with her eyes squinted a little. "Well, I am Salazar's Heir. I knew we'd never really see eye to eye. To put it simply, I'm going to change the world forever. The Force may be a mystical energy by nature, but it is not what you call magic. The Wizarding world has no claim to it, or the use of its power. I have no intention of handing it over, and intend to stake my claim to institutionalizing its use. I intend to start a new order, one that the Ministry of Magic and the Wizarding world have no say in. We are not using the same power, and you have no claim in dictating how we use it. We can handle that for ourselves. We have no intention of hiding from the world as the Wizards do, nor do we intend to drag Wizarding into the world with us."

Dumbledore stood up and narrowed his eyes at the scene. "I warn you. The Ministry will be keeping an eye on you. If what you say is true I'm afraid I cannot guarantee your safety. The Ministry will not take such a thing sitting down."

The girl smiled at him. "I am grateful, and I understand this must be done. I'm also not stupid. I have no intention of breaking any rules and falling into the hands of the Minsitry before the time is right. I assure you that I'll be irritating Scrimgour for quite some time in the future."

The old man leaned forward a little and seemed very serious. "You are treading a dangerous path. You speak of an offense that could well mean your execution."

Anna nodded. "It is one I must walk. I cannot prepare for what I must face here. Harry will be fine and his training is complete. I, on the other hand, have only begun ours." She glanced at Malfoy and gave him a smile unlike he'd seen directed at him from her before. "I have become aware of a threat beyond Voldemort. I must be ready for the next challenge, a darkness of his making that is beyond even him. She waits in the darkness, strong already, and growing more so with each passing day."

"Quit looking at me that way! It's disgusting!" he snapped.

"She?" growled Snape as he looked interested.

"I see only a shadow," responded the redhead. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "It cannot be ignored, and grows more clouded with time. The dark side is very strong with this one. I am not ready for it, but I must be when the time comes."

"Heh. Maybe I should join her then?" commented Draco.

Anna smirked at him. "She has already chosen another. You would only be used and destroyed."

He scowled at her and turned his head away.

"I see. Wales?" Dumbledore gave a heavy sigh.

"It suits its purpose," she replied simply. "I have not wasted my time here, but it is not my destiny to remain."

Snape snorted. "Destiny. A fine excuse."

Mrs. Warwick had entered the room during the conversation and was standing silently in the corner up to that point. "Then, I shall see you there when you arrive. Tell me one thing. Why did you do this?"

"Fear, anger, jealousy, take your pick. I am guilty of them all," she replied simply.

"Jealousy?" muttered Dumbledore.

"Of my brother of course, there are lots of reasons, but the big one is that I wanted to kill 'You Know Who' myself. It is ironic that my original motivation was to protect him from it. I see that is not my path now. It was never meant to be." She frowned and looked up at her divination tutor. "It was my destiny, and I could not escape it no matter how hard I tried." She hung her head. "I'll miss it here, but the Force has shown me the path I must walk."

Malfoy was getting upset. "What? That's all you've got to say?"

Mrs. Warwick gave a firm nod. "It is enough I suppose. I shall see you in Wales. I'm aware of where you'll be attending, and you can expect to see me there. We will continue our work there." She was very firm and wasn't really asking. She scowled at her student. "Expelled. Your parents will be beside themselves. I'm terribly disappointed, but your gift is too strong to go unchecked. I cannot abandon you. Though I would if the situation concerning your gifts was not so dour." The woman was not happy, but seemed to understand what she was saying on some level as well. More than the others in the room, but not so much as to forgive what she'd done either.

"What am I supposed to tell my parents?" growled Malfoy.

Anna looked at him and shrugged. "I'm not sure. I'm kind of wondering that myself." She looked at the adults. "It seems we'll have a bit of time to think about it. I imagine this involves a bit of paperwork."

"Not as much as you think," replied a familiar and stern voice from behind her.

Anna turned and cringed. "Oh. Hello, Mom."

Lucius Malfoy was beside her with a scowl of his own directed at her. "What have you done to my son?"

"Father, let her be. This was my doing," Malfoy didn't speak up for her sake, but rather his father's. He wanted the man to shut up and get him out of there. "I did it willingly."

The man turned his eyes on him. "Don't think I don't know that you're terrified of that girl. She made you do this. I know it."

Lily scowled at him for his remarks, but looked towards her daughter and didn't speak up. "Well, Anna. Care to explain this to us? I'm not so sure I should be angry with him for saying those things."

The girl swallowed and worked her mouth. "Um. Well. I know I killed Harry, but it's not like he stayed dead..."

"Did you do something to this boy?" she repeated the question in a simpler format.

"Well, yes. He's sort of my apprentice. I've been teaching him how to use his power, but we sort of got off on a bad trend..." She was very nervous and didn't look the woman in the eyes.

"A bad trend you say?" growled the woman. "You've been expelled from Hogwarts. I'd say it's a bit more than that."

The faculty were all keeping their distance and sitting around the edges of the room.

"Yes. Do tell," growled Lucius.

The girl gave a heavy sigh. "We gave the school bad dreams...and um...I plotted to kill my brother. Malfoy hates him, and well...I sort of forced him to be my apprentice. We made the students sleep walk to distract the faculty and put them into a dream world...where we um...tortured them. I used that to get Harry on his own, and we killed each other. Then some other stuff happened and we're not dead anymore."

"Why did you kill your brother? Wha? You and Harry get on famously! What were you thinking?" His mother was confused and on the edge of rage.

Anna looked at her. "Because, when he survived 'You Know Who's' curse, he became the final horcrux. Our enemy has no more left, and he has become vulnerable." She smirked for a moment as her expression became rather dark. Her face calmed and she looked a little downcast. "He cannot create another without at least one in place. He's died once already, and there isn't really anything left he can use as an anchor. Though he may still return he is but an empty shell. Don't think that means he is not still both powerful and dangerous. Harry will destroy him, but do not think it will happen without hardship. The way has been opened, and dark times draw near before that moment happens."

Lucius Malfoy went as white as a ghost. "What did you say?" He looked confused and surprised.

Dumbledore was wide eyed and standing at his desk. Snape had much the same reaction as Lucius. Mrs. Warwick let a small gasp escape her lips.

Lily looked around the room and seemed a bit confused. "What? What does that mean?"

"So, you destroyed your brother so that the prophecy could be completed. I cannot condone such an act, but I suppose that is as noble a reason as..." started Dumbledore.

Anna hung her head and balled up her fist. "No. I wanted to destroy him, and eliminate Voldemort myself. I had no such noble intentions. I was weak, and my fear took me as it did before. I became what I once was, and I cannot walk that path again. It is as dangerous for me to remain here as it would be for you to keep me. Leaving this place is not unexpected."

"What do you mean?" said her mother in confusion.

Dumbledore stood up. "I see. You do not know then."

"Know what?" said Lily as she glanced at him.

The girl looked up at her with a sad expression. "In my past life, I was not a very nice person. It was pretty bad."

"How bad?" asked her mother as she narrowed her eyes.

"I'm so not going there," replied her daughter with wide eyes.

Lily straightened up and brushed her hands off on her skirt. "I see."

"What the hell is that brat anyway?" snarled Lucius as he pointed at her. "I for one would very much like to hear what sort of person she 'used' to be."

Anna looked at Draco and frowned. The boy just nodded at her. Wherever it was she was going, he was tagging along for the ride. He had no illusions of trying to get out of it. It was too dangerous without her, but he wasn't so sure staying with her wasn't even more dangerous. He was going to have to calm his father down and talk him into it. He didn't think he'd have much trouble considering what he'd done to the man in the past. "Father, shut it. I hate to say this, but you're in over your head. She's not to be toyed with, and I'm not finished with her yet."

Lily narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Is that some kind of threat?"

He smirked at her with a dark look in his eyes. "No. I'm still her apprentice."

"Have you gone mad?" cried Lucius. "I won't stand for this! She's done enough damage! You are forbidden!"

Anna hung back and looked at the scene from her mother's grip. She'd moved a bit to close and the woman had the back of her neck in a somewhat uncomfortable grip. She said nothing and turned her eyes away.

Draco stood up. "I suppose this is goodbye to Hogwarts then. Just take me home. I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. I'm not giving up this kind of power and I don't care how much you don't like it. I'm going to finish this no matter what you say." He glanced at her. "Nothing to say, Master?"

"Like you have any choice in the matter," she replied simply. Her neck pinched painfully.

"Anna! You stop that this instant! Leave that boy alone!" cried her mother as she pulled her up to her side by the back of her neck.

She looked up at her mother and frowned. "If I do that he will die. I have as little choice in the matter as he does. He must be trained. It's too late for him to turn back. His life depends on it."

Lucius bowed his back. "So, it seems your daughter likes threats as well."

Malfoy frowned at him. "Didn't I tell you to shut up? She's talking about the others. There are more like us and I'm not strong enough to fight them alone. I'd only be killed, and they will kill us both if they can. With her, I can learn to fight them. There's nothing you can do but get in the way and die. Though, I doubt you'd go that far considering." He glared at the man. "You know what she's capable of. You've seen it yourself. Don't push this."

Lily took note of that and frowned. "What do you mean?"

Lucius scowled at his son. "Watch yourself, boy."

"Yes. I have met one such person. I'm afraid in that regard he speaks the truth. It was not a pleasant meeting," said Dumbledore as walked around his desk and leaned against the edge. He looked at the children. "I do wish the both of you luck. Though I cannot change my decision, I cannot say that I do not have hope. Godspeed, the both of you."

"It's time for us to go," said Lily as she turned towards the fireplace. "You can expect your father to give you a good chewing out, and I'm far from finished with you myself young lady."

Anna decided silence was best and was tugged by her mother into position as she gripped a portkey in her hand from her pocket and apparated them both away.

The elder Malfoy took his son by his arm roughly. "We'll discuss this at home. I'd like to know what it is you plan to do after this. You seem to know quite a bit about that. That redheaded scab has been filling your head with ..."

Malfoy glared at his father from his grip with a smile on his face. It wasn't a pleasant look by any stretch. "Just take us home. I'll try to talk slow enough for you to understand what I told you earlier. I've got no choice but to follow her, and you can't do anything to stop it."

The pair vanished from the office leaving the faculty standing around the room.

"That worries me," commented Snape. "It seems unlike Lucius Malfoy to take such cheek from his son. I'm not entirely comfortable with what I just saw."

Mrs. Warwick nodded at that. "I'll be keeping an eye on that situation myself. I'll be collecting my things now as I've no reason to remain at Hogwarts. I will meet her in Wales and continue what I have started here."

Dumbledore was stroking his beard. "Severus, my old friend. I'm afraid I'm inclined to agree. However, there is little any of us can do. They are now beyond the scope of our influence."

Snape nodded and crossed his arms. "That may have been her plan from the start. I've little doubt Draco will remain her student."

The old man gave a sigh. "Perhaps it will do them both some good?"

"I worry more about what it could mean for the rest of us. You do realize just how powerful those two have become? The two of them managed to create a dreamworld and possess every student in the school at once. I'm sure there was a potion involved as well as this mysterious power, but that doesn't change what she and her rather surprising accomplice managed to pull off under our noses. I would also remind that barrier she managed to trap the House Heads in was no small matter. We would have been trapped for quite some time if I hadn't been able to brew up the counter. I doubt it was coincidental that the counter was a potion that took four hours to brew properly." Snape turned away and his cloak fluttered as he exited the room. Mrs. Warwick followed just after him.

Dumbledore rubbed at his temples and folded his hands on his desk. His face went rather vacant and he spoke out loud to himself. "Nor do I think it was coincidence that all the ingredients and equipment needed were on hand. I have a feeling I know what she intends to do. I do wish her the best of luck in finding her way." All he could do was hope and keep an eye on the situation. He was relieved that Mrs. Warwick would be following her. She was an old friend, and would gladly keep him informed about the pair. Anna in particular.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter frowned as he looked out the window of Gryfindor Tower. He was resting against the sill and had his arm draped across one knee. No one bothered him, but Ron gave him a reassuring shake on his shoulder as he passed by. Anna was gone and out of his reach. It was kind of annoying as it had just gotten to the point where it might have been a lot more fun to be around her. It was a little depressing having her gone.

The boy wasn't really as upset as everyone seemed to think he was. It had gone rather well in his opinion. A lot of the students were understandably angry at her, as well as most of the teaching staff. They viewed it as justice that had been served. There was a wave of relief over Slytherin, though none of them would likely admit it. Everybody seemed to think he was the hero, and that he was upset with what had happened between them. That wasn't the case.

It did bother him that she'd killed him of course. However, considering she had also gotten him out of it he could be forgiving. He furrowed his brow and scowled. "Hmm. I'm not her student anymore so she can't get back at me that way. She's sneaky enough to have timed it this way on purpose." He had a feeling she knew she would eventually be leaving Hogwarts before she graduated. She'd hinted at it before but he didn't make the connection till after the fact.

The boy pushed off the window and headed towards the stairs to the dorms. "Well, that's just more time to plan then."

Hermione walked up and her face fell a little. "Huh? Are you all right? You're plotting revenge aren't you? I mean, sure she killed you, but she is your sister. I'm not saying don't get back at her, just don't get arrested, all right?"

He got a little wide eyed and opened his mouth. After a moment he closed it and looked thoughtful. "Well, actually I am plotting revenge. She turned me into a Togruta girl. I'm grateful for it on some level, but my professional pride won't stand for me putting up with it without some sort of payback." He narrowed his eyes.

The girl was thoroughly confused by this, considering she'd killed him it was odd that he'd suggest that the most grievous offense she'd committed was his dream form. She frowned at him as she realized he looked a little amused. "Nevermind, I don't want to know."

He gave her a good natured grin. "That's a first."

She swatted his arm and seemed to think he was using humor to hide his feelings. "Quit being a jerk. It must be awful. Your own sister tried to kill you."

"I'm not really mad at her for killing me. It turns out that when 'You Know Who' failed to kill me he turned my scar into a Horcrux. It gave him some sort of psychic connection to me or something and made him stronger." He sighed and looked annoyed. "Anyway, the only way to get rid of it was for me to die. In other words, I had to die at least once to destroy 'You Know Who'. Otherwise the Horcrux in my scar would keep him from dying."

The girl worked her mouth open and closed. "Wait, what?" She scowled at him and shook her finger. "Don't you try and turn what that brat did into a good thing. She's perfectly awful. I don't like her." She looked confused again. "What's a Horcrux anyway?"

Harry nodded and ignored her last question. "Yes. I can understand that. Look, she got better and saved me in the end. It was because of her that we came back to life. In an odd way, this almost seemed planned. I don't think Darth Vader was the only one thinking about the future."

"You have completely lost me. I'm talking about your sister," she hung her head and drooped her arms a bit.

"Oh. So am I." He nodded and seemed cheerful. It was a little fun to tease her that way. He didn't want to overdo it. "Look. I know it's going to sound weird, but I'm not that mad at her. I'd rather be able to keep an eye on her, but I know her well enough to know she'll be all right. I'm not very worried about her to be honest. I..." He looked thoughtful. "I still believe in her. Despite everything. She has always come through in the end. Now if I can just get her to do it to begin with. I'm hoping she'll figure that out on her own. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's her plan."

She looked quite done with the subject. "You are so strange."

He shrugged and yawned. "Sorry. I'm going to get some sleep. We'll have the morning off, but afternoon classes will still be on. We've got Double Potions with Slytherin tomorrow afternoon."

That did little to help her mood. "Great."

OooOOooOO

Anna Potter was in her room, the door was closed and no sound was coming from inside. She'd not gotten to say goodbye to her brother or her friends. The two adults had berated and scolded her for the better part of two hours once they'd brought her home.

James was sitting on the couch running his hands through his hair. "Well, at least we know she'll be all right. It's not like she'll need to find work."

Lily scowled at him, but refrained from scolding him. He was trying to look at the bright side, and he was right about it. "I don't believe this. Expelled. She tortured the other students with some sort of...I don't know." She hung her head and looked at a large pile of angry letters from other parents from the school. "What happened? I never expected something like this." She started to cry and simply glared forward looking confused. "That blank stare she kept giving while we scolded her. It was like she couldn't even hear us." The girl had no reaction to her scolding at all. She seemed to just shut down and stood in silence without looking at either one of them.

Her father shook his wife by the shoulder and didn't know what to say. She'd answered them both when asked to respond. It was a quiet monotone voice and limited to short simple answers. "I don't know what to make of her. Why would she do something like this? I don't understand."

The girl's mother stood up, marched up to her daughter's bedroom door and pushed it open. "Why? Why did you do this?"

She was simply sitting cross legged in the middle of the room with her eyes closed. "I couldn't let it go. It was more important than you think." She opened her eyes and stood up to look at the woman. "Maybe you never will, but I cannot remain so near to him. I had to let him go, and it almost destroyed me." She cocked her head a little and frowned. "There is no explanation I can give for this that will satisfy you. I am sorry, but I cannot undo what I have done. I'm afraid I have nothing to say. It would be fruitless and lead only to frustration for both of us if I tried to explain further."

She looked confused and her face contorted. "This is about some boy?" She didn't look pleased.

"Your son. For a long time I have cared for him, raised him, and taught him. I couldn't let go, and it is time for us to part ways for a time. I could not change this." She seemed very calm and almost emotionless.

"So you killed him?!" cried her mother.

The girl looked up at her with the maddening calm she'd had since they had returned her home. "Yes. It was the only way to free us. Me from my fear, and him from his curse. I could no longer deny that he was ready."

The red haired woman looked frustrated. "What the hell does that mean, Annabelle?"

She sat back down and closed her eyes. "Only that sometimes Destiny cannot be changed. It does not matter how hard you try to fight it, or how badly you wish it would."

Her mother decided she'd had enough and slammed the door in her wake. Anna gave a heavy sigh and went back to her meditation. After a moment of restless sitting, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her tarot deck. On the top of the deck was death. The girl's eyes closed and she stood up and walked over to her dresser. She took a chain with a small cheap charm off of her neck and looked at it. It was the one Cedric had gotten her as a gift. She placed the chain and charm into her palm and put it inside a small jewelry box before carefully closing the lid. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to open it again. A tear ran down her face as she walked back and sat down in the middle of the floor to meditate again.

OooOOooOO

Harry Potter had an odd look on his face as he walked out of Honeydukes Sweets in Hogsmead. He paused outside the door to the shop and looked at the bag in his hand with one of his eyebrows arched.

Ron noticed it first. "What's up? Did you forget something?" Parvati was on his arm with a lollipop in her mouth. She looked interested, but not enough to speak up.

Hermione shrugged and grinned. "Well, we're still here and we've got plenty of time."

Neville, Margaret, Pansy, and Melvin were all behind them with smaller bags of their own. Margaret ignored the scene and called a bunny over. It consumed the children's bags and followed behind them looking pleased and alert to a disturbing level.

Harry shook his head and handed the bag over to the creature. It swallowed it whole with a great amount of vigor. "I've not forgotten anything."

Pansy cocked her eyebrow. "You've got an odd look on your face. What is it?"

The boy chuckled and scratched the back of his head with a blush on his face. "I just realized that I've just bought a bag of sweets to bring back to my son."

Hermione's face fell a little. "Huh?"

Harry blushed a bit more and looked down. "It's a bit strange. Not bad or anything, but I hadn't thought about it that way until now."

Parvati's expression mirrored Hermione's. "It should be a bit strange, you're fourteen."

The brunette girl nodded in agreement. "Yes. Exactly what I was thinking."

"I noticed," grumbled Harry as he shrank back a little.

Ron noticed the two girl's expressions sour a little. "You should stop talking now."

Margaret nodded. "It's good advice."

Harry composed himself and gave a small sigh. "Sorry, but you did ask."

Hermione narrowed her eyes and gave a short nod. "Fair enough."

Parvati wasn't that interested to begin with and was siding with her friend on the matter. She turned her nose up a little and moved off with Ron. The group followed after them.

"Now what?" asked Neville as his nerves started to calm a little. He had backed away from the scene rather quickly with Melvin.

The dark haired boy shrugged. He hadn't hung out with Neville before, but he seemed a decent enough fellow. He was a little weak kneed, but Harry seemed to have a high opinion of him. "Not sure. We've got the run of the place though."

The Boy Who Lived grinned back at them both. "Come on then. I'm sure we'll find something to do until we have to go back."

With that the group wandered into the street chatting and laughing together as they moved through the Wizarding town seemingly without a care in the world.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Yes, Anna is going away for a bit.


End file.
